BRIEFCASE.

Byline: - Staff and Wire Services

Netflix ordered to git customers

SAN FRANCISCO - A judge has approved a class-action settlement requiring Netflix Inc. to offer a free month of DVDs to 5.5 million current and former subscribers, resolving a case that prompted the online rental service to acknowledge it gives preferential treatment to its most profitable customers.

The settlement, released Monday after being approved last Friday, had been delayed since late March when San Francisco Superior Court Judge Thomas Mellon Jr. balked at a proposal that would have guaranteed payments totaling $2.5 million to a handful of lawyers.

Under Mellon's final order, Netflix must pay $1.3 million to Adam Gutride and Seth Safier - the San Francisco attorneys who filed the suit in September 2004 - and another $60,000 to lawyers whose objections to an earlier agreement helped shape the final settlement.

T-bill rates hit five-year high

WASHINGTON - Interest rates on short-term Treasury bills rose in Monday's auction to the highest levels in more than five years.

The Treasury Department auctioned $15 billion in three-month bills at a discount rate of 4.685 percent, up from 4.635 percent last week. Another $14 billion in six-month bills was auctioned at a discount rate of 4.780 percent, up from 4.735 percent last week.

In a separate report, the Federal Reserve said Monday that the average yield for one-year Treasury bills, a popular index for making changes in adjustable rate mortgages, rose to 4.94 percent last week from 4.90 percent the previous week.

Aviall purchase set by Boeing

CHICAGO - Boeing Co. announced its biggest acquisition Monday in nearly a decade, agreeing to acquire aviation parts and services company Aviall Inc. for $1.7 billion in cash in a deal aimed at increasing its already large stakes in commercial and military aviation markets.

The transaction was the first under Chairman and CEO Jim McNerney and was announced shortly before the company's annual shareholders meeting.

If the deal is approved by regulators, Aviall will become a wholly owned subsidiary reporting to Boeing's commercial aviation services unit. Aviall is based in Dallas and has about 1,000 employees.

Boeing agreed to pay $48 a share for Aviall, a 27.3 percent premium to Aviall's closing price of $37.70 on Friday. It also will assume $350 million in debt.

SEC, IRS weigh stricter tax rules

MINNEAPOLIS - Stock regulators and the IRS are exploring the idea of requiring companies to publicly release more tax information, the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission said on Monday.

SEC Chairman Christopher Cox said he discussed the subject over lunch recently with Mark Everson, commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service. Cox stressed that the idea is not a formal proposal.

Cox mentioned the possibility of requiring additional tax disclosures at the end of remarks at the annual meeting of the Society of American Business Editors and Writers.

Tyson announces $127 million loss

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - After posting a $127 million loss for its second quarter, Tyson Foods Inc., the world's largest meat processor, said Monday it will continue its strategy of developing more prepared foods, making its system more efficient and growing in foreign markets.

The company cited oversupply in its beef, chicken and pork operations and charges for previously disclosed plant closings as reasons for the loss.The loss amounted to 37 cents a share for the three months ended April 1 and contrasted with a profit of $76 million, or 21 cents a share, a year ago. Revenue slipped to $6.25 billion from $6.36 billion a year ago.

Bolivian soldiers occupy gas fields

LA PAZ, Bolivia - President Evo Morales ordered soldiers to occupy Bolivia's natural gas fields Monday and threatened to evict foreign companies unless they give Bolivia control over the entire chain of production.

Morales said soldiers and engineers with Bolivia's state-owned oil company would be sent ``immediately'' to installations and gas fields tapped by foreign petroleum companies - including Britain's BG Group PLC and BP PLC, Brazil's Petroleo Brasileiro SA, Spanish-Argentine Repsol YPF SA and U.S.-based Exxon Mobil Corp.

Morales, a leftist allied with Cuba's Fidel Castro and Venezuela's Hugo Chavez in seeking to blunt U.S. and outside influence in the region, had pledged to exert greater state control over the industry since he won the presidency in December, becoming Bolivia's first Indian president.

The companies have six months to agree to new contracts, or must leave Bolivia, he said.

Delphi asks court to end contracts

DETROIT - Auto parts supplier Delphi Corp. said in a filing Monday that a federal bankruptcy court can immediately cancel its labor agreements instead of allowing Delphi to cancel them on its own, an action that could lead to a devastating strike.

The legal filing Monday boosts the stakes in Delphi's battle with its unions.

Adding to Delphi's struggle, the auto supplier said Monday that General Motors Corp. will start paying lower prices for Delphi parts after it failed to reach an agreement to continue paying higher rates to its main supplier.