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Report: Microsoft U.S. Search Share Hits 12-month Low
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| Microsoft's share of Internet searches in the U.S. fell to a 12-month low
| according to Comscore's report of Internet search queries for February.
`----
http://www.pcworld.com/article/161222/report_microsoft_us_search_share_hits_12month_low.html?tk=rss_news
Microsoft to Shut Down AdCenter Analytics
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| Microsoft on Thursday said it will discontinue its adCenter Analytics service
| at the end of the year, and it appears that the company does not plan to
| replace it.
`----
http://www.pcworld.com/article/161219/microsoft_to_shut_down_adcenter_analytics.html?tk=rss_news
As PJ said a long time ago, Microosft is the next SCO Group.
Recent:
More Microsoft Live Search Bribery
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| Just using Microsoft online services isn't enough to get your ticket punched,
| though. You must run Internet Explorer (6.0 or higher) when you use those
| services. Even visiting getsearchperks.com with Firefox or Opera is a futile
| exercise; you will have to start IE to see what goodies the site has to
| offer. Oh, and if you sign up you'll have to install the Perk Counter toolbar
| to let Microsoft keep track of your tickets.
`----
http://www.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2008/10/more_microsoft.html
Microsoft Adds Incentives to Small-business Program
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| Microsoft has given small and mid-sized business customers more ways to earn
| cash to buy its software through partners by adding new products and product
| groups to its Big Easy program.
`----
http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/151593/microsoft_adds_incentives_to_smallbusiness_program.html
A Microsoft Midlife Crisis?
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| Is Microsoft undergoing a midlife crisis? The software titan's recent mergers
| and acquisitions track record suggests as much. In an attempt to keep up with
| Google and other Web 2.0 stars, Microsoft looks as if it is getting pushed
| around at the bargaining table. The latest act of profligacy came yesterday
| when it paid a whopping premium to acquire Fast Search & Transfer for $1.2
| billion.
`----
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119984469725776893.html?mod=yahoo_hs&ru=yahoo
Microsoft's Market Cap Falls $24B in 17 Days
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| Microsoft is on the list. Today, the stock closed at $25.01 a share, down
| $2.39, or 8.72 percent.
`----
http://www.microsoft-watch.com/content/corporate/microsofts_market_cap_falls_24b_in_two_weeks.html?kc=MWRSS02129TX1K0000535
Microsoft calls on Congress to reconsider bailout
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| Following the massive Wall Street sell-off, Microsoft on Monday called on
| Congress to revisit its bailout decision, saying government action
| is "vitally important."
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http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10053774-56.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
Ballmer: Congress must 'stabilize' financial crisis
http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-10054252-75.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
Ballmer says Microsoft not immune from global crisis
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080930/bs_nm/us_microsoft_ballmer;_ylt=Au5VO.rh_OuPGHCBr9O.m4K573QA
Microsoft loses 90 Billion Dollars
http://slated.org/microsoft_loses_90_billion_dollars
Ex-Microsoft boss sentenced
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/371393_msftcourt19.html
Former Microsoft Manager Gets 2 Years In Jail
http://news.portalit.net/fullnews_former-microsoft-manager-gets-2-years-in-jail_1427.html
SEC bans short-selling of 799 financial stocks
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| Short selling involves borrowing a company's shares, selling them, and
| pocketing the difference when the stock falls. It is a legitimate method of
| trading -- it can make markets more efficient and bring in more capital --
| but the government argues that it has widened the scope of the recent
| financial crisis and contributed to the collapsing values of investment and
| commercial bank stocks in particular.
`----
http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D939RL7O0.htm
SEC Foresees Rise in Fraud Cases
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| Laying out his priorities, the new enforcement chief for the Securities and
| Exchange Commission in San Francisco said Thursday he expects an upswing in
| fraud cases against public companies.
`----
http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202424479239
Related:
Microsoft's Accounting Under Scrutiny
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| The company has still not made enough information public to provide analysts
| with detailed information on the profitability of its MSN Internet business,
| Mr. Galvin said, adding, ''There's still room for them to obfuscate.''
`----
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A03E1DC173DF932A35754C0A96F958260
Microsoft - Undeserving of Libertarian Praise
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| One strategy that Microsoft has employed in the past is paying for the
| silence of people and companies. Charles Pancerzewski, formerly Microsoft's
| chief auditor, became aware of Microsoft's practice of carrying earnings from
| one accounting period into another, known as "managing earnings". This
| practice smoothes reported revenue streams, increases share value, and
| misleads employees and shareholders. In addition to being unethical, it's
| also illegal under U.S. Securities Law and violates Generally Accepted
| Accounting Practices (Fink). Mr. Pancerzewski claims he was forced to retire,
| for raising the issue of deferred earnings with Microsoft executives, thereby
| making plausible deniability more difficult for said executives. He has since
| sued Microsoft, who responded by settling out of court, but also sealing the
| records to prevent public disclosure (Fink).
`----
http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2002/8/20/11034/3908
Microsoft Agrees To Refrain From Accounting Violations in SEC Settlement
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| Microsoft has agreed to refrain from accounting violations to settle federal
| regulators' allegations that it misrepresented its financial performance, the
| government announced Monday.
|
| Under a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the software
| giant neither admitted to nor denied wrongdoing. No fine was imposed.
|
| The SEC alleged that Microsoft's accounting practices from July 1994 through
| June 1998 caused its income to be substantially misstated.
`----
http://www.crn.com/it-channel/18819490
"Microsoft Tax," MSN Enters the Black Hole, New Names for NT
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| The lawsuit, filed last year by Mukilteo City Councilman Charles
| Pancerzewski, alleges that he was forced to resign as Microsoft's general
| auditor in January 1996 after working for the company's internal auditing
| department for more than four years. The suit claims that a "significantly
| younger man" with little auditing experience was picked to replace
| Pancerzewski, who was finally forced out because he discovered Microsoft
| might have been violating government regulations. Once Pancerzewski left the
| company he was replaced by the younger man, who his attorneys believe
| was "less prone to raise issues of possible legal improprieties which could
| threaten or embarrass Microsoft or its management.
`----
http://www.msboycott.com/news/98_06_22.shtml
SEC Investigating Microsoft Practices -- Earnings Manipulated, Former Employee
Contends
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| "The CFO to whom Charlie was reporting his concerns about illegality was the
| biggest advocate for the very illegality that was going on," Vial argued in
| court a year ago.
`----
http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19990701&slug=2969514
Microfraud?
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| THE ALLEGATIONS WERE shocking: For years, Microsoft has systematically
| distorted its profit figures in an effort to consistently beat Wall Street
| expectations and keep its stock price steadily rising. The false reports
| would violate SEC regulations, and amount to outright fraud.
|
| More shocking was the source of the allegations: Microsoft's chief of
| internal audits, Charlie Pancerzewski, who reported directly to the company's
| chief financial officer.
|
| Most shocking of all was what happened to Pancerzewski when he reported the
| suspicious bookkeeping to his supervisors, Microsoft CFO Mike Brown and chief
| operating officer Bob Herbold, in the spring of 1995. Soon afterward,
| Pancerzewski—who for nearly five years had received stellar performance
| evaluations—received his first-ever unsatisfactory one, and was eventually
| forced to resign.
|
| Two months ago, Microsoft quietly settled a lawsuit containing these
| allegations, filed in 1997 by Pancerzewski under the Whistleblowers
| Protection Act. The auditor claimed he was wrongfully terminated after
| telling his supervisors that Microsoft might be breaking securities and tax
| laws. The lawsuit made its tortuous way through several rounds of pretrial
| motions until last fall, when US District Judge Carolyn Dimmick denied
| Microsoft's final plea for summary judgment, finding credible evidence that
| Microsoft may have violated SEC rules, as Pancerzewski alleged. Shortly
| thereafter, Microsoft and Pancerzewski settled out of court. Terms of the
| agreement were sealed, but one source who claims familiarity with the case
| says that Microsoft paid Pancerzewski $4 million.
`----
http://web.archive.org/web/20070308032343rn_2/www.seattleweekly.com/1999-01-06/news/microfraud.php
Ecuador Tax Agency Closes Microsoft Branch Offices For 7 Days
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| "We have twice requested balances, payment reports and complete tax
| information, but the company hasn't given it to us, so in accordance with our
| laws we have proceeded with the closure," the SRI official in charge of the
| proceeding said.
`----
http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/djf500/200710041610DOWJONESDJONLINE000810_FORTUNE5.htm
Microsoft Office raid in Hungary
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| "Such behavior could lead to the exclusion of competitive products from
| the market and violate European Union rules, according to the authority
| known as the GVH."
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http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/07/26/ap3957835.html
Microsoft exec dumped stock prior to Red Ring announcement
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| To make matters more murky, the sales were not registered with the Securities
| and Exchange Commission within the mandatory two days of the transaction, a
| result of an alleged "administrative error." Microsoft has since remedied the
| issue by following the "procedures required of late-filers."
`----
http://arstechnica.com/journals/thumbs.ars/2007/08/14/microsoft-exec-dumped-stocks-prior-to-red-ring-addresment
Microsoft's Bach sold more stock before Xbox news
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| Microsoft Corp. executive Robbie Bach sold $3 million more in company stock
| during the period leading up to an announcement about a costly flaw in its
| Xbox video game console than previously reported, according to a filing
| Monday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
`----
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/microsofts-bach-sold-additional-stock/story.aspx?guid=%7BBECA3A50-EF33-4161-A111-A43BDC8B0462%7D&siteid=yhoof
Insider Trading Hasn't Affect Microsoft Stock - Yet
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| MarketWatch.com reports that Robbie Bach, president of Microsoft's
| Entertainment and Devices division, sold $6.2 million of Microsoft
| stock just prior to announcing that Microsoft was going to have to
| extend XBox 360 warranties to three years because of extensive
| failures. The filings note that this was not part of any
| scheduled diversification or selling program; this was a
| conscious, unscheduled sale by the guy in charge of releasing
| news that could affect the value of Microsoft stock.
|
| [...]
|
| Insider trading is a very serious violation of the law; just
| ask Martha Stewart, who served five months in prison for
| avoiding losses of $43,000 through trades that just had suspicious
| timing (no insider trading was actually proven). This is $6.3
| million that went straight into Robbie Bach's pocket.
`----
http://biz.yahoo.com/seekingalpha/070713/40947_id.html?.v=1
[Mandriva CEO:] An open letter to Steve Ballmer
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| Wow! I’m impressed, Steve! What have you done for these guys to change their
| mind like this? It’s pretty clear to me, and it will be clear to everyone.
| How do you call what you just did Steve, in the place where you live? In my
| place, they give it various names, I’m sure you know them.
|
| Hey Steve, how do you feel looking at yourself in the mirror in the morning?
|
| Of course, I will keep fighting this one and the next one, and the next one.
| You have the money, the power, and maybe we have a different sense of ethics
| you and I, but I believe that hard work, good technology and ethics can win
| too.
`----
http://blog.mandriva.com/2007/10/31/an-open-letter-to-steve-ballmer/
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