Auction planned by Maui Pine

Millions of dollars' worth of vehicles, industrial equipment and other items will be auctioned off by Maui Pineapple Co. at 10 a.m. March 23 at the Maui Beach Hotel.

Pineapple processing equipment, compressors, heavy equipment including a backhoe, crawler loaders, forklifts, Kenworth trucks, flatbed trucks, pickup trucks, passenger buses, golf carts, welding shop items and more may be previewed online at http://www.hsblinks.com/24r. The auction is aimed at contractors and industrial-type businesses but is open to the public and will be webcast as well.

The equipment is being sold following the pineapple operation's closure by Maui Land & Pineapple Co. in November.

China warns Google of reprisals

BEIJING » One of China's top Internet regulators warned bluntly yesterday that any move by Google to stop censoring its Chinese search engine would be “;irresponsible”; and would draw a response from the Beijing government.

The statement by Li Yizhong, China's minister of industry and information technology, followed a statement on Wednesday by Google's chief executive officer, Eric Schmidt, that “;something will happen soon”; in the two-month standoff over Internet censorship between his firm and the Chinese government.

But it is no more clear what that something might be than it was two months ago, when Google executives first threatened to pull out of China unless the government stopped forcing it to censor the results of users' Internet searches.

Chinese journalists gathered outside Google's Beijing offices yesterday said they had heard the company was planning to close its doors here. But a Google spokeswoman denied that in a Thursday article in the government-run English-language newspaper, China Daily.

Harley-Davidson CEO received $6.4M

NEW YORK » The CEO of Harley-Davidson Inc., who took over the motorcycle maker partway through 2009, received a pay package valued at $6.4 million during his first eight months on the job, according to a regulatory filing.

Keith Wandell received a base salary of $650,025 from his start date of May 1 through the end of 2009, according to a proxy filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. He received a bonus of $780,030 and stock and option awards valued at $4.9 million at the time they were issued.

He also received other compensation worth $22,515, which includes a cash payment of $19,733 instead of perquisites. Wandell, 60, replaced James Ziemer, who retired last year after 40 years with Harley-Davidson and four years as its CEO. Before taking over Harley, Wandell was chief operating officer of the car battery and building ventilation systems maker Johnson Controls Inc.

AT&T suit claims infringing by TiVo

AT&T Inc., the biggest U.S. telephone company, sued TiVo Inc., saying that company's digital video recorder infringes four of its patents.

The patents involve technologies for “;defining rules for personal agents,”; “;providing bookmarks when listening to previously recorded audio programs,”; “;asymmetric data communications”; and “;tracking network use,”; AT&T said in a complaint filed yesterday in federal court in San Jose, Calif. The infringing functions include TiVo's “;Season Pass Manager,”; AT&T said. In August, TiVo sued AT&T and Verizon Communications Inc., claiming their DVR systems infringe its patents, including a so-called time-warp patent. TiVo's claims against AT&T center on the Dallas-based company's U-verse service through which it supplies television to customers.

On the Move

» Kane International Corp. has promoted John M. Kane to president from vice president. He has been with the company for 25 years.

» The Hilton Waikiki/Prince Kuhio has hired:

—John Dominguez as senior sales manager. His experience includes being director of group sales at Sheraton Keauhou Bay Resort & Spa and director of sales and marketing at Sheraton Kauai Resort Poipu Beach.

—Sandy Narvaez as leisure sales manager. She has worked for the Wedding Ring Shop, Makaha Resort & Golf Club and Polynesian Adventure Tours.

—Angie Toailoa as director of events and catering. She has 23 years' experience in the industry, including as director of events and catering at Hilton Waikoloa Village and Hilton Salt Lake City.

» Allana Buick & Bers has promoted Ian M. Forsyth to associate principal from assistant operations manager. He has been with the company for four years and has more than 10 years' experience with other firms.