Microsoft buys search outfit
,----[ Quote ]
| The offer will be subject to the customary terms and conditions, including
| receipt of acceptances representing more than 90 per cent of Fast Search and
| Transfer's shares and voting power on a fully diluted basis, and receipt of
| all necessary regulatory approvals on terms acceptable to the Vole.
`----
http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/01/08/microsoft-buys-search-outfit
Microsoft's search buy not about Google, Yahoo
,----[ Quote ]
| Whatever the merits of spending $1.2 billion of its cash, Microsoft Corp.'s
| deal on Tuesday to buy a Norwegian software firm is not about beefing up MSN
| to compete with Google Inc. and Yahoo.
`----
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/microsoft-may-eye-google-thats/story.aspx?guid=%7B734606C2%2D07DC%2D4764%2DAF59%2D286A3D152EA7%7D&siteid=yhoof
http://tinyurl.com/33khbd
And with acquisitions like this, Microsoft dares to complain about others being
a monopoly (Google and potentially Apple and IBM, by proxy, in Europe, as
shown below).
Bad year for Microsoft. Very bad year that 2007...
Mentioned earlier:
XP on 50% more PCs than Vista in 2007
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft's now six-year-old Windows XP came with many more computers in 2007
| than its Vista replacement, according to Microsoft's own statistics at its
| CES keynote.
`----
http://www.electronista.com/articles/08/01/08/xp.on.more.pcs.than.vista/
Related:
Meet Google: Search Giant, Monopolist Extraordinaire
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft also articulated (Word doc) how the combination of Google's vast ad
| networks with DoubleClick's publishing tools will give the company
| overwhelming chunks of the market.
|
| [...]
|
| Anyone who wants to really dive into the ramifications of the deal to see how
| it will affect the online ad market should check out these documents. Are
| they FUD? They most certainly are. But it's also some of the best organized
| and compellingly articulated FUD I've ever read.
`----
http://googlewatch.eweek.com/content/google_vs_microsoft/meet_google_search_giant_monopolist_extraordinaire.html
FTC: We won't block Google-DoubleClick merger
,----[ Quote ]
| Federal Trade Commission regulators said Thursday that Google's controversial
| $3.1 billion merger proposal with DoubleClick can proceed, despite earlier
| complaints raised by competitors and privacy advocates.
`----
http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9836456-7.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
IBM Faces EU Antitrust Complaint by Mainframe Maker [w/ Microsoft]
,----[ Quote ]
| International Business Machines Corp., the world's biggest computer-services
| company, is accused in a European Union complaint filed by a
| mainframe-computer maker of refusing to supply data needed for compatible
| products.
`----
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601085&sid=aykyYQcLeH_4&refer=europe
(Microsoft mentioned)
EU Worries About Privacy in Google Deal
,----[ Quote ]
| European lawmakers plan to take the unusual step of pressing antitrust
| regulators next month to look at privacy concerns raised by Google Inc.'s
| intended takeover of online ad tracker DoubleClick.
`----
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/071217/eu_internet_privacy.html?.v=2
The Key To Google's Success: Innovation or Paranoia?
,----[ Quote ]
| Intel’s Andy Grove had a popular saying: Only the Paranoid Survive. It was
| the name of his book. Another big thinker, Clay Christensen, penned a popular
| management book called The Innovator’s Dilemma. Keep those two titles in mind
| as you read the following.
`----
http://seekingalpha.com/article/57530-the-key-to-google-s-success-innovation-or-paranoia?source=yahoo#90434808156685266
News Analysis: Microsoft General Counsel on DoubleClick and Antitrust
,----[ Quote ]
| This raises a very important question - why didn't Microsoft match Google's
| $3.1 billion offer. Smith would not comment on this, but I can report from
| very good sources that in fact the company did offer to match it, and was
| willing to pay even more to insure that Google did not corner the online ad
| market. But for whatever reasons, the private equity firm that owned the
| majority of DoubleClick's shares decided to go with Google.
|
| [...]
|
| I asked Smith about the irony of Microsoft asking the government to
| support it on antitrust. His response was interesting.
`----
http://battellemedia.com/archives/003561.php
Microsoft Befriends Google's Foes
,----[ Quote ]
| After a government- and monopoly-inspired period in which Microsoft had
| to pretend to be a gentle force for global good, the company is being
| forced to return to its ruthless roots. Ironically, it is doing this
| in part by decrying the unfair practices of a competitor and
| shamelessly sucking up to the Establishment.
`----
http://www.forbes.com/2007/03/06/microsoft-google-blodget-tech-cx_hb_0306blodget.html?partner=yahootix
http://tinyurl.com/3bewws
Report FTC To OK Google/DoubleClick Deal
,----[ Quote ]
| The deal has faced fierce opposition from both Microsoft (MSFT) and some
| privacy advocates.
`----
http://blogs.barrons.com/techtraderdaily/2007/12/03/report-ftc-to-ok-googledoubleclick-deal/?mod=yahoobarrons
Google looks to ad partners beyond DoubleClick deal
,----[ Quote ]
| Tim Armstrong, Google's president of advertising and commerce in North
| America, said the Web search leader's forays into selling ads in print, radio
| and television had shown that marketers would be keen to use a joint system
| that let them better manage ad inventory.
`----
http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUKN0450405220071204?rpc=44
Microsoft trying to derail Google/DoubleClick deal by lobbying congress
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft has hired lobbying firm Patton Boggs LLC to do work on "competitive
| issues surrounding Google/DoubleClick [sic] merger."
`----
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070816-microsoft-spends-40000-to-lobby-congress-about-googledoubleclick-merger.html
U.S. lawmakers urge Google-DoubleClick deal scrutiny
,----[ Quote ]
| Two U.S. senators on the antitrust subcommittee urged the Federal Trade
| Commission's chairman to submit Google's purchase of advertising company
| DoubleClick to "serious scrutiny."
`----
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9588_22-6219414.html
EU extends review of Google/DoubleClick merger
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9588_22-6218300.html
Microsoft Finds Legal Defender in Justice Dept.
,----[ Quote ]
| Nearly a decade after the government began its landmark effort to break
| up Microsoft, the Bush administration has sharply changed course by
| repeatedly defending the company both in the United States and abroad
| against accusations of anticompetitive conduct, including the recent
| rejection of a complaint by Google.
|
| [...]
|
| In the most striking recent example of the policy shift, the top
| antitrust official at the Justice Department last month urged state
| prosecutors to reject a confidential antitrust complaint filed by
| Google that is tied to a consent decree that monitors Microsoft's
| behavior. Google has accused Microsoft of designing its latest
| operating system, Vista, to discourage the use of Google's desktop
| search program, lawyers involved in the case said.
`----
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/10/business/10microsoft.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin
http://www.groklaw.net/newsitems.php
[PJ: Hahahahaha. Hey, is this sue-your-competitor-by-proxy-thing getting more
and more transparent, or is it just me that finds it hard to believe a
consumer wants her music protected Microsoft's way enough to sue over it ...
bit of a stretch, no? That reminds me: Microsoft's Silverlight uses Windows
Media Video:
http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/%0Dpress/2007/apr07/04-15WPFEPR.mspx
"We depend on Microsoft Windows Media technologies, and we’re excited about
Microsoft Silverlight as a platform to enable instant watching of great
content for all our members, on multiple platforms.”
"Silverlight customers will also enjoy compatibility with the broad ecosystem
of Windows Media-enabled tools and solutions, and the proven scalability and
reliability of the Emmy Award-winning Windows Media technologies. At the
discretion of content providers, Silverlight will also deliver digital rights
management support built on the recently announced Microsoft PlayReady™
content access technology — with feature parity on Windows and Mac....
Microsoft Expression Media Encoder, which will be a feature of Microsoft
Expression Media, enables rapid import, compression and Web publishing of
digital video imported from a variety of popular formats, including AVI and
QuickTime, into WMV."
So, anyone see a possible tie-in to this litigation? Microsoft might want to
clear that up right away. I'm guessing that Microsoft wants to own the
Internet. And I'm sure we can all trust *them* to do the right thing with
it.
[...]
http://www.groklaw.net/newsitems.php
If this is Stacie Lynn Somers, the attorney, then go to PACER and plug in her
name, and you'll find there is some class action history there, including a
reference to Lerach Coughlin, in an entry in an earlier case against Nextel
that reads, "FAX number for Attorneys Theodore J Pintar, Stacie Lynn Somers,
John J Stoia Jr with the Law Firm of Lerach, Coughlin, Stoia and Robbins is
[redacted]."
The firm is no longer associated with William Lerach who pled guilty last
September to kickback schemes regarding getting plaintiffs for class action
lawsuits. I don't see Ms. Somers listed at Coughlin Stoia now. But here's what
the firm is doing including another Apple antitrust case: "The Apple iPod
iTunes Antitrust Litig. Case No. C-05-00037-JW (N.D. Cal.). Coughlin Stoia is
one of two firms appointed lead counsel for the proposed iPod direct-purchaser
class – a class of several million people. Plaintiffs assert that Apple
illegally tied the purchase of digital music and video files from its iTunes
Store to the purchase of an iPod by making it impossible to play music and
video purchased on iTunes using other portable players, and unlawfully
monopolized the market for portable digital music players." Probably just a
coincidence.
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