BUSINESS BRIEFS
Netflix goes dark for about 11 hours
Advertiser Staff and News Services
LOS GATOS, Calif. Online DVD rental leader Netflix Inc. suffered a technology breakdown that knocked out its Web site for about 11 hours yesterday, inconveniencing its 7.5 million subscribers.
The outage could mean some customers will have to wait longer than usual for their next rentals.
The trouble blocked access to Netflix's Web site from approximately 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time yesterday, company spokesman Steve Swasey said.
It marked the second-longest disruption since Netflix launched its service nine years ago. Netflix's Web site was down for more than 18 hours last July when the Los Gatos-based company lowered its prices.
Because the latest problem also hobbled some Netflix distribution centers, many DVDs that normally would have been mailed out yesterday may not be shipped until today, Swasey said.
SATELLITE RADIO MERGER APPROVED
WASHINGTON The Justice Department yesterday approved Sirius Satellite Radio Inc.'s proposed $5 billion buyout of rival XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc., saying the deal was unlikely to hurt competition or consumers.
The transaction was approved without conditions, despite opposition from consumer groups and an intense lobbying campaign by the land-based radio industry.
The combination still requires approval from the Federal Communications Commission, which prohibited a merger when it first granted satellite radio operating licenses in 1997.
The Justice Department, in a statement explaining its decision, said the combination of the companies won't hurt competition because the companies are not competing today. Customers must buy equipment that is exclusive to either XM or Sirius, and subscribers rarely switch providers.
CONGRESS EYES MAJOR LOAN ACTION
WASHINGTON Faced with rising economic anxiety and the high-profile rescue of a major investment bank, lawmakers are considering sweeping changes to financial regulation and a massive effort to buy troubled home loans.
While they debate what, if anything, more should be done, frustrations are building that Congress, which is halfway through a two-week recess, and the Bush administration aren't doing enough to combat the economic impact of falling home prices, banks' unwillingness to lend freely and a seized-up market for mortgage-linked investments.
Housing industry groups are preparing to lobby hard for help when Congress returns from recess March 31. Arguing that the stimulus package signed by President Bush last month doesn't aid the housing sector enough, builders want more including a new tax credit for people who buy homes.
NEW ROLE FOR EX-LENDING BOSS
LOS ANGELES Stanford Kurland spent nearly three decades helping build Countrywide Financial Corp. into the nation's largest mortgage lender.
Now, the former president of the troubled company and several key colleagues hope to cash in as the housing market collapses.
Kurland, 55, will serve as chairman and chief executive officer of a new company unveiled yesterday that will acquire and restructure distressed mortgages.
Private National Mortgage Acceptance Co. LLC, also known as PennyMac, intends to help borrowers restructure loans so they can avoid foreclosure and maintain payments.
Backed by prominent investment management firms BlackRock Inc. and Highfields Capital Management, PennyMac has even set up shop in Calabasas, Calif., about six miles from the offices of Countrywide.
Kurland, who left Countrywide in late 2006, said he wasn't to blame for problems faced by the company as a result of subprime loans made to people with shaky credit histories.
