Arizona Republic from Phoenix, Arizona • Page 31

m'm i REPUBLIC MAIL conomy The Arizona Republic Thursday, February 12, 1981 Cable-TV firms plan attacks on electronic pirates lb Today The court victory came against a Phoenix firm accused of selling and installing devices with which people can intercept and decode the Home Box Office programming that is broadcast here by Tele-Features Inc. Pirate Electronics recently surrendered all its assets to satisfy a Superior Court judgment in excess of $100,000 that was won by Tele-Features. The subject of pirates drew a great deal of attention at the Arizona By Frank Vaughan Republic Staff Encouraged by recent court victories, cable-television-system operators in Arizona are preparing for new attacks in their battle against electronic pirates. The pirates are defined by the cable operators as people who illegally intercept cable-TV signals for their own use without paying any fees and the firms that sell the devices that make it possible. Cable Television Association meeting that concluded Wednesday at the Adams Hilton Hotel.

There, cable-system operators were told that the biggest problem they face in the battle against pirates is the belief that the illegal interception of signals is a victimless crime. Jim Feltham, an attorney with the Phoenix firm of O'Connor, Cavan-agh, Anderson, Westover, Killing-sworth and Beshears, told the operators to try to enlist the support of both law-enforcement agencies and the public. He said theft of services is a crime, just like any other form of theft. He suggested the operators give law-enforcement agencies an overview on how to spot illegal setups. Ed Thomson, with Warner Cable of Flagstaff, urged the operators to buy advertisements in publications such as TV Guide.

The ads would warn that theft of services is illegal and would cite the penalites facing those who get caught. He said that in Flagstaff, when an 'illegal setup is believed to be in use, his company asks the police to meet them at the residence. A representative of his firm then briefs the police officer, who approaches the householder and asks to see the person's television. If an illegal device is discovered, Cable, C2 Business failures reach worst level in 19 years; firms with liabilities rise 123 United Press International NEW YORK Commercial and industrial business failures resumed their steep climb in the latest statistical week, reaching the highest level in 19 years, Dun Bradstreet reported. Up from 221 the preceding week, failures soared to 372 for the week ending last Thursday.

That is more than twice the 177 reported in the comparable week last year. Construction and service failures more than doubled their week-earlier figure, with retail businesses following closely. Wholesaling was the only segment to report a decrease in failures, Dun Bradstreet said. Businesses with liabilities of or more rose to 189 from 102 the previous week, double the 82 reported last year. Smaller concerns those with liabilities under $100,000 rose sharply to 183 from 119 the previous week and 95 reported the comparable week in 1980.

Retail sales rose in January despite high interest rates Contractors seek studies on roofing The energy crisis and new products have made research in roofing more important than ever, according to the National Roofing Contractors Association. The association is holding its annual convention in Phoenix, and new roof systems are one of the major topics on the program. The conventioneers also will hear a report on a joint program with the Energy Department to do research on roofs. The roof is about one-third of the outside of an average building, but very little work has been done on how the insulating properties of roofs change with time. One part of the roofers' project with the department will be to measure changes in insulating value of roofing systems with time.

The association had hoped for department funding for an environmental chamber to test roofing systems under accelerated aging conditions, but it was told the funds weren't available. John Van Wagoner of Prospect Industries Inc. of McLean, who has helped coordinate the program, said changes in the industry make some sort of test program more important than ever. Not only are new roofing systems proliferating, he said, but the materials used in old systems are changing. A conventional, built-up roof is made of layers of felt impregnated with asphalt.

But as oil becomes more expensive, the physical properties of roofing asphalts and felts have been deteriorating, he said. Roof insulation saves energy, but it can cut the life of the roof. In an uninsulated roof, the air in the building helps keep the roof temperature more even, Van Wagoner said. When the roof is heavily insulated, the temperature can change quickly, causing the roofing materials to expand and contract and possibly destroying the roofs water resistance. In addition, he said, new roofing systems and materials are coming on the market and not all of them are compatible.

Many of the new systems are what roofers call "single-ply," Van Wagoner said, meaning they are only one layer thick. These systems are economical and easy to install, but they put a premium on careful workmanship and materials compatibility. Rick Cook United Press International WASHINGTON The nation's consumers, buying at a pace "stronger than expected," increased their retail purchases for the eighth straight month in January despite higher interest rates, the government reported Wednesday. January retail sales rose by 2 percent to $84 billion, a sizable acceleration over the December figure, which was revised to show about a third of a percentage point increase to $82.4 billion. Before the revision, December showed a slight decrease.

The government figures showed the purchases of durable goods, items such as major appliances, furniture and cars designed to last at least three years, increasing 2.87 percent, a figure one analyst called "the most significant aspect of the report." Dave Ernst, vice president of Evans Economics said the overall increase was at least double what experts anticipated, as indicated by a poll by his firm. "This definitely was stronger than expected," he said. "So far, the rapid run-up in interest rates late last year did a lot less damage to the credit-sensitive sectors of the economy than what was expected." But Jeff Edelman, an analyst who follows retail trade for Dean Witter Reynolds, immediately cast doubt on the government figures. "I find very little to account for that," he said. "During this period of the year, when you're going from the biggest month, December, to the smallest month, January, you quite often get quite a bit of statistical distortion." He said much of the increase was due to the auto sector, stimulated not so much by demand but by the rebates being offered.

Automobiles and related purchases, when measured alone, showed a 4.1 percent climb in purchases. Excluding automobile purchases, the retail-sales figures showed a increase in January of 1.56 percent. Pilots' walkout averted A threatened nationwide walkout by airline pilots was averted Wednesday by formation of a presidential task force to study the size of cockpit crews for future jetliners. The Air Line Pilots Association had repeatedly warned there would be a nationwide "interruption of service" because of the controversy, which the pilots tied to passenger safety. Seatrain to reorganize Seatrain Lines a debt-ridden shipping company, agreed to reorganize under Chapter 11 of federal bankruptcy statutes shortly after three Italian companies, seeking to recover more than $1 million in debts they claimed are owed them by Seatrain, sought to force such a restructuring.

FCC to leave capital The Federal Communications Commission, pressed by skyrocketing rental costs in downtown Washington and expiring office leases, has voted to move to suburban Rosslyn, Va. SEC orders late OTC report The Securities and Exchange Commission has agreed to require daily "last-sale reporting" of prices for high-volume over-the-counter stocks by February 1982. The order was another step in its efforts to establish a national stock market system so investors in all parts of the nation could buy and sell a wide range of securities through electronic links. Big-car output boosted Chrysler Corp. has canceled two weeks of planned down time for the large-car assembly plant and will run full schedules through March.

Citrus estimate cut 1 1 percent Last month's freeze of the Florida citrus crop has caused an 11 percent decline in an estimate of this season's U.S. orange crop, forecast at 245 million boxes. Based on Feb. 1 conditions, the USDA Crop Reporting Board also estimated the nation's orange crop would be 11 percent less than last year. An estimate of the Florida orange crop was reduced by 15 percent after the freeze to 173 million boxes, 16 percent less than last season's crop.

J-cars are coming Twenty-six new computerized robots are ready for action and thousands of auto-workers have been recalled to work at the GM assembly plant at Lords-town, Ohio, as the company sets forth to meet its foreign competition head-on. In April, GM's new fuel-efficient J-car will begin rolling off the assembly line. Trade-secrets suit Intel Corp. has filed a lawsuit against four former employees who Intel said may use its trade secrets to make advanced memory circuits. The defendants resigned last month from Intel's special products division to form a semiconductor firm called Seeq Inc.

The suit accused the defendants of breach of their contract, which prohibits disclosure of trade secrets. A Seeq spokesman denied that the firm intends to use Intel's confidential information and said Seeq "has not developed a product yet." FCC relaxes ruling The Federal Communications Commission has agreed to relax the conditions it imposed on the General Telephone Electronics Corp. when it approved the firm's 1979 acquisition of the Telenet Corp. New cameras offered Eastman Kodak Co. has developed a new instant camera with two lenses and an electronic flash and a new compact traditonal camera with a built-in electronic flash.

Turner to get TV relay service A federal judge has ordered RCA American Communications Inc. to provide satellite relay service for Ted Turner's Cable News Network and WTBS, his Atlanta television i Room 5 retailers will open in Las Vegas; Diamonds, Goldwaters plan stores By Naaman Nickell Assistant Economics News Editor LAS VEGAS, Nev. Gambling that chic fashions can compete with the lure of the casinos, five of the nation's top retailers are opening stores Saturday in the Fashion Show Mall, the city's first major shopping center on the famed Strip. Among the five stores that will anchor the $50 million project are Diamonds and Goldwaters, both of which have their headquarters in Phoenix. The other major tenants will be Bullocks, Neiman-Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue.

Those five stores will occupy more than 500,000 square feet of space in the mall, which is located just south of the Frontier Hotel. The remaining square feet will be used by about 130 smaller retail stores, according to a spokesman for the mall. The entire project, including a Retailers, C2 Republic Mark Cannon demonstrates a tool for fastening down single-ply roofing at the National Roofing Contractors Association convention. Solar energy past experimental stage, expert says By Rick Cook Republic Staff Solar energy has become a commercial technology rather than an experimental technology, a former adviser to California Gov. Jerry Brown told a group of bankers and contractors Wednesday.

"The action has shifted from government to the private sector," said Jerry Yudelson, former director of California's solar-business office. Yudelson was in Phoenix to address a workshop on financing solar energy that was sponsored by the Arizona Solar Energy Commission. A combination of state and federal tax credits and the inherent savings of solar water and space heating make solar energy attractive to homeowners and builders, Yudelson said. The major need now is for promotion and acceptance by consumers. In California, a builder who takes advantage of the tax breaks can get as much as a 10-to-l return within three months on his investment in solar water heaters installed as standard equipment in a subdivision, he said.

He added that Arizona's tax incentives for solar devices are even better than those in California. Many California banks and lending institu tions have established special programs to help homeowners finance solar installations, Yudelson said. Some will allow homeowners to include the cost of solar devices in existing mortgages by extending the payment period. Others will make home-improvement loans at a slightly lower interest rate to finance the devices. In addition, Southern California Gas and Pacific Gas and Electric shortly will begin offering 20-year loans at 10 percent interest to finance solar installations for customers.

Homeowners who don't go solar may find their mortgage payments dwarfed by their energy bills, Yudelson said, and lenders need to take this into account in making mortgages. He predicted the time will come when a house without a solar-energy system will be considered obsolete by banks and other lending institutions. Solar energy has important implications for the nation's energy future as well, Yudelson said. According to the California Energy Commission, the state could replace 10 percent of its electricity and natural-gas consumption by solar energy or energy conservation by 1990, he said. That amounts to 3,500 megawatts of electricity alone, nearly the total projected output of all three units at the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station.

Federal Trade Commission kills effort to impose special advertising regulations on medicine sellers Canada may dslay decision The Canadian gS P'op, plop, fizz, fizz, oh what a relief it is for drug firms Inside: Stock markst Prices fell Wednesday while Wall Street waited for President Reagan's economic plan and break in interest rates. The Dow Jones average lost 6.15 to 942.49. C4. United Press International WASHINGTON The Federal Trade Commission Wednesday scrapped a 5-year-old project designed to impose special truth-in-advertising rules on sellers of cough medicines, cold remedies and other non-prescription drugs. Instead, the agency said, it will continue to police the $4 billion-a-year industry under existing laws that prohibit deception and unfairness in tre marketplace.

The decision was a victory for the advertising and drug industries, which had said the FTC project would lead to a "gag rule" and deprive consumers of information vital to self -medication. The move also was considered an example of an emerging trend at the FTC, where projects launched in the 1970s bloom of consumer activism are undergoing increasing scrutiny as public and political attitudes change. The rule that was scrapped would have ordered makers of over-the-counter drugs to make their advertising adhere closely to findings of the Food and Drug Administration, which is reviewing all such drugs for safety and effectiveness. One proposal would have limited the words used in advertising to the language that the FDA will allow on the actual product label. That approach was suggested as a way to end fanciful statements about medical conditions.

Terms such as "upset stomach" or "common cold," for example, might have had to give way to more precise phrases such as "acid indigestion" or "runny nose and cough." In the end, it was the FDA's slow progress in completing the review that prompted the FTC to scrap the project. Chairman Michael Pertschuk said, "This (slowness) means that we are unable to assess reliably the degree to whjch advertising claims will conform to FDA's final labeling strictures." He and other commissioners, however, said they wanted to serve notice on the industry that the law will continue to be enforced on a case-by-case basis. But Commissioner Robert Pitof-sky said he was not convinced the FDA findings "are always or even usually appropriate for drug advertising' Comics, C7.