Friis and Zennstrom sold Skype to eBay for $2.6 billion in 2005 and left the company in 2007. Joltid and Skype have since been involved in a licensing dispute over use of the technology, called global index software. The latest lawsuit comes about six months after Skype asked the English High Court of Justice in London to find that Joltid’s efforts to end their licensing deal were invalid and that Skype was not breaching their licensing agreement. In a counterclaim, Joltid alleged Skype broke their licensing agreement. It has claimed Skype acquired unauthorized versions of the technology’s source code, modified it and disclosed the source code to third parties. It terminated Skype’s license agreement, but says Skype has continued to use the technology. A trial on the U.K. claims is currently set for next June. Joltid spokesman Tim Robertson said in a statement Wednesday that the company will “vigorously enforce its copyrights and other intellectual property rights in all of the technologies it has innovated.” San Jose, Calif. based online marketplace operator EBay has said it is developing software that may be used to keep running Skype if it can’t resolve the dispute with Joltid. In a statement, eBay spokesman John Pluhowski said that Joltid’s allegations and claims “are without merit” and are “founded on fundamental legal and factual errors.” He added that eBay is still on track to complete the sale of Skype during the fourth quarter.

AMR would like to form a joint business venture with JAL in which the two carriers would seek antitrust immunity to work closely in setting schedules and prices for service around the world, according to the person, who spoke Saturday on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the talks. The negotiations, which grew more intense over the past four weeks and included meetings in Texas and Tokyo, raised the specter of a bidding war for a piece of JAL. Delta Air Lines Inc., the world’s biggest airline operator, also is in preliminary discussions about buying a stake in JAL for about $300 million. Delta could become a leading shareholder in JAL and get coveted access to Haneda Airport, which is close Tokyo’s business district, according to a person briefed on the Delta situation.

The 12 nation Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries said “market fundamentals have remained weak,” even though current crude oil prices at about $71 are roughly double their level since December, when the group announced a record 4.2 million barrel per day cut from September 2008 levels. The upswing in prices was a blessing for the bloc supplier of roughly 35 percent of the world’s crude  but OPEC ministers noted volatility remained in the market and a delicate touch was needed to ensure that the uptick does not derail global economic recovery efforts. The meeting’s closing communique said “whilst there are signs that economic recovery is under way, there remains great concern about the magnitude and pace of this recovery,” especially in the West. The group noted uncomfortably high crude and refined product levels, which reflect that refiners are not eager to churn out additional product. “Since the market remains oversupplied and given the downside risks associated with the extremely fragile recovery, OPEC once again agreed to leave current production levels of crude unchanged for the time being,” the statement said. The decision, announced in the early hours of Thursday, came as little surprise. Saudi Oil Minister Ali Naimi, whose country is OPEC’s biggest producer and its de facto leader, had sounded an upbeat tone about current crude prices and ruled out any possibility that a cut was in the offing. OPEC ministers had indicated ahead of the meeting they were not intent on cutting quotas. Instead, the focus was on boosting compliance with production targets seen as key to sustaining prices in a market swimming in crude and still exposed to volatility linked to weak demand, the fluctuation in the U.S. dollar and a global economic recovery that has yet to firmly take root.

1. Free Software

For word processing and spreadsheets, go to OpenOffice.org. For antivirus protection, head to http://free.avg.com.

2. Free Stock Trades

At Wells Fargo, you get 100 commission free online trades per year if your cumulative account balance is $25,000 or more (including your Wells Fargo checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, IRAs and brokerage accounts).

3. Free credit Report

 
By law, you’re entitled to one free report once a year from each of the three main credit bureaus. Go to www.annualcreditreport.com to find out what lenders can see about your credit history.

4. Free ATM’s

A buck or two here and there may not seem like a big deal, but if you’re frequenting ATMs outside your bank’s network, the surcharges can add up quickly. Get money from an ATM that belongs to a surcharge free network. Allpoint has about 200 participating institutions and 32,000 ATMs. Money Pass has 600 members and 8,000 ATMs.

5. Airline Freebies

Southwest lets you check two bags for free, while most others charge extra for luggage. JetBlue lets you check one bag free, plus gives you access to free TV, satellite radio and all you can eat snacks. Continental still serves free meals on several routes. And all kids under age 2 can fly free on your lap on any airline.

The surprise cash and stock deal sent Spidey senses tingling in the comic book world. It could lead to new rides, movies, action figures and other outlets for Marvel’s 5,000 characters, although Marvel already was aggressively licensing its properties for such uses. The deal won’t have benefits right away, and Disney stock sank on the news. Disney expects a short term profit hit, and Marvel characters from X-Men to Daredevil are locked up in deals with other movie studios and theme parks. But Disney’s CEO, Robert Iger, promised an action packed future. “`Sparks will fly’ is the expression that comes to mind,” Iger told analysts. Stan Lee the 86 year old co creator of “Spider-Man” and many more of Marvel’s most famous characters, said he was thrilled to be informed of the marriage Monday morning. “I love both companies,” he said. “From every point of view, this is a great match.” The deal is expected to close by the end of the year and marks Disney’s biggest acquisition since it purchased Pixar Animation Studios Inc., the maker of “Up” and “Cars,” for $7.4 billion in stock in 2006.

U.S. retailers already are paying the price for flat income growth and weak consumer spending. A survey of big retail chains showed that shoppers remained tightfisted in July. That raised fears not just about back to school sales but also about the make or break holiday shopping season. “Consumers just don’t have the financial firepower to go out and spend more,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Economy.com. “Unless businesses curtail their job cuts, the recovery could very well peter out.” Americans’ purchasing power has been battered by the 6.7 million jobs that have vanished since the recession began in December 2007. Companies also have cut costs by forcing workers to take unpaid days off or to work only part time. And some consumers have pared their spending because their pay hasn’t kept pace with their expenses or because they’re using more money to save or reduce debt. Personal incomes were unchanged in July, the Commerce Department said Friday. It was the eighth month out of the past 10 in which incomes have either fallen or failed to grow. Consumer spending edged up 0.2 percent in July, matching economists’ expectations. But the flat reading on incomes was weaker than the small rise economists had expected. “It may take consumers fully a year to get back on their feet,” said Sal Guatieri, an economist at BMO Capital Markets.

Lowe’s is working with Woolworths Ltd., the largest retailer in Australia, to develop the stores. Under terms of the deal, Lowe’s will own one third of the new chain, slated to open late in the 2011 fiscal year. Lowe’s and Woolworths plan to open more than 150 stores over five years. Woolworths has secured entitlement to 12 sites. It is in final negotiations to secure 15 more sites for development. Lowe’s shares fell 44 cents, or 2 percent, to close earlier at $20.72. Who says Woolworths is dead?

Home sales hit a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.24 million in July, from a pace of 4.89 million in June. It was the fourth straight monthly increase and the strongest month since August 2007. Home sales had been expected to rise to an annual pace of 5 million, according to economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters. The risks to that healthy pace, however, are job cuts, mortgage rates and the looming end to the homebuyer tax credit. And the last one could be a doozy because first time buyers are snapping up one out of every three homes. First time buyers get a credit of 10 percent of the purchase price of a home, up to $8,000. The credit phases out for singles earning more than $75,000 and couples earning more than $150,000. The real estate industry is lobbying to have the credit extended but its unclear if Congress will be swayed. “I would not be at all surprised to see a dip at the end of the year once the tax credit expires,” said Robert Dye, senior economist with PNC Financial Services Group. The home sales report was another sign that the U.S. economy is on the verge of a long awaited recovery after enduring a brutal recession and the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. Economic activity in both the U.S. and around the world appears to be leveling out and “the prospects for a return to growth in the near term appear good,” Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Friday. But fallout from the recession will linger for some time. Unemployment rose in July in 26 states and fell in 17, the Labor Department said Friday. That is driving up foreclosures, which are not expected to level off until sometime next year.

The slide was steep but felt more controlled than the plunges of the past year because stocks ended off of their worst levels and because analysts have been calling for a retreat after the Dow and Standard & Poor’s 500 index raced up 15 percent in only five weeks. The Shanghai stock market tumbled 5.8 percent Monday as investors worried that the Chinese government would tighten bank lending policies. Investors outside China have been hoping that strengthening there would spill over to other economies. Worries grew when Lowe’s said consumers are holding off on some purchases. That’s troubling because consumer spending accounts for more than two thirds of U.S. economic activity. Some investors used to seeing a quick bounce back in stocks have underestimated how difficult the recovery could be, even though many analysts have warned that it could take well into 2010 for the economy to regain strength. And some investors seem to be in the same mindset as three years ago, willing to take big chances even when there’s little economic or corporate evidence to justify a huge advance. Now, with consumers facing high unemployment, weak home prices and mounds of debt, investors are worrying that they had grown too optimistic even though the stock market tends to improve before the economy after a recession. Quincy Krosby, market strategist for Prudential Financial, said some investors are worried that weakness among consumers will hold the economy back. “Those who are negative say you are not going to see consumers loosen those purse strings in any meaningful way,” she said.

That makes Paulson & Co. the Charlotte, North Carolina based bank’s fourth largest shareholder, according to data from investor Web site LionShares. State Street Global Advisors is bank’s top holder, with about 357.2 million shares, and Barclays Global Investors NA and Vanguard Group each own more than 200 million shares of the bank. In a regular quarterly filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission required by hedge funds managing large sums, Paulson & Co. disclosed it bought nearly 168 million shares in the bank in the quarter ended June 30. Based on Bank of America’s closing price of $15.93 on Wednesday, that implies a stake worth about $2.67 billion. Bank of America, along with Citigroup Inc. and insurance giant American International Group Inc., is among the largest recipients of government aid. It has received $45 billion from the federal government’s $700 billion bank rescue program. Paulson also purchased sizable stakes last quarter in gold producers such as Anglogold Ashanti, Kinross Gold Corp. and Gold Fields Ltd., drugmakers Boston Scientific Corp., Schering Plough and Wyeth, and server and software maker Sun Microsystems Inc.