BRIEFCASE DISNEY UPS PRICE OF PARK ADMISSION.

Byline: - Staff and Wire Services

ANAHEIM - The Walt Disney Co. has raised the price of daily admission to its Disneyland and California Adventure theme parks by $2, bringing the cost to $47.

The jump reflects increased operating and investment expenses, Disney officials said.

It was unclear whether other theme parks would follow Disney's lead.

Disneyland has made price increases an annual event despite flagging theme park attendance. Disneyland admission prices have jumped 24 percent since 1998 while annual attendance has dipped by more than 1 million, according to industry estimates.

Teen acquitted of digital piracy

A teenage software programmer in Norway was acquitted of digital piracy on Tuesday in Oslo in a case that has drawn close scrutiny from the entertainment industry, which has been struggling to protect DVDs, online music and other forms of media from unauthorized copying.

The teenager, Jon Lech Johansen, now 19, became known as ``DVD-Jon'' in 1999 after developing a program called DeCSS that enables users to unlock security codes that prevent them from copying DVDs.

Software like DeCSS is illegal in the United States, under the provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, a 1998 law that outlaws the creation and distribution of technology that enables users to skirt copyright protections on films, music and other forms of software.

Sharper Image boosts outlook

SAN FRANCISCO - Sharper Image Corp. on Tuesday boosted its earnings outlook for its fiscal fourth quarter and full year, citing a ``very strong finish'' to the holiday season.

The San Francisco-based specialty retailer said it now expects fourth- quarter earnings of $1.15 to $1.18 a share, thanks to sales 8 percent higher in December at stores open at least a year. Catalog sales and Internet sales were up as well.

In early December, Sharper Image forecast earnings at the high end of $1.12 to $1.16 a share, after November sales jumped 15 percent.

Analysts have forecast the fourth-quarter profit at $1.16 per share, according to Thomson First Call.

Fandango gains infusion of funds

SANTA MONICA - Online movie ticketing company Fandango Inc. said Tuesday that it has secured $15.3 million in funding from Technology Crossover Ventures, a $2.5 billion fund and provider of growth capital to technology companies.

Fandango also announced that TCV founding general partner, Jay Hoag, has been named to Fandango's board of directors.

The financing will fuel Fandango's continued growth, helping the privately held company facilitate market expansion, extend alliances with the studios and exhibitors, and develop and enhance new products.

$5.25 billion set to back Tyco debt

Tyco International said Tuesday that it had lined up debt financing of $5.25 billion - $500 million more than it had previously expected - in an effort to forestall a cash crisis.

The financing involves the sale of convertible bonds offered to large investors in a private placement, as well as a $1.5 billion unsecured line of bank credit. The moves could be a crucial step in restoring shareholder confidence in Tyco, which is obliged to repay $5.8 billion in debt next month and more than $11 billion in debt by the end of 2003.