Yahoo sued for spurning Microsoft

[lanlady]

Source: Associated Press

Yahoo sued for spurning Microsoft

By RANDALL CHASE, AP Business WriterFri Feb 22, 4:48 PM ET

Two Detroit pension funds have sued Yahoo Inc. and its board of directors, saying they breached their duties to shareholders in trying to thwart a takeover by Microsoft Corp.

The lawsuit was filed in Delaware Chancery Court on Thursday by lawyers representing Detroit's police and fire retirement system and general retirement system, as well as "all other similarly situated public shareholders."

According to the lawsuit, Yahoo's board is pursuing "value-destructive" third-party deals in an effort to fight off Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft, which on Feb. 1 announced a takeover bid of $31 per share in cash and stock, a 62 percent premium over Yahoo's previous day's closing price.

Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Yahoo, whose shares closed unchanged at $28.42 on Friday, rejected Microsoft's $44.6 billion takeover bid as inadequate, but indicated that it might be willing to negotiate if the price was right. Yahoo is believed to want at least $40 per share, or about $56 billion.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080222/ap_on_hi_te/yahoo_shareholder_lawsuit

[Ian David]

1. They should thank god that they're not being bought by NewsCorp. n/t

[BadgerKid]

2. They still can be, in principle. n/t

[Occulus]

3. Is this the vaunted "hostile takeover" on Micro$oft's part,

or are the shareholders just being a bunch of Pissy Patties on this?

This "shareholder value" claptrap has been a scourge since the heyday of Ford Motor. When are we going to deal with it?

[drm604]

4. News Corp

After rebuffing Microsoft, Yahoo reportedly began discussing a possible Internet partnership with media conglomerate News Corp., which owns the popular MySpace Web site, and exploring an advertising partnership with Google, its biggest rival.

For those who don't know, News Corp is Rupert Murdoch's company.

[rucognizant]

5. This is where we have gone so wrong!

Shouldn't the shareholders of the Detroit pension funds, have a right to profit? This is "good," right? If they can make MORE money by merging with Microsoft why not?
1. Because the CEO Steve Ballmer is NUTZ! He makes W look sane & sober.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvsboPUjrGc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5oGaZIKYvo Does Detroit really want THIS MAN in charge of their retirement fund?

2. Because Microsoft has more than enough power to screw up the world they don't need more!
3. Because my old Macintosh & hotmail.com worked well, 4 or 5 years ago...then Microsoft mucked with it, I couldn't
download the newest version of Internet Explorer........Microsoft dick-tated it! So I had to spend 600. for a used
IBook that is so small it was making me blind! Then generous friend bought me the newest fanciest Mac Intel duo
with a 24" screen. It's wonderful; BUT it had Microsoft's slimy hands all over it.A 60 day test version of
Microsoft Word. I had a commission to design an invitation...........There was NO WORD PROCESSING DOC INSTALLED!
NO APPLEWORKS WHICH WAS THE MACINTOSH!
I tried using the Nazilike, M Word only to find out that until I sprang for the $500.00 purchase, the print out
would have test Microsoftword written across the print-out.!! I couldn't transfer & upgrade my 4 valuable Adobe
Graphic Design programs, There's $2,500.-$3,000. out of my pocket right there. I can't use any of my old projects
which represent HOURS of work, because of the upgrades............I have to start EVERYTHING FROM SCRATCH!
4. Because 15 years ago when Steven King purchased a computer for our library & I started surfing the net, I have relied
on Yahoo as my search engine! More recently while Google has taken over as the big gorilla, as an artist I frequently have
to chose Yahoo to make a search. It is more visually oriented than Google. I was researching wet suits, for an illustration
project. Google gave me a text, left brain" description! Yahoo gave me pictures!
5. Because monopolies are bad news!

[AndyTiedye]

6. There Are Alternatives

Apple has iWork, which is far less expensive than Office.

If you want free and open-source, there is open office.

I couldn't transfer & upgrade my 4 valuable Adobe Graphic Design programs, There's $2,500.-$3,000. out of my pocket right there. I can't use any of my old projects which represent HOURS of work, because of the upgrades............I have to start EVERYTHING FROM SCRATCH!

We can't really blame Microsoft for the sins of Adobe.

I just upgraded Photoshop after my old version got eaten by a Leopard.
I had the oldest version that they would accept for an upgrade. No problems with the old documents there. I don't have any of their other software.

Can you still run the old version on your old machine to output your work it in some compatible format?