Testing the bounds of consumer protection laws, Visa and MasterCard are headed for court to determine whether they are obliged to notify 264,000 customers that a computer hacker stole their account information.
The dispute revolves around a highly publicized security breakdown at CardSystems Solutions, one of the nation's largest payment processors.
Although a ruling in the class-action consumer lawsuit wouldn't have legal standing outside the state, it would increase the pressure on Visa and MasterCard to notify all affected accountholders in this and any future breaches.
The breach, initially disclosed by MasterCard three months ago, exposed up to 40 million credit and debit card accounts to potential abuse between August 2004 and May 2005. It's the largest of more than 70 consumer information security breaches reported in the past seven months.
San Francisco-based Visa and Purchase, N.Y.-based MasterCard maintain that responsibility should fall to the myriad banks that administer the accounts because neither credit card association has direct relationships with the affected customers.
Internal investigations have determined that the still-unknown thief grabbed enough sensitive details from CardSystems to defraud about 264,000 Visa and MasterCard accountholders nationwide.
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Katrina conscience: Toyota has seen a rise in demand for hybrid vehicles in the United States in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina as consumers seek more mileage out of $3-gallon gasoline.
Japan's top auto maker, a pioneer in gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles, has enjoyed booming sales in the world's biggest car market thanks to the popularity of its hybrid models, now also offered in the sport utility vehicle segment through the Highlander and Lexus RX400h.
Ford (F) announced a day earlier plans to boost its total hybrid output tenfold in five years as it hopes to win back lost market share in its home turf.
Ford, recently overtaken by Toyota as the world's second-biggest automaker, plans to build about 250,000 hybrid vehicles globally -- roughly what its Japanese rival aims to sell this year.
Toyota officials said the waiting list for its hybrid models was averaging "a few months," and that Toyota expected to sell around 150,000 units in the United States in 2006, excluding the Lexus GS hybrid and others in the pipeline.
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Sex scandal goes limp: Take-Two Interactive (TTWO) said it would resume sales of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas in October, two months after the violent game was pulled from store shelves because of hidden sex scenes.
Take-Two's Rockstar Games publishing house said that starting Oct. 18, it would sell a special-edition of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas for Sony's (SNE) PlayStation 2 console system. It will include a DVD with a backstory to the game and a documentary film called Sunday Driver.
Take-Two also will release a bundle of Grand Theft Auto 3, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas for Microsoft's (MSFT) Xbox system.
Take-Two was forced to pull the blockbuster San Andreas off retail shelves this summer after people tinkering with the game's code found a hidden segment that let the player's character simulate sex with a female character.
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Compiled by Keith Axline. AP and Reuters contributed to this report.
