Why Microsoft's New EU Fine is Just Fine
,----[ Quote ]
| That would be bad enough, but on top of that, Microsoft will, for the first
| time, be taking on a huge amount of debt to help pay for Yahoo if the
| acquisition goes through. So as well as a hugely-stressed and possibly
| warring management structure, Microsoft will also have to cope with interest
| payments on its debt, which will need to be funded out of earnings. In
| addition, those earnings have to rise pretty steeply to justify the whole
| Yahoo adventure, or shareholders will start to express their dissatisfaction.
|
| Against this background, the last thing Microsoft needs is fines. Remember
| that we are not in fact talking about “just” €899 million here: as the EU
| commissioner Neelie Kroes noted during the press conference announcing the
| latest fine, the cumulative amount that Microsoft must pay the EU is €1.6767
| billion. The fact of the matter is that if the Yahoo deal goes through,
| Microsoft will be strapped for cash, and paying out over one and half billion
| euros for “nothing” will hurt.
|
| [...]
|
| Whatever happens with OOXML and the Danish complaint, the key gain for
| openness has already been achieved. Unable to regard fines from the EU with
| indifference or even contempt, Microsoft will have to start really playing by
| the rules. Finally.
`----
http://www.linuxjournal.com/content/why-microsofts-new-eu-fine-just-fine
Whenever you see an abusive troll in COLA, remind yourself that this is why.
The trolls will soon be leaving their long-time job as Microsoft
shills/partners/apologists/whatever.
Microsoft disassembled /itself/, thanks for criminal behaviour.
Recent:
Microsoft's Last Big Beat: Internet Domination or Death
,----[ Quote ]
| What can $44.6B USD mean? Well, for Microsoft (MSFT) it may mean the cost of
| survival.
`----
http://seekingalpha.com/article/63876-microsoft-s-last-big-beat-internet-domination-or-death?source=yahoo
Microsoft says to borrow money for Yahoo deal
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft Corp said on Monday it may borrow money for the first time in its
| history to fund a portion of its $44.6 billion unsolicited offer for Yahoo
| Inc.
`----
http://www.reuters.com/article/companyNews/idUSN0455692920080205
Related:
Will Microsoft Survive the Next 10 Years?
,----[ Quote ]
| I am not really an expert in this but when I read all the negative
| headlines and articles I ask myself if Microsoft really will survive
| the next 10 years.
|
| [...]
|
| I am pretty sure that the Open Source Community, the new Ubuntu,
| Google and of course Apple are those companies that are ready for
| our century and they will get more and more people that know what
| they really want.
`----
http://websquirrel.blogspot.com/2007/03/will-microsoft-survive-next-10-years.html
P. Graham: Microsoft is Dead
,----[ Quote ]
| A few days ago I suddenly realized Microsoft was dead. I was talking
| to a young startup founder about how Google was different from Yahoo.
| I said that Yahoo had been warped from the start by their fear of
| Microsoft. That was why they'd positioned themselves as a "media
| company" instead of a technology company. Then I looked at his face
| and realized he didn't understand. It was as if I'd told him how much
| girls liked Barry Manilow in the mid 80s. Barry who?
|
| Microsoft? He didn't say anything, but I could tell he didn't quite
| believe anyone would be frightened of them.
`----
http://www.paulgraham.com/microsoft.html
Microsoft's DreamSpark – What a Giveaway
,----[ Quote ]
| The rest of the $44.6bn (£22.3bn) deal would be financed with an undisclosed
| amount of credit.
|
| What that means is that it must squeeze as much money as it can from its
| operations to fund that debt and still pay dividends to shareholders, who
| will be looking for some payback from the Yahoo takeover. Giving away
| software is the last thing it would want to do in these circumstances, and
| the DreamSpark announcement shows just how worried it is about the future.
`----
http://www.linuxjournal.com/content/microsofts-dreamspark-%E2%80%93-what-giveaway
Debt in Disguise
,----[ Quote ]
| The purpose of securitization is to make the credit rating of the company
| practically irrelevant in a financing, so that even in a bankruptcy the
| receivables cash flow will be protected....
|
| The rating agencies also rely greatly on legal constructs that say the
| payment stream to investors will not be hindered. For instance, the transfer
| of receivables to the SPE must be a "true sale." That is, the seller must not
| retain too much of the reward or the risk coming from the asset, says Robert
| Hahn, a partner with Hunton & Williams LLP. In addition, the SPE has to
| be "nonrecourse" — in other words, the company's creditors must not have
| claim to the assets of the SPE if the originating company goes bankrupt.
|
| "Securitization divorces the creditworthiness of the [company] from the
| credit of the pool," says Mark Spradling, a partner with Vinson & Elkings
| LLP. "True sale and nonconsolidation are part of that separation."
|
| But the opinion that legal control of receivables has passed to a third party
| has not been litigated in the bankruptcy courts....
|
| Tapping the capital markets without a lending bank in between means that even
| non-investment-grade companies can finance at near what triple-A companies
| pay.
`----
http://www.cfo.com/article.cfm/10013957/c_10203909?f=home_todayinfinance&x=1
Microsoft's 10-Q on the impact of litigation
,----[ Quote ]
| Antitrust, unfair competition, and overcharge class actions. A large number
| of antitrust and unfair competition class action lawsuits have been filed
| against us in various state, federal, and Canadian courts on behalf of
| various classes of direct and indirect purchasers of our PC operating system
| and certain other software products. We obtained dismissals of damages claims
| of indirect purchasers under federal law and in 15 states. Courts refused to
| certify classes in two additional states. We have reached agreements to
| settle all claims that have been made to date in 19 states....
|
| Other antitrust litigation and claims. In November 2004, Novell, Inc. filed a
| complaint in U.S. District Court in Utah, now consolidated with other cases
| in Maryland, asserting antitrust and unfair competition claims against us
| related to Novell’s ownership of WordPerfect and other productivity
| applications during the period between June 1994 and March 1996. ...
|
| Patent and intellectual property claims. We are vigorously defending more
| than 45 patent infringement cases. ...
|
| Adverse outcomes in some or all of the matters described in this section may
| result in significant monetary damages or injunctive relief against us that
| would adversely affect distribution of our operating system or application
| products. We may enter into material settlements because of these risks. ...
|
| As of December 31, 2007, we had accrued aggregate liabilities of
| approximately $840 million in other current liabilities and approximately
| $660 million in other long-term liabilities for all of the contingent matters
| described in this note. While we intend to vigorously defend these matters,
| there exists the possibility of adverse outcomes that we estimate could be up
| to $4.1 billion in aggregate beyond recorded amounts. Were unfavorable final
| outcomes to occur, there exists the possibility of a material adverse impact
| on our financial position and on the results of operations for the period in
| which the effects become reasonably estimable.
`----
http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/789019/000119312508011476/d10q.htm
|
|
