BUSINESS BRIEFS
Oil futures back off from $90
Associated Press
NEW YORK — Oil futures fell yesterday, retreating from an earlier foray to a record above $90, as investors sold to lock in profits.
Still, many analysts expect the declines to be temporary and believe oil futures will continue to set records in the days ahead. They say high prices are driven by factors including a weak dollar, speculative investing and low supplies at a key Midwest oil terminal.
Crude prices have jumped 28 percent since late August. The advance appears to be trickling down to consumers in the form of higher gas prices, and may result in higher heating prices this winter.
Prices at the pump have risen 5.3 cents over the past four days, averaging $2.81 a gallon yesterday, according to AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. Meanwhile, heating oil costs are expected to jump more than 20 percent this winter.
Crude futures briefly passed $90 a barrel — rising as high as $90.07 — twice in electronic trading overnight.
ISP INTERFERING WITH FILE SHARING
NEW YORK — Comcast Corp. actively interferes with attempts by some of its high-speed Internet subscribers to share files online, a move that runs counter to the tradition of treating all types of Net traffic equally.
The interference, which The Associated Press confirmed through nationwide tests, is the most drastic example yet of data discrimination by a U.S. Internet service provider. It involves company computers masquerading as those of its users.
If widely applied by other ISPs, the technology Comcast is using would be a crippling blow to the BitTorrent, eDonkey and Gnutella file-sharing networks. While these are mainly known as sources of copyright music, software and movies, BitTorrent in particular is emerging as a legitimate tool for quickly disseminating legal content.
The principle of equal treatment of traffic, called "Net Neutrality" by proponents, is not enshrined in law but supported by some regulations. Most of the debate around the issue has centered on tentative plans, now postponed, by large Internet carriers to offer preferential treatment of traffic from certain content providers for a fee.
BRITISH BANK REPLACING CHIEF
LONDON — Northern Rock PLC said yesterday it was replacing its chairman after two months of troubles during which the mortgage lender took emergency funding from the Bank of England and saw the first run on a British bank in nearly a century.
Chairman Matt Ridley, who has carried much of the blame for Northern Rock's troubles, is resigning and will be succeeded by former Standard Chartered PLC Chairman Bryan Sanderson, the bank said in a statement to the London Stock Exchange.
Northern Rock said Ridley "made clear in September that he was willing to resign" but was asked to stay on until new funding arrangements were in place and until he had given evidence to the Parliamentary Treasury Select Committee.
Ridley told the parliamentary inquiry earlier this week that nobody could have predicted the complete market shutdown that led to Northern Rock's problems.
