Court will hear Ariz. case on voter registration

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court will take up an appeal from Arizona over its requirement that people prove they are American citizens before registering to vote.

The justices on Monday said they will review a federal appeals court ruling that blocked the law in some instances.

A 12-member panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco said that federal law trumps the Arizona requirement. Federal law allows voters to fill out a mail-in voter registration card and swear they are citizens under penalty of perjury, but it doesn’t require them to show proof as Arizona’s 2004 law does.

The ruling applies only to people who seek to register using the federal mail-in form. Arizona has its own form and an online system to register when renewing a driver’s license. The court ruling did not affect proof of citizenship requirements using the state forms.

UK’s Cameron signs Scotland referendum deal

EDINBURGH — Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron signed a deal Monday with the leader of Scotland’s separatist administration on a referendum that could break up the United Kingdom.

Officials from London and Edinburgh have been meeting for weeks to hammer out details of a vote on Scottish independence. Sticking points included the date and the wording of the question.

Cameron met Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond in Edinburgh to approve the deal, calling for a referendum before the end of 2014.

The prime minister is expected later to praise Scotland’s two governments for coming together to deliver a “legal, fair and decisive” referendum that now puts the decision on a separate Scotland or a United Kingdom in the people’s hands.

If Scotland does break away it will end more than 300 years of political union with England.

Kindle customers may get credit via settlements

NEW YORK — Amazon has alerted its Kindle customers that they are entitled to a credit on prior electronic book purchases as part of settlements between some major e-book publishers and the government.

In September a federal judge approved the U.S. Justice Department’s settlement with Hachette, HarperCollins and Simon & Schuster, which were accused of conspiring in a price-fixing scheme.

Amazon.com Inc. told its Kindle customers over the weekend that they will be contacted when the credit is applied to their account if the court approves the settlement in February. Customers don’t need to do anything to receive the credit.

Credit for an as-yet undetermined amount will be given for every eligible Kindle book purchased between April 2010 and May 2012. The credit can be used to buy e-books or print books, or customers can request a check in the amount of the credit.

Pizza Hut rethinks presidential debate stunt

NEW YORK — Pizza Hut is rethinking its contest daring people to ask “Sausage or Pepperoni?” at the presidential debate Tuesday.

After the stunt triggered backlash last week, the company says it’s moving the promotion online, where a contestant will be randomly selected to win free pizza for life.

The pizza delivery chain had offered the prize — a pie a week for 30 years or a check for $15,600 — to anyone who posed the question to either President Barack Obama or Republican candidate Mitt Romney during the live Town Hall-style debate.

But blogs and media outlets immediately took the pizza delivery chain to task for trying to capitalize on the election buzz by injecting itself into the process.

A Pizza Hut spokesman says in an email that moving the contest online was a “natural progression of the campaign” after people got excited about the idea and “wished they could get in on it.” Contestants must enter their email addresses on the site to be eligible.

The change comes after Pizza Hut’s stunt became the butt of jokes last week.

In a segment on Comedy Central’s “Colbert Report,” host Stephen Colbert asked, “What could be more American than using our electoral process for product placement?”

Colbert said the prize for a free Pizza Hut pie every week meant that “if you eat one of their pizzas every week, you will die in 30 years.”

The blog Gawker wrote about the stunt under the headline, “Want Free Pizza Hut Pizza for Life? Just Make a Mockery of the American Democratic System on Live TV.” The site wrote that all the contestant had to do was “embarrass themselves on live television before the President of the United States and millions of their fellow Americans.”

As TV audiences become increasingly resistant to traditional commercials, marketers have been looking for new ways to engage viewers. The presidential election presents a rare opportunity, with more Americans tuning in to the debates.

Earlier this month, an estimated 67.2 million people watched the first debate between Obama and Romney. That made it the largest TV audience for a presidential debate since 1992, according to Nielsen’s ratings service.