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View Videos from the 09 Collaboration Summit
,----[ Quote ]
| The 3rd Annual Linux Foundation Collaboration Summit, held this April 8-10 in
| San Francisco, left me surprised and in high spirits. Why you ask? Because
| although I am fully aware that the downturn the economy has taken is
| affecting both individuals and businesses alike across the board, it didn’t
| seem to have this effect on the summit this year - not in a lack of
| attendees, enthusiasm among the participants or spirit of the collaboration.
`----
http://linux-foundation.org/weblogs/angela/2009/05/01/lf-collaboration-summit-session-and-interview-videos-now-available/
http://tinyurl.com/culqyt
Recent:
Bad economy boosts open source
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| The latest 'Future of Open Source' survey was revealed at the InfoWorld's
| Open Source Business Conference last week. The survey was conducted with 435
| respondents and focused on topics surrounding open source software such as
| the impact of the economic recession, key market drivers, and predictions.
`----
http://www.itweb.co.za/sections/business/2009/0903300906.asp?S=Open
Source&A=LIN&O=FPWW
Recession vs. FOSS
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| Pundits and business executives alike are predicting gloomy economic times
| for 2009. But when the talk turns to free and open source software (FOSS),
| suddenly the mood brightens. Whether their concern is the business
| opportunities in open source or the promotion of free software idealism,
| experts see FOSS as starting from a strong base and actually benefiting from
| the hard times expected next year.
`----
http://www.raiden.net/?cat=2&aid=545
IT Cost-Cutting: Consider Virtualization, Look to the Cloud, Check Out Open
Source
,----[ Quote ]
| In this episode, our analyst guests make their top five recommendations for
| cutting enterprise IT costs amid the economic downturn. How does IT adapt and
| adjust to the downturn? Is IT to play a defensive role in helping to slash
| costs and reduce its own financial burden on the enterprise?
`----
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/IT-Cost-Cutting-Consider-Virtualization-Look-to-the-Cloud-Check-Out-Open-Source-66634.html
Is the downturn good for open source?
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| More importantly, the areas where open source is most competitive are
| different nowadays. In 2000-2002, open source fought for dominance over the
| operating system, database software, and middleware, and winners included
| Linux, MySQL, and JBoss. Building upon the spoils of that victory, open
| source has now spread up the software stack into business applications and
| into mobile and desktop applications that businesses and professionals use
| every day. The result is that the open source movement has an entirely new
| group of people to convert.
`----
http://weblog.infoworld.com/openresource/archives/2009/03/is_the_downturn.html
Open Source will thrive in turbulent economy
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| A panel of top experts in the commercial open source industry, including
| executives from Acquia, Novell, Mozilla, Sun Microsystems, and SugarCRM,
| announced the results of the North Bridge Venture Partners' annual "Future of
| Open Source" survey.
`----
http://www.ciol.com/Developer/Open-Source/Feature/Open-Source-will-thrive-in-turbulent-economy/30309117753/0/
Microsoft, Cisco to lose $4.3 Billion as investment banks cut cost
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| The cut in the IT budgets of the revered investment banks like Lehman
| Brothers and Merrill Lynch due to their failure may lead industry giants like
| U.S. based Microsoft and California based Cisco to lose $4.3 billion in
| orders next year. While Cisco earns about three percent to four percent of
| annual revenue from the U.S. financial industry, Microsoft accounted for 22
| percent last year.
`----
http://www.siliconindia.com/shownews/47182
Microsoft will be hurt by financial crisis, RBC analyst says
,----[ Quote ]
| The devastating U.S. financial crisis will hurt software giant Microsoft
| Corp.'s bottom line this holiday season as shoppers tighten their purse
| strings, RBC Capital Markets says.
`----
http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/tradingdesk/archive/2008/09/29/microsoft-will-be-hurt-by-financial-crisis-rbc-analyst-says.aspx
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
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
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 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
Microsoft exec dumped stock prior to Red Ring announcement
,----[ Quote ]
| 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
,----[ Quote ]
| 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
,----[ Quote ]
| 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
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