Balance Sheet

Jeff Taylor from the January 2003 issue

ASSETS

Stock Stuffer

A market finds value in previously worthless Enron and WorldCom shares. Not the stock market, though. Collectors pay $40 a pop for the notorious pieces of paper.

Clear Code

A U.S. district court judge jettisons nine states' attempt to bust up Microsoft's antitrust pact with the Justice Department. The entire software sector can now fire their lawyers and get back to writing code.

Language Gap

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit says California's Proposition 227 does not discriminate against non-English speakers. The voter-approved ban on bilingual education in public schools was motivated not by racial concerns but by legitimate worries that schools were failing to help kids, decides the court.

Bacteria Bonus

Researchers at Purdue University and the University of British Columbia announce they're getting closer to neutralizing PCBs, dangerous environmental contaminants sometimes found in fish. The team is experimenting on bacteria, trying to get it to digest PCBs the way they do other compounds.

Bad Medicine

A federal court rules the Food and Drug Administration exceeded its authority in trying to police "off-label" pediatric uses of drugs. The FDA had ruled that drug companies had to test all their products for use on kids -- even ones intended only for adults.

Site Plan

U.S. District Judge Patricia Seitz finds the Americans with Disabilities Act applies only to the real world, not to the Internet. A cottage industry had sprung up to help Web sites comply with the law.

LIABILITIES

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