IBT Staff Reporter

Hollywood studios lost a landmark copyright court case against an Australia internet provider on Thursday, when a court ruled iiNet could not be held responsible for unauthorized downloads of movies using its service.

Toyota Motor Corp expects costs and lost sales from its largest ever safety recall to total $2 billion for the year to March, but raised its outlook after posting its strongest operating profit in six quarters.

Lingering concerns about the global economy and a host of negative local factors pushed Asian stocks lower on Thursday, with Toyota hitting a 10-month low on investor concerns over its massive vehicle recall.

Sony Corp reported its first profit in five quarters on Thursday, helped by a recovery in its flat TV operations, and the Japanese electronics maker cut its annual loss forecast closer to market expectations.

Toyota Motor Corp said its biggest ever safety recall would cost it up to $2 billion this quarter, but raised its outlook for the financial year to March after a forecast-beating third-quarter.

Toyota Motor Corp on Thursday lifted its cautious guidance for the financial year to March despite escalating recall troubles that threaten to derail a recovery at the world's biggest automaker.

Sony Corp reported its first profit in five quarters, helped by a recovery in its TV operations, and the Japanese electronics maker lifted its annual outlook closer to market expectations.

South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co Ltd said on Thursday it aimed to treble smartphone shipments this year to more than 18 million units as the world's second-biggest cellphone maker scrambles to make a mark in the fast-growing smartphone market.

Toyota Motor Corp shares slid to a 10-month low on Thursday after the Obama administration stepped up the pressure on the world's largest carmaker to address a range of safety issues.

The top U.S. transportation official on Wednesday warned Toyota owners caught up in its massive recall to stop driving their cars, triggering alarm and confusion in a crisis that has engulfed the automaker.

Cisco Systems Inc's quarterly results and outlook exceeded Wall Street expectations as more customers upgraded their networks to handle growing Internet traffic, leading CEO John Chambers to declare a very strong recovery.

A review by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission found the IntercontinentalExchange Futures U.S. compliance staff was under notable strain that hindered its ability to regulate itself.

Ben Bernanke was sworn in on Tuesday for a second term as chairman of the Federal Reserve at a private ceremony in Washington.

Visa Inc posted a stronger-than-expected profit on Wednesday, helped by rising debit card processing volume.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Wednesday said insurer AIG's contracts to pay hundreds of millions of dollars in bonuses were outrageous and appealed to Congress to help recoup payments.

Video game makers should begin to emerge in 2010 from one of their worst industry downturns on record, but investors remain cautious about a sector that has been plagued by bad news.

President Barack Obama said Tuesday in a letter to Senate Majority leader Harry Reid he wasn't saying anything negative about Las Vegas.

A U.S. military helicopter crashed in woods in South- western Germany on Wednesday, killing at least two people, German police said.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Wednesday said the Fed must be more transparent to the public but also guard its independence, which serves a vital public interest.

Research In Motion is showing signs of progress in developing new Blackberry devices and features, and that could pay off for the company in the coming months, a TD Newcrest analyst said on Wednesday.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), Google (NASDAQ:GOOG), Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), IBM (NYSE:IBM), and Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HPQ) all rallied during the regular session; in after-hours, these stocks continued to add to their gains.

Cisco Systems, the worlds largest maker of networking equipment, reported on Wednesday a profit that surpassed Wall Street's expectations during the company's second quarter.

A new study on Internet usage in America is shedding light on how different people across the country are using social websites.

Cisco Systems Inc's results and outlook soared past expectations and Chief Executive John Chambers said business has improved dramatically in nearly all areas.

The Australian Dollar opens lower against the greenback today at 0.8815 after mixed local trade data released yesterday.

Apple's latest product, the Apple iPad, is set to see strong sales, according to an analyst.

Federal Reserve Governor Kevin Warsh said on Wednesday that regulatory improvements alone would not prevent future financial crises and the government must be willing to let firms fail.

Stocks mostly fell on Wednesday as Pfizer's disappointing outlook weighed on the health sector, and President Obama's pledge to complete banking and healthcare reform revived fears of increased regulation.

A computer security expert has uncovered what he says are flaws in widely used software from Oracle Corp that could let hackers remotely access sensitive information in corporate and government databases.