Strike

Digital Media Week in Review: Yahoo Board Rejects Microsoft Bid; Yahoo-News Corp? Yahoo-AOL? Writers’ Strike Over

Authored by Ned Sherman on February 16, 2008 - 6:20am.

DMW’s CEO & Publisher provides a wrap-up of the top stories of the week. Who’s hot, who’s not and what’s the industry buzz?

The week started with a bang on news that Yahoo Inc’s (NSDQ: YHOO) board rejected Microsoft Corp.’s (NSDQ: MSFT) unsolicited $44.6 billion offer for the company.

Digital Media Week in Review: Google v. Microsoft; Splitting Up AOL? Ending the Writers’ Strike? Major Labels in China

Authored by Ned Sherman on February 9, 2008 - 9:46am.

DMW’s CEO & Publisher provides a wrap-up of the top stories of the week. Who’s hot, who’s not and what’s the industry buzz?

In the days following Microsoft’s (NASD: MSFT) announcement of its unsolicited $44.6 billion takeover bid for Yahoo (NASD: YHOO), much of the news focused on the battle between Google and Microsoft to color the other’s motives as anti-competitive. As reports surfaced that Yahoo may try to avoid being acquired by Microsoft by giving control of its search advertising to Google in exchange for a large revenue share (although nothing has made public by either Google or Yahoo on this), Microsoft reportedly began lobbying government officials to block any such deal between the two on antitrust grounds setting the stage for what is likely to be a long and public battle between Google and Microsoft over control of the Internet.

Buzz Watch: What Hollywood Writers Are Doing While On Strike

Authored by Jay Baage on November 2, 2007 - 11:49am.

It's official, The Writers Guild of America board has voted unanimously to strike as of Monday. They demand their fair share of revenue from online content. So what are the writers going to do while on strike, since they can't work for film, tv or animation?

Actors' Unions to Vote on Strike Over Video Game Payments

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on May 25, 2005 - 6:30am.

Los Angeles -- The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA), two unions that represent actors in labor negotiations, announced that they have asked their members to vote on whether to strike against the video game industry. Actors believe they should be compensated in accordance with game sales, in addition to lump sum advance payments, for the use of their voices and likenesses in video games. Negotiations between video game publishers and actors recently broke down, following the expiration of existing contracts in December. Members of the actors' unions picketed outside the video game industry's E3 Expo last week in Los Angeles. Under union rules, 75% of SAG members and two-thirds of AFTRA members must vote in favor to authorize a strike; results of the votes are expected on June 7.

Strike Looms as Actors' Contract Talks With Game Publishers Break Down

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on May 17, 2005 - 8:15am.

Los Angeles -- Contract negotiations between video game publishers and the labor unions that represent actors who lend their voices and likenesses to video games have broken down, although publishers still believe they can avoid a strike, Reuters reported on Tuesday. Representatives of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) have argued that actors should receive compensation based on game sales, in addition to up-front payments for their work. Members of both guilds have voted to authorize leadership to call a strike. "It is not that we don't value their (actors') professional talent ... (but) we do not value it to the extent of giving them a lifetime income stream from the product," Howard Fabrick, an attorney for the video game publishers, told Reuters -- adding that actors' contributions represent 1/2400th of the labor that goes into making a game. Screen Actors Guild president Melissa Gilbert responded in a statement: "There is only one way to describe their position: completely unreasonable and lacking in any appreciation of the contributions made by actors to the enormous profits enjoyed by this industry."

tags: Games | Strike | Break Down |

BBC Union to Strike on Olympics Opening Weekend

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on July 23, 2004 - 4:42am.

London -- U.K. broadcasting union Bectu said on Friday that it plans to go on strike on July 30-31 and Aug. 13-14, dates that respectively coincide with horse racing events and the opening of the Olympic Games in Greece. The decision to strike comes in protest of the proposed $3.7 billion sale of the BBC's Technology unit to German IT service giant Siemens. Bectu members currently comprise about a fourth of BBC's Technology's 1,400 employees, and the union said it believes the BBC will be "hard-pressed" to continue normal service during the strike. However, John Varney, head of technology at the BBC, said his company has prepared several contingency plans. "We do not expect a problem with the Olympics or anything else," he said. "These are things that are set up days or weeks in advance, and a short stoppage by Bectu members would not disrupt output." Bectu, which is calling for a three-year guarantee on current conditions and a pay increase of 2.5% above inflation, complains that consultation is being rushed in order to make the Sept. 1 sale target date.

tags: Olympics | Strike | BBC Union |