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Sprint cell plan may ease sting of exceeding minutes

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Sprint PCS customers would buy a bucket of 300 minutes monthly, then pay just $2.50 for additional 25- or 50-minute increments of calling.

Today, cellphone users pick plans based on an estimate of how much calling they will do monthly. But actual usage varies, so they typically waste minutes by not using their allotment some months, or pay hefty fees of about 40 cents a minute when they exceed their quotas.

Analysts say the new plan makes sense only for low-volume callers or those whose usage varies wildly.

In Sprint's traditional plans, customers pay $35 for 300 minutes, $40 for 500 minutes, $50 for 700 minutes, etc. The new "fair and flexible" plan costs $35 for 300 minutes, then $2.50 for each 25-minute increment up to 650 minutes and $2.50 for each 50-minute increment above that threshold.

New Microsoft software protects media copyright

REDMOND — Microsoft today is unveiling copyright-protection software to allow rented songs or movies to be used on portable players, cellular phones and other devices.

The latest "digital-rights management" software, code-named Janus, will give songs and videos purchased through subscription services a sort of digital expiration date that works even when the data is transferred from a computer. The technology also protects the content against piracy.

The goal is to make it easier for companies who want customers to rent songs or videos, rather than own them, to also let those users play back the content on portable players.

For example, a user could rent movies for a long trip, download them onto a portable player and view them until the rental expires a month later.

The new technology will work only with newly developed portable players, which spokesman Jason Reindorp said are expected to hit the market in the next few months.
 
Disruptions possible today as Sasser worm spreads

A computer worm called Sasser may have infected hundreds of thousands of computers through the Internet and is spreading, possibly disrupting business today, a security software expert said.

The worm, which is different than a virus because it doesn't need to be attached to an e-mail to spread, causes a computer to shut down and then reboot several times, apparently without causing permanent damage, said Mikko Hypponen, director of virus research with Helsinki-based F-Secure Oyj.

Sasser exploits a flaw in Microsoft's Windows 2000 and Windows XP, the two most common operating systems, Hypponen said. Increased network traffic generated by the worm, which is similar to the Blaster worm that spread last August, might slow other systems as well, he said.

He said some "large, global companies" have reported to him that their entire systems have been infected but declined to name them.

Berkshire Hathaway exec calls big fund adviser 'nuts'

Berkshire Hathaway Vice Chairman Charles Munger yesterday used the word "nuts" to describe Institutional Shareholder Services, the biggest adviser to funds on proxy votes

"The incumbent management at ISS should be replaced," Munger said at a news conference in Omaha, Neb., where Berkshire held its annual meeting yesterday. "They have been nuts. They need a change in leadership."

Institutional Shareholder Services has said Berkshire Chairman Warren Buffett's business links to Coca-Cola should disqualify him from serving on the beverage company's audit committee. Buffett, 73, has been a Coca-Cola director since 1989.

Berkshire's McLane food-distribution unit sold $103.9 million of Coca-Cola products last year and received about $11.6 million in commissions and other payments from Coca-Cola. Coca- Cola also did business with four other Berkshire subsidiaries, including Dairy Queen International and NetJets, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

Buffett yesterday said he plans to remain on the audit committee.

Former PepsiCo executive new president of Sara Lee

CHICAGO — Brenda Barnes, who walked away from a job as president and CEO of PepsiCola North America to spend more time with her children, will become the president and chief operating officer of Sara Lee, the company said yesterday.

Barnes, 50, spent 22 years at PepsiCo, making headlines when she quit in 1998 to be with her family. She served as interim president at Starwood Hotels & Resorts from November 1999 until March 2000.

SEC chief says hedge funds in line for more scrutiny

FORT WORTH, Texas — The chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission said yesterday hedge funds need more scrutiny because their actions affect pension funds and millions of smaller investors.

William Donaldson said his agency wants to see whether the hedge funds — largely unregulated because they were created for sophisticated, wealthy investors — are complying with securities law on matters such as record keeping.

More importantly, he told the Society of American Business Editors and Writers, the SEC needs to understand the impact the $800 billion hedge-fund industry has on other investors.

Hedge funds defend their actions by saying that they represent sophisticated investors who can tolerate risk. Donaldson noted, however, that many pension funds representing millions of workers and retirees now have stakes in hedge funds.

Liquid that turns into armor is undergoing Army tests

BALTIMORE — Army scientists are working on a liquid body armor for clothing that stays flexible during normal use but can harden to stop a projectile when hit suddenly.

Researchers hope the liquid could be used in sleeves and pants, areas not protected by ballistic vests because they must stay flexible.

The liquid, hard particles suspended in a fluid, is soaked into layers of Kevlar, which holds it in place. Scientists recently had an archer shoot arrows at it to see how well the liquid boosted the strength of a Kevlar vest.

"Instead of the arrow going through the Kevlar, it is completely stopped by the Kevlar vest — and sometimes just bounces right off," said Norman Wagner, a University of Delaware chemical-engineering professor working on the project.

Vests treated with the liquid have also blocked stabs from an ice pick, and researchers are doing more tests to see if it can stop bullets or shrapnel, too.

The project is a joint venture of the U.S. Army and the University of Delaware.

Compiled from USA Today, Bloomberg News and The Associated Press