LEGAL FILE

CNN Tries for Vietnam Broadcasts: Turner Broadcasting System has filed a lawsuit asking to be allowed to provide its Cable News Network to Vietnam, a Turner official said. Atlanta-based Turner Broadcasting wants to provide a satellite receiving station to the Vietnamese at no charge and give them the right to take the CNN signal for 50 Vietnamese dong a year, worth less than a penny, said Bertram Carp, a Turner vice president in Washington. U.S. law prohibits most trade with Vietnam. Turner said in its lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Washington that CNN would qualify under a 1988 amendment to trade law that exempts information materials--which the Bush Administration currently interprets as physical material such as books or videocassettes--from trade sanctions. Treasury Department spokesman Larry Batdorf said he could not comment until department attorneys had reviewed the suit.