The administration of President Obama is taking into consideration a plan that would oblige more businesses to pay the corporate income tax in a reform that might be released earlier this month, an industry group said on Monday.

The tax reform proposal entitles businesses with gross receipts more than $50 million to pay the corporate income tax in lieu of the individual income tax. In this case, business partnerships such as hedge firms and law firms are likely to be most affected.

According to a letter from Mary Lyman, the executive director of National Association of Publicly Traded Partnerships, the proposal includes corporate taxation for $50 million or more pass-through entity gross receipts.

Pass-through entities mean both income and tax liability are being carried on by the individual, instead of the company. Although the highest corporate tax rate is currently equal to the highest individual tax rate, several firms still have income tax at lower rates for capital gains.

The reform is being worked by the Treasury Department staff. While cutting on credits and deductions, the U.S. administration is creating a plan to cut down the 35 percent corporate tax rate. It is currently the highest rate for corporate tax in the entire world.

According to a source, details about the reform could materialize as early as this month. Several lawmakers are against the corporate tax reform alone. However, Lyman believes several businesses would object to the plans that would force them to pay corporate taxes as well.

Sony Co., in a blog post Thursday, announced that every single important record from the breached credit card database last week was encrypted. But, security experts say it was not enough to fully protect the Sony PlayStation users and that consumer data might still be used by the hackers.

On Friday, reports had been released saying the hackers may have obtained the consumer’s credit card numbers. However, evidences are not enough to verify its existence.

According to security researchers, they have seen comments from Internet forums that tell how hackers have made there way to about 2.2 million credit card numbers, as well as the names of the customers, their addresses, usernames and passwords.

Also, senior threat researcher at Trend Micro security firm, Kevin Stevens said he had seen the discussion about the database on various hacker forums. The discussions even indicated that the hackers of Sony’s PlayStation network wanted to sell the list of credit card for more than $100,000.

If hackers have actually obtained the credit card records from Sony, researchers say encryption is not enough to totally protect the database. They believe that the data is still at risk with the lack of information released by the multinational corporation.

Sony says they have no proofs that the credit card data was actually taken. However, if ever hackers have actually obtained millions of credit card numbers, researchers say encryption is not enough to protect the database.

The incident raised discussions among privacy and security experts, saying a lot of valuable information is easily left at risk.

The huge earthquake followed by a Tsunami in Japan that happened a few weeks back are now hurting the sales of U.S. companies that are serving Japanese consumers. Although Japanese shoppers are showing a little resilience, large U.S. companies like Coca-Cola, Coach Inc., and 3M Co. are feeling the effects of the disaster that struck Japan.

Japan has the world’s third largest economy and although people there were tight-fisted with money even before the March 2011 catastrophe, the country remained to be a primary market for a lot of companies.

Coach, a world-renowned maker of signature handbags and other accessories, generates almost 20 percent of their sales from Japan. The earthquake, its aftermath, and the current nuclear disaster Japan is facing right now could significantly reduce the company’s projected annual earnings by 2 to 3 percent; that is 5 percent of Wall Street’s yearly profit forecast.

On the other hand, Muhtar Kent, a Coca-Cola Chief Executive, said on a conference call that the supply chain is under stress due to Japan’s inability to provide some raw materials needed for production. Indeed, Coke said that the recent events in the country have hampered a lot of bottlers’ capacity to produce enough products for the anticipated growth in demand on summer.

Wal-Mart said that the best way to stabilize sales in Japan is to reach out to them. The company has shipped water and food from Canada to meet the demands in their 400 stores in Japan. Wal-Mart Executive Mike Duke said that doing so will really help consumers in Japan recover from the disaster.

Misrata received a barrage of rockets and shells on Sunday from Moammar Gadhafi’s forces. Despite the bloody weekend, however, rebel forces said that they drove the pro-government forces from Libya’s third largest city. Doctors said that the battle killed 32 people and wounded more in a matter of two days.

The battle in Misrata has been the focal point of armed rebellion in Libya against Gadhafi because it has become impossible to do it elsewhere. In the past two months, the battle has already claimed countless lives.

Videos and photos of Misrata civilians wounded or killed by Gadhafi’s forces and heavy weaponry have caused the international community to give more forceful interventions to help the rebels. Back in Washington, a couple members of the Senate Armed Services Committee believes that more efforts should be implemented to force Gadhafi out of power. They said that they should increase airstrikes, especially on his inner circle.

In the recent days, however, the rebels’ efforts to push Gadhafi out have gained momentum. Just last week, government snipers were forced out of some buildings within the city. Moreover, rebels gained control of Libyan troops’ last position in Misrata – the main hospital – on Sunday.

25-year old Ali Misbah, a Libyan soldier who was captured during one of the fights, said that Gadhafi’s troops are starting to get disheartened. He even said that their spirits are very low because some of the forces that were supposed to be backing them up left them alone.

For the longest time, teenagers across America have been accustomed to call help lines or toll-free hotlines whenever they need help with difficult things (usually if they have questions about sex, teenage pregnancy, and AIDS). However, most of these numbers now are answered by giggling girls offering dirty talk.

Those often naughty “misdials” with girls (or even guys) offering to have sex on the phone, seems to be no accident after all. The Associated Press found out that a PrimeTel Communications – a company quietly operating in Philadelphia for the past 13 years – has been keeping a look out for 1-800 numbers; snatching them as soon as the previous owners give them up. At present, they own over a quarter of all 1-800 numbers in the U.S.; and even in Canada.

Numbers like 1-800-Cadilac or 1-800-Minolta will redirect your call to erotic chat lines owned and operated by National A-1 Advertising. The said advertising company holds office in the same building as PrimeTel. Also, we found out that they have the same owners and similar business contacts.

Apparently, neither National A-1 Advertising, nor PrimeTel Communications are prohibited by law to operate erotic chat lines. They may also offer to provide pleasure over the phone and as such, they are also authorized to take credit card information. However, PrimeTel Communications have been facing lawsuits over the past few years as no one is allowed to hoard 1-800 numbers.

The Federal Communications Commission have not really taken action on this matter yet but they have submitted subpoenas to several telecommunications companies, PrimeTel included, to explain how they got hold of their 1-800 numbers.

The United States was castigated by world finance leaders on Saturday because of its inadequate actions to lessen its large budget deficits. Finance leaders said monetary constraints in rich countries such as the United States can largely jeopardize global recovery.

On Saturday, finance ministries were in Washington for its semi-annual meeting. This time, they have discussed more about the $14 trillion debt accumulated by the United States.

Most of the emerging market economies, which took part in the meeting, criticized the actions of the United States. However, some advanced nations reinforced the talks as well.

According to Dutch finance minister Jan Kees de Jager, if advanced nations act too slowly to reduce massive financial deficits, this could further lead to more sustainability issues and weaken the outlook of global economy. He said debt dynamics in other advanced economies together with the United States are of major concern.

The International Monetary Fund said that the U.S. budget deficit was about to reach 10.8 percent of the nation’s economic output this year. The federal country ties with Ireland for the highest deficit-to-GDP ration among several other advanced economies.

The committee’s advisory panel on Saturday said that concerns for financial stability, as well as sovereign debt stability must be addressed. It said credible actions must be made to push progress.

The House of Representatives, led by the Republican party, approved a plan on Friday to cut spending by about $6 trillion over a decade and slash benefits for the poor and elderly.

President Barach Obama, who offered plans to reduce deficits by $4 trillion over 12 years, said on Thursday that the plan of the Republicans would just create a nation of potholes. The administration is worried about cutting budget spending sharply while economic recovery remains volatile.

A long term plan, which is likely to offer solution on the budget deficit reduction, is being proposed by President Obama on Wednesday. In his speech, Obama is likely to ask for a “shared sacrifice,” which involves budget cuts and taxes to solve the country’s national debts.

An even larger budget fight awaits President Barrack Obama and the leaders from the the Democratic and Republican parties in the Congress on Monday, just few days after a nearly narrow escape from a possibly harmful federal government shutdown.

For the next few months, conflicts are expected to arise in the political regime and would most probably highlight President Obama’s race in the re-election in 2012. This would likely outshine the $38 billion spending cut for the last six months of this year.

Representative Eric Cantor, the no. 2 Republican in the House of Representatives said the spending cut agreed this week is only the start of what he called the first bite of the apple. Several Republicans, who made out big in the last November elections, are doubtful of President Obama’s sincerity on the debt reduction.

On his interview with Fox news, Cantor said it is difficult to trust what the Obama administration is saying or what it is going to say.

Obama’s said plan will investigate savings in the area of defense spending, as well as the state-run Medicare, including Medicaid programs for the health of the poor and elderly people. This aims to cut the $1.4 trillion yearly financial deficit said Senior White House adviser David Plouffe.

Federal appeals court said Monday that Former Harvard University schoolmates of Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook founder, have no way of undoing their settlement on the creation of the acclaimed social networking site.

The Court of Appeals said that Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss were technologically knowledgeable enough to understand the agreement they signed in 2008. The deal included a $20 million payment in cash and only partial ownership of the site. One other schoolmate, Divya Narendra, took part of the agreement 3 years ago but decided not to join the twins in the second lawsuit they filed against Zuckerberg.

The settlement’s worth has bubbled to $160 million because of Facebook’s increasing value. The Winklevoss brothers insisted that Facebook’s real value was not disclosed properly when they signed the settlement agreement in their lawsuit claiming they own the original idea of Facebook and Zuckerberg simply stole it from them.

Alex Kozinksi, chief justice of the litigation, said that the twins knew what the settlement entitled during their mediation meeting years ago. The twins even brought six lawyers during the meeting, he said.

Facebook which is now valued at millions of dollars has become a world-wide phenomenon. A networking site that originally started as a way for students of Harvard to keep in touch with each other is now used by almost everyone who has access to the internet.

The social networking site said Monday that they are very happy with the results. Winklevoss twins lawyers said that they are still in the process of reviewing the decision and will then plan their next step. They still have the option of raising the case to the Supreme Court.

President Obama and the congressional leaders agreed on a budget deal and short term funding extension on Friday night. The deal, which was agreed an hour before the given deadline at midnight, prevents the shutdown of the federal government.

The budget deal will keep the government funded until April 15. The deal calls for $38.5 billion in spending cuts. The vote to extend the funding immediately passed on the Senate on Friday, as well as on the House of Representatives early Saturday.

President Obama signed the short-term extension on Saturday. He said in his weekly address on Saturday that the deal will allow small business to get the loans that they need, families can get the mortgages that they have applied for, and thousands of working Americans can get their paychecks on time.

Obama said the the agreement was the biggest spending cut in the history. However, it is also a deal that will serve as the country’s investment for the future.

The government shutdown might have closed a lot of public-owned properties in the United States, including parks, tax season-help lines and other popular services that are managed by the government.

The deal finally came together after six tough weeks along with the outbreak of budget brinkmanship. The House is expected to consider the budget deal on Monday while a vote is scheduled for Wednesday. The Senate will consider the bill some time after the scheduled votes, spokesman of Senate Majority Leader from Harry Reid’s office, Jon Summers said.

United States President Barack Obama and all the congressional leaders have not reached an agreement regarding the compromise and the plans to cut spending costs. Analysts fear that the disagreements within the congress will force a Friday midnight government shutdown. No one, however, seems to want a shutdown.

The President, Senate Majority Leader, and Speaker of the House John Boehner said that during two meetings in the White House, some of the differences have been narrowed down. They worked through the night to come up with a deal. Right after the meeting, Obama said in the White House’s briefing room that he wants and answer by sun up.

The president fears that a shutdown will cause a huge blow to the already improving U.S economy. In the last months, the economy has started to create jobs for a lot of people and Obama believes it is unacceptable to put a stop on the improvement just because Washington can’t get it right.

Because coming up with an agreement seems to be a long shot, Republicans passed a legislation to fund the Pentagon for another six months but cut $12 billion on domestic spending. Boehner said that there is no reason that the Senate should not follow the House in making sure that the government remains open.

Obama, however, threatened to veto the bill even before the said bill passed. The White House said that the legislation looks like a distraction from what the congress should be focusing on.

The Senate is yet to pass its own bill. In the mean time, the Congress passed two short-term measures just to keep the government running. Moreover, they also approved $10 billion worth of budget cuts.