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Google Cops to Issuing 28 Million Illegal Shares, Proposes Buyback

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on August 5, 2004 - 3:36am.
Mountain View, Calif. -- Search engine giant Google said on Thursday that it may have violated state and federal securities laws when it failed to register over 28 million shares it offered to employees and consultants over the past three years. The company is now offering to buy back 23 million shares, sold to 1,105 employees, as well as 5.6 million stock options, offered to 301 individuals, for a total of $25.9 million. The affected parties may either take the offer or choose to sue Google; the company may also face federal scrutiny, and it is unclear whether the illegal shares will affect its pending initial public offering. Google has already begun registering prospective investors on a website launched for its online auction IPO.
tags: Google | Proposes | Illegal Shares | Buyback |

State Attorneys General Issue Warning to File-Sharing Networks

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on August 5, 2004 - 3:35am.
Washington -- A number of state attorneys general have drafted a letter they intend to send to the heads of major file-sharing networks, asking them to "take concrete and meaningful steps" to reduce the availability of pornography and do more to inform consumers of the risks of personal data security and prosecution for copyright infringement, The Washington Post reported. California Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyear, along with Florida Atty. Gen. Charlie Crist and Texas Atty. Gen. Greg Abbott are co-sponsors of the letter, which has not yet been sent to peer-to-peer companies. "This letter is full of falsehoods, exaggerations, things that have been taken care of or are about to be completely addressed, so we think this letter is old news," Marty Lafferty, CEO of peer-to-peer trade group the Distributed Computing Industry Association, told The Post. "But we take our relationship with the state AGs very seriously and we will respond to them and try to give them a better understanding of P2P technology and where the industry is going."
tags: File-Sharing | State Attorneys | General |

French Virgin Unit Files Complaint Against Apple Over iPod Compatibility

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on August 5, 2004 - 3:34am.
San Francisco -- The French online music unit of Virgin has filed a complaint against Apple Computer, alleging unfair competition over Apple's refusal to license the FairPlay security technology necessary to make songs purchased from Virgin Mega and other retailers play on Apple's popular iPod player, CNET News.com reported. Apple revealed the complaint, which was filed with the French Competition Council in June, in its quarterly report released on Thursday. A hearing on Virgin Mega's complaint will be held in October or November. Apple has thus far ignored all requests to license FairPlay, and threatened legal action against rival RealNetworks, which on its own last week released software called Harmony that works around FairPlay and allows songs purchased from Real to play on the iPod.
tags: iPod | Virgin | French | Compatibility |

Disney Introduces "Dream Desk" Children's PC

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on August 5, 2004 - 3:31am.
New York -- Citing reports that children are the fastest growing segment of PC users, The Walt Disney Company on Thursday launched the Disney Dream Desk PC, which features a 14.1" Mickey Mouse-shaped screen, DVD player/CD-RW, special mouse and digital pen. Designed by Disney and frog design and built by Medion AG, the PC runs Microsoft XP Home Edition and will feature pre-installed games and Disney software that lets kids draw and edit pictures, create music and direct movies. It will also come with ContentProtect, a Web and email filtering software. The $599 computer (plus separate $299 monitor) will begin shipping from CompUSA on Sept. 12. Disney also said that it will be introducing its own brand of digital camera and camcorder later in the year.
tags: Disney | Dream Desk | Children's PC |

Google, Yahoo, CNET Face Class Action Suit Over Online Gambling Ads

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on August 5, 2004 - 3:30am.
San Francisco -- A class action lawsuit has been filed against Google, Yahoo, CNET Networks and other websites that have accepted ads for online gambling operations, which are illegal in the U.S., CNET News.com reported. The suit, filed in San Francisco Superior Court, alleges that the sites have reaped millions in profits from the illegal ads, which include sales of ads based on keyword searches for terms like "illegal gambling" and "California gambling." The suit also alleges that the companies offer targeting of the ads to specific geographic locations, including California. The plaintiffs ask that the sites cease accepting gambling ads and provide California with "millions of dollars in ill-gotten gains," attorney Ira Rothken told News.com. Rothken's law firm has also participated in class actions against credit card companies that enable U.S. citizens to gamble on overseas gambling sites.
tags: Internet | Yahoo | CNET | Google | Gambling Ads |

Nielsen Parent VNU, Britain's WPP Partner for Intl. TV Ratings Service

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on August 5, 2004 - 3:29am.
London -- WPP, an international communications services provider, announced on Thursday that its Kantar consultancy division has partnered with VNU, parent company of Nielsen Media Research, to form a joint venture that will offer television ratings in 30 countries. AGB Nielsen Media Research will serve the Americas, Western and Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific and the Middle East in nations including Australia, Belgium, China, Hungary, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Korea, Lebanon, Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, the Ukraine and the U.K. The new company will be based out of Milan, Italy and will employ a total of 1,800.
tags: Deals | Nielsen | VNU | Britain's WPP | Intl. TV | Ratings Service |