BRIEFCASE COURT: FILE DVD LAWSUIT ELSEWHERE.

Byline: - Staff and wire reports

SAN FRANCISCO - The state's highest court said Monday a group licensing DVD encryption software to the motion picture industry cannot use California's courts to sue a Texas man for posting on the Internet the codes to break such software.

The California-based DVD Copy Control Association licenses its software to film studios to block the illegal copying of DVD movies. A Texas man had posted codes to break the software and allow for the copying of digital versatile discs.

Ruling 4-3 and without addressing the merits of the case, the California Supreme Court said the association, out of fairness, must sue Matthew Pavlovich for trade secret infringement in his home state of Texas, or Indiana, where he was when he posted the language in 1999.

T-bill interest rates rise Monday

WASHINGTON - Interest rates on short-term Treasury securities rose in Monday's auction.

The Treasury Department sold $15 billion in three-month bills at a discount rate of 1.210 percent, up from 1.205 percent last week. An additional $15 billion was sold in six-month bills at a rate of 1.265 percent, up from 1.245 percent.

Both the three-month and six-month rates were the highest since Nov. 4 when the bills sold for 1.410 percent and 1.395 percent, respectively.

Raytheon settles stock data case

WASHINGTON - Defense contractor Raytheon Co. has agreed to a settlement with federal regulators in one of the first cases involving violations of a rule barring companies from revealing information to stock analysts before the general public.

The Securities and Exchange Commission, which announced the settlement Monday, also said it had investigated similar allegations against Motorola Inc. but closed the case without taking enforcement action because a company official had gotten legal advice before starting one-on-one conversations with analysts.

Under the settlement, Raytheon and its chief financial officer, Franklyn Caine, neither admitted to nor denied wrongdoing.

Households No. 1 complaint source

WASHINGTON - Roofs that leak, poor driveway paving jobs and other home improvement headaches were the No. 1 and fastest-growing type of consumer complaint last year, surpassing gripes about car sales and household goods.

The National Association of Consumer Agency Administrators and the Consumer Federation of America said Monday they compiled the annual survey from complaints reported to state and local consumer protection agencies.

Problems with household goods such as appliances and auto sales ranked second and third, respectively, on the list of consumer complaints. Those two had tied for first place in 2000.