Hollywood Upstages Beijing: WTO Hands China Its Biggest Defeat in Trade Battle Over Movies, Music, Books (WSJ)

Ruling "could help break open the tight controls that have crippled the ability of filmmakers, musicians, videogame designers and other artists to widely market their creations at reasonable prices." Other major trade clashes between China and U.S. are also coming to a head.

Madoff Had Affair With Ex-Hadassah Finance Chief, Her Book Says (Bloomberg)

Sheryl Weinstein, former chief financial officer at Hadassah, a major Jewish women's organization, fesses up to an affair with Bernie. She and her hubby (and Hadassah) not only lost their asses to Bernie, but she personally lost hers to him. Now we know that Bernie made at least one deposit.

Fed Starts Rollback Of Rescue Efforts (WashPost)

Great. Now how about the rest of the country? Among other woes: another month of record-high foreclosures.

Jackson Earnings Grow by Millions After Death (NYT)

When it comes to the battle of dead pop stars, Elvis has left the building, and MJ has taken the stage. In the 48 days since his death, Michael Jackson has earned $100 million in film and merchandising deals, and his handlers expect another $100 million by the end of the year. Co-executor says, "Clearly that's a new record for estates that likely will not be broken."

SEC Is Ready to File Case Against Pequot (WSJ)

It's about time. The SEC has been fumbling this case against hedge funder Arthur Samberg for years. Even GOP senators have been so pissed off about it that they publicly humiliated the SEC about it back in December 2006.

Birth date? Sex? Be prepared to answer both questions starting Saturday under new security rules. ("Yes" is not a proper answer to "Sex?")

Extra large condoms hit UK supermarket shelves (Register U.K.)

"We fear that the XL range will be abused at the hands of some customers." U.S. customers can already buy an XXL size.

Watch Out, EBay! Here Comes Alibaba (Ad Age)

"Chinese E-Commerce Giant Launches a Global Marketing Campaign, Starting in the U.S."

Madoff Aide Holds Key to Intrigue (NYT)

We already know when Frank DiPascali knew. The questions are what did he know and about whom did he know it. "[D]ocuments show that Mr. DiPascali had an intimate knowledge of the diverse universe of Madoff investors -- from close relatives with minor holdings to foreign hedge funds investing billions."

What the Mob Can Teach You About Marketing (Ad Age, Tom Martin)

"Are you really your client's consigliere? Do you see any clients that truly have a consigliere?"

Facebook slims down for developing countries: In Russia, bandwidth eats you (Register U.K.)

Facebook Lite, on trial in Russia and India. "Users in developing countries draw even less per head in advertising revenue than their Western counterparts, who themselves do not cover Facebook's ever-rising bandwidth and storage bill."

Switzerland, UBS Settle U.S. Tax Case (WSJ)

IRS wanted 52,000 names of secret accounts, will get no more than 10,000.

Stephen Hawking both British and not dead: Obama health reform critics face inconvenient truth (Register U.K.)

"In perhaps the most amusing effort to discredit US President Barack Obama's plan for nationalized health care — if not the most ridiculous — US financial newspaper Investor's Business Daily has said that if Stephen Hawking were British, he would be dead."

iPod Touch Cutting Into Handheld Game Market, Top Analyst Says (Salon)

Nintendo DS and Sony PSP are of course a game up, but if the iPod Touch games stay in the $10 price range (a profit hit for developers and publishers), Apple's got itself a wildly successful game platform.

'Fastest Dying Cities' Meet for a Lively Talk (WSJ)

Naturally, the meeting was held in Dayton, Ohio. Other attendees included Detroit, Cleveland, Buffalo. Forbes reporter Joshua Zumbrun, whose August 2008 story "America's Fastest-Dying Cities" sparked the conference, showed up and apologized for hurting their feelings.

Gannett Cuts 70 More Jobs at Westchester Newspaper (NYT)

Grossly understated headline. The lede: "The Journal News, a Westchester area newspaper owned by Gannett, told all 288 of its news and advertising sales employees on Wednesday that their jobs were being eliminated and they would need to apply for redefined positions by the end of the week." Increasingly common tactic by newspaper owners. Gannett's aggressive cost-cutting has allowed the chain to report a $70.5 million profit in the second quarter.

U.S. Foreclosure Filings Set Third Record-High in Five Months (Bloomberg)

July's filings were up 6.7 percent from June and 32 percent from July 2008. Worst three states, in order: Nevada, California, Arizona. Other grim, but necessary, stats, in this story.

Dr Pepper Snapple 2Q Profit Rises 46%; View Raised Again (WSJ)

Recommendation: Buy it, don't drink it.