AllThingsD » penalties http://allthingsd.com Sat, 26 May 2012 19:52:25 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 http://allthingsd.com/theme/images/logo-rss.jpg All Things Digital http://allthingsd.com/ 144 22 Not So Scott Free? Yahoo's Other Big Shareholder -- Cap Re -- Leaning Toward Supporting Loeb Over Thompson ResuMess. http://allthingsd.com/20120510/not-so-scott-free-yahoos-other-big-shareholder-cap-re-leaning-toward-supporting-loeb-over-thompson-resumess/ http://allthingsd.com/20120510/not-so-scott-free-yahoos-other-big-shareholder-cap-re-leaning-toward-supporting-loeb-over-thompson-resumess/#comments Thu, 10 May 2012 22:56:57 +0000 Kara Swisher http://allthingsd.com/?p=206788

One of Yahoo’s biggest long-term investors, Capital Research and Management, which owns more than 10 percent of the company in two different funds, is leaning toward voting for the slate proposed by activist shareholder Daniel Loeb of Third Point, in the wake of the controversy around the botched bio of its new CEO Scott Thompson.

“Having a CEO with that hanging over his head is really a problem going forward,” said one person with knowledge of the situation. “It’s hard to pretend this is not a problem.”

While sources said Yahoo’s longtime institutional investor — which currently holds large stakes via its Capital Research Global Investors and Capital World Investors funds — is not likely to go public with their voting choice until close to the annual meeting, which will take place sometime this summer.

But its fund managers have told key Yahoo board members of their grave concerns over the situation.

Ironically, in the last proxy fight showdown with Carl Icahn, Capital removed its support of Yahoo’s slate too and was an important influence to many major changes at the company.

Such a move is problematic for Thompson, since the rejection of another big shareholder at its upcoming annual meeting will keep the unusual issue and right in the middle of a noisy proxy fight.

A special committee of the Yahoo board is investigating the situation — in which a fake computer science degree somehow got on the resume of the former president of eBay’s PayPal payments unit and later into official Yahoo regulatory filings.

The problem was uncovered last week — unfortunately for the Silicon Valley Internet giant — by Loeb, who has been banging away on Yahoo since.

A trio of independent Yahoo directors is looking into the mess, with a focus on how that happened, whether anyone at Yahoo knew of the inaccurate bio and how it got there in the first place.

Also of great concern, is how Thompson could have not seen the error in the many years it was on the Web site of eBay and also how he approved a bio that had the inaccuracy in it when he was hired by Yahoo in January.

Worse still, in a 2009 interview, he clearly did not say he did not have such a degree in with a radio show host when directly asked about it.

“It’s a little hard believe an executive of this level would have missed such a thing, when he had so many opportunities to fix it,” said one source. “And, if he did overlook it that many times, that’s a problem too.”

In fact, according to a report earlier today by Business Insider that I also confirmed, Thompson told employees today in two separate meetings that he did miss the error since it was placed there — inexplicably — in 2004. In the meeting, he blamed a low-level headhunting staffer who added it incorrectly, an error that then proliferated.

Thompson also said he did not provide a resume to the company in his hiring process — say whaaaat, but true — although this still does not absolve him from the original error.

As to the interview: Thompson said he did not want to be rude and correct the host of TechNation, Moira Gunn, after she clearly asserted to him he had a computer science degree as part of a question on his qualifications. Others present at the meetings said he said he did not hear the question.

But, in an video interview with me yesterday, though, Gunn said she and Thompson discussed a computer science education in a way that left the clear impression that he had obtained one.

While Thompson’s excuse may beggar the imagination of some, it’s his story and he’s sticking to it. In all seriousness, his complete lack of willingness to take responsibility for the error — even if it was not his fault — itself is a little startling.

Because what’s not clear is how the bio was miraculously correct in eBay’s official filings and also if it is plausible that he never saw the mistake.

Numerous communications execs at Internet companies told me that it was unusual for a high-level exec not to pay close attention to information that went out about them, especially in legal filings. In addition, just as many execs are made to check and swear on their bios that go into such documents.

In fact, it was Thompson’s job to make sure the things written about him were correct at all times. As CEO, as a major Silicon Valley player pointed out, he is required by federal law to personally certify Yahoo’s Securities and Exchange Commission filings. Violations of these rules carry financial and also potential criminal penalties.

Sources said the board is worried about that credibility issue too and it puts Thompson in an ever-dicier position. Noticeably, the board has yet to make a public statement of support for him on the issue.

Also a major worry for the directors is the mostly negative response to the situation from Yahoo employees, who are deeply upset that Thompson’s error was not caught and that he might not be treated in the same way as anyone else who turned in a false resume, whether it was by accident or not.

A Yahoo spokeswoman told me last week that there was also support internally for Thompson, but in many dozens of interviews I have done with Yahoo employees and a continued monitoring of internal bulletin board, the tone is not in his favor by any means.

Like I said, it’s a dicey time to be Scott Thompson right now.

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]]> http://allthingsd.com/20120510/not-so-scott-free-yahoos-other-big-shareholder-cap-re-leaning-toward-supporting-loeb-over-thompson-resumess/feed/ 0 Oracle to SAP: You Owe Us Another $212 Million http://allthingsd.com/20101210/oracle-wants-another-212-million-from-sap/ http://allthingsd.com/20101210/oracle-wants-another-212-million-from-sap/#comments Sat, 11 Dec 2010 06:15:14 +0000 John Paczkowski http://digitaldaily.allthingsd.com/?p=54220 Oracle is putting the screws to SAP again.

In court papers filed Friday, the company demanded SAP pay it $212 million in interest on top of the $1.3 billion in damages it was awarded in the TomorrowNow lawsuit. Should Oracle’s demand be approved, SAP’s total penalties would rise to $1.63 billion.

SAP, which argued in court that it should be held liable for no more than $28 million, clearly has no plans to pay Oracle the interest to which it says it’s entitled.

Said an SAP spokesman, “We don’t believe that Oracle is entitled to any additional compensation beyond the final judgement in this case.” 

Reached for comment, Oracle declined to give one.

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]]> http://allthingsd.com/20101210/oracle-wants-another-212-million-from-sap/feed/ 0 FCC to Google: A $350 “Equipment Recovery Fee”? What's Up With That? http://allthingsd.com/20100127/fcc-to-google-a-350-%e2%80%9cequipment-recovery-fee%e2%80%9d-whats-up-with-that/ http://allthingsd.com/20100127/fcc-to-google-a-350-%e2%80%9cequipment-recovery-fee%e2%80%9d-whats-up-with-that/#comments Wed, 27 Jan 2010 14:02:30 +0000 John Paczkowski http://digitaldaily.allthingsd.com/?p=33604 The Federal Communications Commission, which has sent letters to all major carriers regarding their wireless early-termination fees, has expanded its investigation to include an industry newcomer: Google.

On Tuesday, the agency sent a letter to the search company inquiring about the $350 “equipment recovery fee” it has attached to its new Nexus One phone. Levied in addition to a $200 termination fee from T-Mobile, Google’s charge means that Nexus One users who cancel service in under 120 days face a total of $550 in penalties.

“The combination of ETFs from Google and T-Mobile for the Nexus One is unique among the four major national carriers,” the FCC said in its letter. “Consumers have been surprised by this policy and by its financial impact. Please let us know your rationale(s) for these combined fees, and whether you have coordinated or will coordinate on these fees and on the disclosure of their combined effect.”

Among the other questions put to Google:

  • Does the ETF itself vary by device (e.g., higher ETFs for advanced devices)? If higher ETFs apply to a certain class of devices, exactly how is that class defined?
  • Are ETFs prorated so that the customer’s liability decreases over time? If so, what is the exact schedule by which they are prorated?
  • Press reports and public statements from wireless companies have attributed ETFs to several different factors. What is the rationale for your ETF(s), and how specifically do the structure and level of those ETF(s) relate to that rationale?

Google (GOOG) has previously dismissed questions likes these, claiming fees like those it has implemented are “standard practice” for third-party resellers of mobile service, who are only trying to recoup subsidies they offer customers who sign up for multiyear service contracts.

But that doesn’t quite explain why the fees charged by Google and T-Mobile together amount to far more than most ETFs. Now that the FCC is asking, Google will have to offer a more complete explanation.

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20100127/fcc-to-google-a-350-%e2%80%9cequipment-recovery-fee%e2%80%9d-whats-up-with-that/feed/ 0 Google CEO: I Ain’t Afraid of No Feds… http://allthingsd.com/20090508/google-ceo-i-ain%e2%80%99t-afraid-of-no-feds/ http://allthingsd.com/20090508/google-ceo-i-ain%e2%80%99t-afraid-of-no-feds/#comments Sat, 09 May 2009 00:02:27 +0000 John Paczkowski http://digitaldaily.allthingsd.com/?p=17300

[ See post to watch video ]

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20090508/google-ceo-i-ain%e2%80%99t-afraid-of-no-feds/feed/ 0 Sun Open-Sources U.S. Antibribery Laws http://allthingsd.com/20090508/sun-open-sources-us-anti-bribery-laws/ http://allthingsd.com/20090508/sun-open-sources-us-anti-bribery-laws/#comments Fri, 08 May 2009 18:39:10 +0000 John Paczkowski http://digitaldaily.allthingsd.com/?p=17271 briberyA couple bombshells in Sun Microsystems’s latest 10-Q filing. Seems the company believes it may have violated the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which bans the bribery of foreign government officials. “During fiscal year 2009, we identified activities in a certain foreign country that may have violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). We initiated an independent investigation with the assistance of outside counsel and took remedial action,” the company explained in the filing. “We recently made a voluntary disclosure with respect to this and other matters to the Department of Justice (DOJ), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the applicable governmental agencies in certain foreign countries regarding the results of our investigations to date. We are cooperating with the DOJ and SEC in connection with their review of these matters and the outcome of these, or any future matters, cannot be predicted.”

It’s not clear what activities are at issue here, but if they’re found to be in violation of the FCPA, Sun (JAVA) could be in a for a rough time of it. As the company itself notes, “The FCPA and related statutes and regulations provide for potential monetary penalties, criminal sanctions and in some cases debarment from doing business with the U.S. federal government in connection with FCPA violations, any of which could have a material effect on our business.”

Also disclosed in the filing: three class action suits seeking to block Oracle’s $7.4 billion acquisition of the company. “Three putative shareholder class action were filed by individual shareholders on April 20, 2009, April 30, 2009 and April 30, 2009, respectively, in Santa Clara County Superior Court naming Sun and certain of our officers and directors, as well as Oracle Corporation, as defendants,” Sun explains. “The complaints, which are similar, seek to enjoin the proposed acquisition of Sun by Oracle Corporation and allege claims for breach of fiduciary against the individual defendants and for aiding and abetting a breach of fiduciary duty against the corporate defendants. The complaints generally allege that the consideration offered in the proposed transaction is unfair and inadequate. Sun and the other defendants have not yet responded to the complaints.”

Wonder what Oracle (ORCL) will make of all this?

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20090508/sun-open-sources-us-anti-bribery-laws/feed/ 1 NBC Universal CEO: I Can Has Pro-IP Act? http://allthingsd.com/20080502/pro-ip/ http://allthingsd.com/20080502/pro-ip/#comments Fri, 02 May 2008 07:00:07 +0000 John Paczkowski http://digitaldaily.allthingsd.com/20071207/pro-ip/ zucker_lolz.jpg
If there was an Emmy Award for legislation production, NBC Universal Chief Executive Jeff Zucker would surely win it. Last October he called upon Congress to pass a bill that would create a dedicated intellectual-property enforcement bureau and today it’s looking more and more like he’s going to get it.

This week members of the House Judiciary Committee passed the Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property (called “PRO IP” groan…) Act of 2007, legislation that would create an “anti-piracy czar” at the White House level, a separate IP-enforcement division at the Justice Department and ratchet up already high civil penalties for copyright infringement.

The measure is backed by many of the most powerful politicians on the House Judiciary Committee, including John Conyers (D., Mich.), Lamar Smith (R., Texas) and “Hollywood” Howard Berman (D., Calif.), the content cartel and, of course, Zucker, who likes to tell everyone that it dramatically advances the cause of protecting innovation, technological invention and creativity.

Said Zucker, “This is such an important step in combating this incredibly serious piracy and counterfeiting problem that’s getting worse, not better.”

In Zucker’s eyes, maybe. But not in the eyes of consumer folks like Google Senior Copyright Counsel William Patry who calls Pro IP “the most outrageously gluttonous IP bill ever introduced in the U.S.” and consumer advocacy group Public Knowledge which feels it is in sore need of adjustment.:

This bill takes already extraordinary copyright damages and increases them, expanding the threat of litigation intended to stifle competition and innovation. … Increasing penalties is one of the least necessary, and quite possibly counterproductive, actions the committee could take, particularly when current law is adequate to deal with most infringement issues and because the higher penalties serve only to force faster and larger settlements potentially from innovators. … Instead of following the course of this bill, the committee should look to the future, to a more realistic and rational copyright regime that can adapt pre-VCR copyright laws to a post-YouTube world.”

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