The May 2004 agreement to share names, addresses, travel schedules and other passenger records was signed in response to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the U.S. But the European Parliament opposed the pact and appealed to the Court of Justice, arguing that the U.S. doesn't have data protection rules that are equivalent to the ones in Europe.

Loss at Vodafone leads to layoffs, IT changes

NEWBURY, England -- Vodafone Group PLC last week reported a massive loss for the fiscal year that ended March 31 and announced restructuring plans that include an overhaul of its IT organization. Nonetheless, the company said its business operations continue to perform well.

The loss did prompt the mobile network operator to make moves to cut costs, including plans to eliminate about 400 jobs at its corporate headquarters here, mostly in marketing. Vodafone employs about 60,000 workers worldwide.

The company also said it plans to centralize its IT operations in order to reduce the number of its data centers and consolidate systems administration activities. In addition, it expects to move many IT functions from Europe to locations with cheaper labor costs.