Cablevision Systems Corp. is mulling plans to pull the plug on free online access for its Long Island daily Newsday, but details are sketchy as to how the cable operator expects to succeed in a strategy that has flummoxed the newspaper industry.

The head of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has agreed to halve a new emergency fee on U.S. banks in exchange for Congress more than tripling the agency's borrowing authority to tap federal aid if needed to replenish the deposit insurance fund.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld a state law banning local governments from letting workers use payroll deductions to fund their union's political activities, a decision that could strike at organized labor's ability to raise funds at local levels.
Key members of Congress on Friday criticized the growing number of state programs that use banks to pay unemployment benefits while collecting fees from jobless-aid recipients, saying action is needed.
States that have partnered with banks to distribute unemployment benefits through debit cards:

For hundreds of thousands of workers losing their jobs during the recession, there's a new twist to their financial pain: Even as they're collecting unemployment benefits, they're paying bank fees just to get access to their money.

FIA president Max Mosley has dismissed the protests from Formula One drivers over increased license fees, saying the well-paid pilots should leave the sport if they don't feel they can afford to race.
The Supreme Court has unanimously upheld the right of a local public employees' union to force government workers who are not union members to pay a share of legal fees.
The Los Angeles City Council has voted to waive more than $100,000 in fees associated with next month's Grammy Awards, despite a city budget gap of over $400 million.
In a tough investing climate mutual fund investors should take note of what investing fees they're being charged. Costs associated with an individual investor's transactions and account are listed in a fee table, located near the front of a fund's prospectus, under the heading "Shareholder Fees."
Dismal market performance in 2008 has many investors thinking about a new investment strategy for the coming year — a key element of which should be to slash investment fees.

When airlines started charging some passengers $15 or more earlier this year to check their bags, they blamed soaring fuel costs. Since then, oil has plummeted. Yet the industry hasn't stowed away the bag fees.
Hidden fees are everywhere — checking accounts, credit cards, cell phones, cable bills. It's tough to stay on top of all of the charges, but with mounting expenses and dwindling incomes, an extra $10-20 a month on a couple of bills can add up to several hundred dollars a year in unnecessary expenses.
The EU business lobby urged the European Union Thursday to drop anti-pollution plans that could increase costs for companies, saying the current financial crisis is already badly hurting their competitiveness.

Silly me. I thought it was the road to hell that was paved with good intentions. Turns out it’s the corridor to baggage claim.
Gus West uses prepaid calling cards to keep in touch with friends in Nicaragua. Other than the Internet, this is the cheapest way to call internationally. “But you never know how many minutes you’ll get out of a card. Some don’t even work,” he says.
Media organizations will have to pay up if they want a prime spot to cover Democrat Barack Obama's Election Night party in a downtown lakefront park.
Following its rivals, Sprint Nextel Corp. will soon begin trimming the fees customers face for canceling their cell phone service early.
Saying it's only fair, Michigan lawmakers plan to raise residential electricity bills and drop business rates so all customers are charged the true cost of their power.
Frontier Airlines is the latest airline to announce it will start charging fees when certain customers redeem frequent-flier miles.

Some people who sell things on eBay are fed up with new rules the company has been imposing in hopes of making the auction site more attractive to online shoppers. Now even more changes are coming in the next few weeks, but this time eBay Inc. hopes it can cool tempers.
The fees that cell phone carriers charge customers who break service contracts took a big hit in a California courtroom when a judge said such charges by Sprint Nextel Corp. likely violate state law.
Verizon Wireless has agreed to pay $21 million to settle a lawsuit filed by California customers upset with the company's early termination fees, a lawyer on the case said Wednesday.

