HavenWorks.com/business/archive/2002| HavenWorks.com/business/archive/2002 |
 |
 |
 |
|
ARCHIVES NEWS Business News History Archives BUSINESS ARCHIVES |
|
 |
|
 |
- "Yahoo
buys search firm Inktomi for $235M." ... "Yahoo
Inc. has purchased Inktomi Corp.
for about $235 million, the companies announced
today. Yahoo will add Inktomi's Web search technology to its portal sites
in hopes of becoming the premier destination for Web searches, it said."
... "Foster City, Calif.-based Inktomi has deals with Amazon.com Inc.,
eBay Inc. and Microsoft Corp.'s MSN.com portal, according to its Web site.
Computerworld.com also uses Inktomi search software." -By
Tom Krazit -IDG.net
via -Computerworld
- "Yahoo
Buys Search-Software Maker Inktomi." ... "Internet
media company Yahoo Inc. YHOO.O on Monday said it would pay $235 million
to buy Internet search-software maker Inktomi Corp. INKT.O , strengthening
its position in the growing Web search business." ... "The cash deal of
$1.65 per share valued Inktomi, a high-flyer during the Internet boom,
at a 41 percent premium to Friday's close but at less than a third of its
value at its 1998 initial public offering." -By Ben
Berkowitz -Reuters/Business
-
Discussion - "Yahoo
Buying Inktomi."
-Slashdot
- 
Eliot
Spitzer - 
- "TIME
2002 Crusader of the Year: Eliot Spitzer: ... "Wall Street's Top Cop:
In a year when business let so many down, Eliot Spitzer fought back. How
a rich kid from the Bronx became the people's champion." ... "Spitzer opened
an investigation that in just a few months began fundamentally reshaping
America's financial markets. Analysts, Spitzer would show, were doctoring
their reports—which the public relies on for stock information—to win business
for their banks' investment arms or to downgrade companies that didn't
play ball. Insiders knew the scam; folks in the heartland had no idea.
Spitzer's aggressive pursuit of Merrill Lynch and, subsequently, a dozen
other Wall Street firms turned the tables. The new ethics he championed
are touching in their simplicity: analysts' ratings should reflect what
they actually believe. There has not been such an affirmation of what's
right since Moses and the Ten Commandments. "The system was rotten, and
no one seemed interested in fixing it," says Spitzer. "So we moved in.""
(1,
2,
3,
4)
-By Adi Ignatius -TIME
- Person of the Year
- 2002
- Eliot
Spitzer -
- OPINION
- "[New
York states Attorney General Eliot] Spitzer: Man Of The Year - Savior of
Capitalism?" ... "Using a New York state law, he
obtained some explosive internal emails from Merrill Lynch and secured
a $100m fine. This pushed a complacent Securities and Exchange Commission
into action, and finally yesterday Spitzer got the reward for his pursuit."
... "As part of the agreement forged with the Stock Exchange [full
details], the ten leading brokerages must pay $900 million in retrospective
relief, $450m to fund "independent" research and $85 million to "investor
education". The brokerages, including Solomon Smith and Barney, CSFB, Lehman,
Morgan Stanley and UBS Warburg, will not be allowed to reward CEOs with
IPO offerings, and must operate at arms length from no less than independent
analysts on each offering. (Since the brokers are still paying these independent
analysts' fees, it's hard to see how this cure will be truly effective.)"
... "But for the Bronx-born Spitzer, his legend is assured as a pugilist
populist attorney straight from central casting. He's taken on the mob,
the music pigopolists (for CD price fixing), low-paying employers, and
is currently suing President Bush for gutting the clean air act." -By
Andrew Orlowski -TheRegister.co.uk
- "Can
Tribune's FitzSimons Do It Again?" ... "Watch for
dramatic industry changes next year if the Tribune (nyse: TRB
- news
-people)
broadcasting czar, Dennis
J. FitzSimons, has his way. FitzSimons was named chief executive
officer last week, replacing John
W. Madigan as CEO of the No. 2 U.S. newspaper company (estimated
2002 revenue: $5.3 billion) behind Gannett (nyse: GCI
- news
-people).
FitzSimons' fame? The 20-year Tribune veteran, who formerly ran Tribune's
WGN-TV, put print-dominated Tribune on the television map, buying 18 of
Tribune's 24 stations since 1992. TV is now Tribune's fastest growing unit,
accounting for 26% of sales and 35% of operating profit." ... "Under FitzSimons,
TV will get even bigger as soon as he can rally the Federal Communications
Commission to repeal decades-old rules banning ownership of TV stations
in markets where it already owns newspapers or other TV stations." -By
Erin Killian -Forbes
- 
- "Halliburton
settles asbestos claims: Company paying about
$4 billion to thousands of victims." ... "The company said at least 75
percent of plaintiffs with pending cases agreed to the settlement." ...
"Representatives for the Houston-based oilfield-services company once led
by Vice President Dick Cheney were in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Pittsburgh
on Wednesday to settle most of the pending asbestos cases against the company
and one of its former subsidiaries." -AP
via -MSNBC
Christmas
- "Chain
Stores Take on Christmas Trees." ... "Operating a
roadside Christmas tree stand has never been a huge moneymaker, and now
that the big boys have moved into the market it's even tougher." ... "The
National Christmas Tree Association says 17 percent of the roughly 30 million
Christmas trees sold last year were at large chain stores, such as Wal-Mart,
Home Depot, Lowe's and Target. That's up from 14 percent in 2000 - the
first year the association began tracking sales at chain stores - and came
even as the overall market shrank a bit." -By Clarke
Canfield -AP
via -SeattlePI.NWsource
- "United
pilots union 'stunned' by wage cut request." ...
"United Airlines' pilots union said on Monday it was "stunned" by a new
wage cut proposal the world's second-largest carrier put forth less than
a week after filing for bankruptcy, signaling possible litigation ahead."
... "United, a unit of UAL Corp. (NYSE:UAL),
late last week presented its labor unions with requests for wage cuts that
were more than double what it was seeking before filing the biggest bankruptcy
case in aviation history." ... "Of United's 83,000 member work force, about
80 percent is unionized. Nearly half of the work force is represented by
the International Association of Machinists." -By
By Kathy Fieweger -Reuters
via -Lycos -Finance
- Smallpox
News
- "Smallpox
vaccine costs raise questions." ... "Secretary of
Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson, in a press briefing Saturday,
said most states are expected to pay workers' compensation for lost work
time for medical or emergency personnel sickened by the vaccine. Modest
death benefits are also available. Unions, however, say those amounts are
likely to be inadequate." ... "Thompson also said that health care workers
and private citizens who seek the vaccine would need their own health insurance
to pay for any care needed to treat side effects." -By
Julie Appleby -USATODAY
-
- "UK
internet shopping 'breaks £1bn mark'." ...
"For the first time, UK consumers have spent more than £1bn ($1.6bn)
in just one month shopping online, according to a survey." ... "Online
sales have risen by 95% over the past year, IMRG said, compared with a
rise of just 6.1% in general retail sales." ... "US figures for the July
to September period this year showed online shopping sales were more than
$11bn, representing 1.3% of total US retail sales, an increase of 34.3%
on the same period last year." ... "In the UK, online sales over the same
July to September period reached £2bn ($3.14bn), representing 4%
of total UK retail sales, up 114.5% on the same period in 2001."-BBC/News
-
- Press Release - "imrg
e-retail sales index - internet shopping bursts £1bn barrier."
- Links to [PDF]:
"Internet
Shopping Bursts £1 Billion Barrier!" ... "Santa
is shopping online this year in a BIG WAY. Monthly internet shopping
soared into ten figures for the first time in November as Britain's 14.3
million online shoppers flooded e-retailers with £1,000 million worth
of orders, according to the IMRG Index." ... "The Index has risen almost
ten fold, from 100 to 993, during the 32 months it has tracked UK e-retail
sales, since April 2000, and the pace of growth it reveals continues to
accelerate. The November Index was based on sales of £218 million
reported by 77 participating e-retailers, which represents 22% of the estimated
market." ... "UK online shopping is growing three times faster than in
the USA, and is three times the proportion of total retail sales.
US retail e-commerce sales for the third quarter of 2002 was just over
$11 billion, representing 1.3% of total US retail according to latest figures
from the US Department of Commerce, an increase of 34.3 percent from Q3
2001. UK e-retail during the same period was worth £2 billion
($3.14 billion), representing 4% of total UK retail, and was 114.5% higher
than Q3 2001." -IMRGorg
- "eBay
hit by credit card scam." ... "The world's largest
online auction site eBay has been targeted by fraudsters using a shadow
site to steal credit card details from its 55 million customers." ... "The
scam involved sending e-mails to customers asking them to log on to a Florida-based
website - ebayupdates.com - and re-submit their financial details." -By
Stefan Armbruster-BBC/News
- Accounting
News - "Donaldson
to head SEC: Co-founder of DLJ and ex-NYSE
chief would succeed Pitt as top market watchdog." ... "Wall Street veteran
William Donaldson, the founder of the former firm Donaldson Lufkin &
Jenrette, is the Bush administration's choice to be the new chairman of
the Securities and Exchange Commission." ... "Donaldson, whose firm was
sold to Credit Suisse First Boston in 2000, was introduced by President
Bush at a news conference Tuesday." ... "The SEC has been under greater
scrutiny due to the attention given to accounting and corporate misdeeds
that resulted in the nation's two largest bankruptcies, at WorldCom and
Enron, and shook investors' confidence in the market."
-CNN /fn
- "CSX
chief named to run Treasury: Bush also vows
tax breaks to spur business revival." ... "President Bush moved on two
fronts yesterday to demonstrate his concern about the flagging economy:
nominating John W. Snow, chairman of railway conglomerate CSX Corp., as
his Treasury secretary and promising a new package of tax breaks and other
incentives to spur more vigorous business activity." ... "Snow has been
chief executive and chairman of Richmond-based CSX Corp. since 1989 The
firm, which runs one of the largest rail networks in the eastern half of
the United States, and other transportation-related services, has been
a major source of campaign donations to the Republican Party. Snow has
been an advocate of more rigorous financial reporting for executives."
-By Sue Kirchhoff
-Boston/Globe
- "Bush
taps an economic salesman: Bush names John
Snow as new Treasury chief with task of selling tax cuts and buoying confidence."
... "By appointing John Snow, a railroad executive, as Treasury secretary
Sunday, and probably Stephen Friedman, a Wall Street executive, as White
House economic counselor Monday, Mr. Bush will be getting two people who
are, by all accounts, consensus builders and "listeners."" ... "That will
help the administration speak more with one voice on the economy, but not
necessarily result in new initiatives. "I think the president is looking
for a new messenger, not a new message," says Sung Won Sohn, chief economist
at Wells Fargo Banks, of Mr. Snow's appointment. "So he would be a good
messenger."" -By David R. Francis and Ron Scherer
-CSMonitor
Eliot
Spitzer - 
- OPINION
- "Eliot
Spitzer vs. the Chicago Boys: Corporate crooks,
dirty air, pricey drugs -- they're all the doing of the University of Chicago's
free-marketeers, says N.Y.'s Attorney General." ... "As a voice of laissez-faire
economics, the University of Chicago has shaped much of the dialogue over
market regulation in recent years, starting with Ronald Reagan's Administration
in 1980. Free markets, the theory goes, will correct most excesses by making
it impossible for those guilty of bad behavior to survive. "They've said
that intervention by...government is wrong," Spitzer said. "But they haven't
taken into account that markets can have structural flaws."" ... "For example,
environmental polluters are not being punished by the market, he charged,
and that means all of society pays the price for pollution. Relying on
the market to fairly price prescription drugs has also failed, he insisted,
since some severely ill people rely so much on one particular drug that
they will pay anything to get it." -By Heather Timmons
-BusinessWeek/Daily
-
- "Chavez
threatens state of emergency." ... "President Hugo
Chavez of Venezuela has warned he may declare a state of emergency if disruption
caused by an national strike continues to escalate." ... "In a speech to
supporters in Caracas, Mr Chavez accused his opponents of trying to sabotage
the oil industry, which provides half the government's revenue." ... "Crude
oil production has dropped by up to a sixth of the total national output
since refinery workers and oil tanker crews joined other strikers, threatening
the economic backbone of the world's fifth biggest oil exporter." ... "Analysts
have warned that a shutdown for longer than two days could have a major
impact on US and world oil prices." -BBC/News
- 
- 
- "Military’s
use of satellites probed: Investigation launched
amid complaints of unfair advantages." ... "The General Accounting Office
is investigating the Defense Department’s use of commercial satellites,
after competitors complained that Washington-based Intelsat Ltd. has an
unfair advantage in a growing market." ... "Intelsat, incorporated in Bermuda,
is owned by companies and governments in 148 nations, including Iraq and
Iran. Its satellites help the U.S. military communicate with soldiers in
far-flung outposts." ... "The GAO investigation coincides with the Pentagon’s
increasing dependence on commercial satellite providers to provide extra
bandwidth, industry experts say. Government satellite programs have faced
delays and cost overruns even as information has become a key part of battlefield
strategy, they said." -By Renae Merle-WashingtonPost
via -MSNBC
- 
-
- "Ex-Regents
official: U of Iowa should pay president more." ...
"The University of Iowa president’s salary is “severely limiting the pool
of people that will apply for the job,” former president of the Board of
Regents said." ... "The salary of $281,875, puts Iowa next to last among
public schools in the Big Ten Conference, after the Indiana University
at Bloomington, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education Almanac."
... "Mark Yudof, the president of the University of Texas system, was among
the highest-compensated university leaders last year. More than half of
his $787,319 in salary and benefits comes from private sources."
-AP via -QCTimes
-
- "Update:
Bush Creates ".Kids" Domain." ... "President Bush
signed into law on Wednesday a bill that would create a ".kids" domain
name, and certify that the domain was "safe" for minors." ... "The .kids
domain will actually be a subdomain of the ".us" suffix, and so will only
apply to web sites based in the U.S, such as "www.example.kids.us". Since
the domain is under the purview of the U.S. country code, it will be overseen
by the Department of Commerce." -By Mark Hachman
-ExtremeTech
- "Bush
Shakes Up Economic Team With Ouster of 2 Advisers."
... "Wrestling with a shaky economy and criticism that his administration
projects a muddled message on how to respond, President Bush today dismissed
his Treasury secretary, Paul H. O'Neill, and the director of his National
Economic Council, Lawrence B. Lindsey." ... "The president's move also
demonstrates that the White House has grown increasingly concerned that
Mr. Bush, like his father, could pay a political price if the country's
economic woes are not addressed more forcefully." ... "The dismissals also
come when business confidence is stubbornly low, investment is weak and
joblessness is rising. Less than two hours before Mr. O'Neill surprised
Washington with his resignation, the Commerce Department reported that
unemployment last month surged at an unexpectedly fast rate last month,
to 6 percent from 5.7." (1, 2)
-By Edmund L. Anderews
-NYTimes via -Google-News
- "Buy,
Use, Dispose: A Spike in Disposable Products
Has Environmentalists Worried." ... "Scrub the floor, toss out the rag.
Use up your minutes, toss out the phone. Watch a movie, throw away the
DVD." ... "In a nation that places a high value on convenience, this is
all possible or will soon be possible for consumers willing to pay a little
more for products designed for one-time use. And the list is growing."
... ""The business model of the high-tech industry depends on us to continue
to
buy, consume and throw away," he [executive director of Californians Against
Waste, Mark Murray] says. "That's the problem, they're not designing these
things to last, they're designing them to use and throw out."" -By
Amanda Onion -ABCNEWS.com
-
- "Ricochet's
Comeback Means Free Wireless Internet Access for Cities:
Municipal governments striking new deals to get free wireless access."
... "Denver-based Ricochet Networks offered Internet access to 51,000 subscribers
in 21 cities until its owner, Metricom, went bankrupt last year." ... "Aerie
Networks has resurrected Ricochet, spending $8.25 million for technology
and equipment that Metricom spent $1.3 billion developing." ... "Technological
Quid Pro Quo." ... "Now, Ricochet is offering cities free service and
giving their public employees modems to use on the job. In return, Ricochet
gets to use transmitters that fell into cities' control after Metricom
went bankrupt." -By Catherine Tsai
-AP via
-GovTech.net/news
- "Bankruptcy
'inevitable' for United: Mechanics reject pay
concessions; airline, union in last-minute talks." ... "Securing an agreement
with District 141-M, which represents 13,000 mechanics and other employees,
coupled with similar pacts with pilots, flight attendants, nonunionized
workers and others, is a key part of a projected $5.2 billion in wage concessions
that United hopes will allow it to avoid filing for Chapter 11." ... "Reducing
labor costs is considered to be a crucial part of United's application
for a $1.8 billion federal loan guarantee from the Air Transportation Stabilization
Board. The board's ruling is expected any day, perhaps as early as Monday,
the due date for United to repay $375 million in debt. UAL has up to 10
additional working days to repay the debt, which could push the payment
deadline back to Dec. 16 and give the company more room to maneuver." -David
Armstrong -SFGate.com
-
- "Fraud
fears still hamper online sales." ... "The number
of Britons doing Christmas shopping online is expected to soar this year
but the government says fear of fraud is still preventing sales reaching
their potential levels." ... "The government is keen to encourage more
net shopping, with Consumer Minister Melanie Johnson telling shoppers that
online retail can be safe if they follow a few simple rules." ... "She
is advising consumers to use websites they know or that have been recommended,
obtain suppliers' telephone numbers or postal addresses and keep copies
of order forms or e-mails."-BBC/News
- "Bush
to Allow Private Sector Bids." ... "Up to half of
the nation's 1.8 million federal civilian workers eventually could find
they have a new boss or, worse, no job." ... "The Bush administration is
taking steps to privatize federal jobs at an unprecedented level, and officials
proposed rules Thursday to make it easier for companies to compete with
the government for maintenance, construction, secretarial and other work."
... "Employee unions raised strong objections, contending the administration
was trying to help its business allies at the expense of workers' rights.
Bush officials said it was just a question of saving money."
-AP via -Guardian.co.uk
Accounting
News Page added.
- "Webster
leaves board in turmoil." ... "Although Biggs still
has the support of two SEC commissioners Harvey Goldschmid
and Roel Campos he probably won't get the nod, given the acrimony surrounding
Webster's appointment. Following the disclosure of Webster's involvement
with U.S. Technologies CEO Greg Earls, a man with a long trail of fraud
accusations in his past, Biggs called on SEC Chairman Pitt to resign."
... "The new board has until April to launch its operations in earnest."
... ""You're going to need at least 100 people. You're setting up a real
operation in the next few months," says Charles Bowsher, who headed the
Public Oversight Board, an accounting-industry body that was disbanded
this year and will be replaced by the SEC-appointed panel." -By
Greg Farrell -USATODAY
-
- "Playing
the Ad Game: Marketers Use Online Games to
Make Soft Sales Pitches." ... "Analysts are still trying to determine just
what kind of impact such "advergames" will have on the overall dismal online
advertising market. But many note that the addictive nature of such interactive
games are attracting companies to try and develop the medium into an effective
advertising vehicle." ... "Most developers say it can cost anywhere from
$50,000 to $500,000 to produce an advergame, depending on its complexity.
However, the return on such investments can be much higher than other forms
of advertising." -By Paul Eng
-ABCNEWS.com
- Accounting
News - "White
House narrows SEC chief hunt: Quick decision
needed to restore investor confidence, experts say." ... "Even as high-profile
cases against companies like WorldCom and Enron continue to be investigated
by SEC lawyers, the political fallout surrounding Pitt is affecting the
overall mission and charge of the agency." ... "Among those most closely
keeping an eye on who Pitt’s replacement will be are those in the accounting
industry. Accounting lobbyists furiously lobbied against the nomination
of reformist John Biggs to head the independent accounting oversight board
and instead pressed Pitt to nominate William Webster, former head of the
F.B.I. instead." ... "Now Webster is also resigning amid allegations about
his role as the head of the audit board of U.S. Technologies, a company
that later discovered to be racked with accounting problems that Webster
himself acknowledges he was made aware of at the time." -By
Brock N. Meeks -MSNBC
- "Intel's
$10 Billion Gamble: Tech's ailing, yet the
chip king is opening plants and entering new markets. Its bet: that no
competitor can afford to keep up." ... "The labyrinthine vastness of Intel's
nearly completed D1D semiconductor factory in Hillsboro, Ore., is every
bit as breathtaking as the microscopic intricacy of the microprocessors
it will soon start making." ... "By investing heavily during a tech recession,
Intel thinks it can leap a generation ahead in chip know-how and manufacturing
ability." ... However, the piece opines, that "even if Intel widens its
dominant 81% market share for PC microprocessors, it won't generate enough
incremental sales to use all that new capacity, nor will it get back to
growing at its historical double-digit rates." ... "The transistors on
the chips pounded out at D1D will be smaller than 90 nanometers across--so
small that ten of them would fit in the diameter of a human hair--vs. 130
nanometers at the current state of the art." (1, 2,
3,
4)
-By Brent Schlender with associate Noshua Watson
-Fortune
TIA:
Total Information Awareness -
- "Pentagon
Plans a Computer System That Would Peek at Personal Data of Americans."
... "As the director of the effort, Vice Adm. John M. Poindexter, has described
the system in Pentagon documents and in speeches, it will provide intelligence
analysts and law enforcement officials with instant access to information
from Internet mail and calling records to credit card and banking transactions
and travel documents, without a search warrant." ... "Historically, military
and intelligence agencies have not been permitted to spy on Americans without
extraordinary legal authorization." ... "In order to deploy such a system,
known as Total Information Awareness, new legislation would be needed,
some of which has been proposed by the Bush administration in the Homeland
Security Act that is now before Congress. That legislation would amend
the Privacy Act of 1974, which was intended to limit what government agencies
could do with private information." (1, 2)
-By John Markoff -NYTimes
via -LawMeme
UPS
News - "United
Parcel raises rates by up to 3.9%." ... "United Parcel
will boost prices Jan. 6 for ground shipments to businesses, its largest
market, by 3.9 percent." ... "United Parcel shares rose 73 cents to $62.34
yesterday in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The stock has risen
14 percent this year." -Bloomberg
via -SeattlePI.NWsource
- Microsoft
News - "The
Microsoft case: Antitrust overseers are named." ...
"Microsoft yesterday established a committee of directors to make sure
it obeys the law — a move mandated by a federal judge's Nov. 1 ruling in
the company's antitrust case." ... "Meeting a requirement to set up the
compliance committee, Microsoft appointed Harvard Business School professor
James Cash to lead the group, which also includes Merck Chief Executive
Raymond Gilmartin and former U.S. Labor Secretary Ann McLaughlin Korologos."
-By Kim Peterson -SeattleTimes.NWsource
- Microsoft
News - "MS
Palladium: A must or a menace? At the USENIX
Security Conference held here recently, Microsoft developers touted the
company's upcoming Palladium architecture as technology that would enhance
privacy, stymie piracy and increase a corporation's control over its computers."
... "Others, however, see a more nefarious role for the security software."
... "Richard Stallman, founder of the Free Software Foundation and co-founder
of the GNU project for creating free versions of key Unix programs, lampooned
the technology in a recent column as "treacherous computing."" ... ""Large
media corporations, together with computer companies such as Microsoft
and Intel, are planning to make your computer obey them instead of you,"
he wrote. "Proprietary programs have included malicious features before,
but this plan would make it universal."" -By Robert
Lemos -ZDNet>News
- "Wi-Fi,
Heading for Air Supremacy." ... "It turns out wireless
networking start-ups are hot these days. Really hot. Silicon Valley's high
rollers are throwing what little money they have left at wireless entrepreneurs...."
... "There is no shortage of entrepreneurs to back. Vivato, a San Francisco
start-up, announced this week it has developed an antenna system that boosts
the signal strength of Wi-Fi radio beams by focusing them more narrowly.
Vivato claims its antennas can expand the range of Wi-Fi signals from a
few hundred feet to 2,000 feet indoors and four miles outside." -By
Leslie Walker -WashingtonPost
>TechNews
- 
- WorldCom
News - "SEC
Case Against WorldCom Grows: Agency Says Fraud
May Exceed $9 Billion." ... "The Securities and Exchange Commission expanded
its fraud case against WorldCom Inc. yesterday, saying the improper bookkeeping
at the telecommunications company stretches back to at least 1999 and the
total amount of fraudulent accounting may exceed $9 billion." -By
Christopher Stern-WashingtonPost
>TechNews
- "Harvey
Pitt resigns as SEC chief." ... "Securities and Exchange
Commission chairman Harvey Pitt stepped down late Tuesday, bringing a stunning
end to his tumultuous 15-month reign as the nation's top securities regulator
amid still-unfolding financial scandals." ... "Although Pitt got caught
in numerous public-relations flaps during his tenure, his resignation stems
directly from his handling of the appointment of former FBI director William
Webster to head a new five-member panel charged with overseeing the accounting
industry." ... "Webster's selection was controversial because he was chosen
over a candidate opposed by the accounting industry. At a contentious Oct.
25 hearing, Pitt and the two other Republican commissioners voted for Webster
and the two Democrats voted against him." -By Greg
Farrell -USATODAY
- Enron
News - "Enron
loss major blow to law firm: Vinson & Elkins
regroups after hit." ... "Dynegy has experienced it. So, too, has Arthur
Andersen." ... "And now the city's largest law firm, a historical pillar
of Houston's downtown establishment, is suffering through the repercussions
that come from a too-close association with Enron Corp." ... "A year after
Enron's collapse, Vinson & Elkins is beginning to jettison some of
its partners -- something that is rarely done at major law firms." -By
L. M. Sixel -HoustonChronicle.com
- "Federal
Regulators Sue Ernst & Young." ... "Federal regulators
say accounting giant Ernst & Young misstated the assets of a failed
Chicago-area savings and loan and deliberately delayed reporting the error
to the government." ... "The allegation came Friday in a $548 million fraud
and negligence lawsuit filed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
[FDIC]. It said the accounting firm was silent about the misstated assets
to avoid publicity that would hurt the $11 billion sale of its consulting
arm." ... "Ernst & Young, one of the so-called Big Four accounting
firms, issued a statement blaming Superior Bank's management and a slumping
economy for the collapse of the savings and loan, which was based in west
suburban Oakbrook Terrace." -By Mike Robinson
-AP via -SeattlePI.NWsource
- "SEC
Chief Is Subject Of Probe: Pitt Failed To Disclose
Past Of Board Nominee." ... "The Securities and Exchange Commission ordered
an investigation into the actions of its own chairman yesterday, after
the agency's commissioners learned that Chairman Harvey L. Pitt failed
to tell them that his choice to head a new accounting oversight board chaired
the audit committee of a company being questioned about possible fraud."
... "Former FBI and CIA director William H. Webster told Pitt about his
association with Washington-based U.S. Technologies Inc. more than a week
before the SEC approved Webster by a 3 to 2 party-line vote last Friday.
The new board, intended to restore investor confidence, was created by
legislation passed after accounting scandals at Enron Corp., WorldCom Inc.
and several other major companies cost investors and employees billions
of dollars." -By Kathleen Day, David S. Hilzenrath
and Shannon Henry-WashingtonPost
- "SEC
investigates choice of Webster for board." ... "The
Securities and Exchange Commission yesterday opened an investigation into
the selection of former FBI director William Webster to run a new five-member
board to oversee the embattled accounting industry, amid escalating calls
for SEC chairman Harvey Pitt to resign. The White House said it stood by
Pitt, but also said it did not have all the facts in the matter." ... "Pitt
requested the probe under pressure from fellow SEC commissioners, some
of whom have publicly complained that he bowed to pressure from the accounting
industry last month when he selected Webster to run the new board instead
of another, more experienced candidate." -By Sue Kirchhoff
-Boston/Globe
- "Audit
Overseer Cited Problems in Previous Post." ... "Shortly
before William H. Webster was appointed to head a new board overseeing
the accounting profession by the Securities and Exchange Commission last
Friday, he told the commission's chairman, Harvey L. Pitt, that he had
until recently headed the auditing committee of a company that was facing
fraud accusations, Mr. Webster recounted today." ... "Mr. Pitt chose not
to tell the other four commissioners who voted on Mr. Webster's nomination
that day, according to S.E.C. officials. White House officials said they,
too, were not informed about the details of Mr. Webster's work for the
company." (1, 2)
-By Stephen Labaton -NYTimesvia
-AltaVista-News
Enron
News - "Ex-Enron
Executive Indicted on 78 Counts." ... "A federal
grand jury on Thursday handed up a 78-count indictment accusing fired Enron
executive Andrew Fastow of engaging in fraud, money laundering, and other
crimes to enrich himself and create the "illusion of business skill and
success" at the ruined energy giant." ... "The indictment added a new charge
that Fastow, 40, allegedly obstructed justice by trying to persuade former
protege Michael Kopper, who is cooperating with prosecutors, to destroy
computer records." ... "The order to Kopper, who pleaded guilty Aug. 21
and implicated his former boss in a series of fraud and kickback schemes,
came in August and September 2001." -By C. Bryson
Hull -Reuters/Business
-West
Coast Port Lockout
- "Union
Blames Co.'s for Dock Trouble: Dockworkers'
Union Files Documents Blaming Shipping Companies for Slowdown." ... "Shipping
companies are mismanaging cargo at major Pacific ports so federal prosecutors
can blame longshoremen for a work slowdown, the dockworker's union contends."
... "The union made the allegation in documents filed Tuesday with the
Justice Department." -AP
via -ABCNEWS.com
-West
Coast Port Lockout
- "Union
points finger at shippers, Justice Department in filing."
... "The West Coast dockworkers union blames mismanagement by shipping
companies for slow movement of cargo, saying Pacific Maritime Association
members are trying to make longshoremen look bad." ... "In documents filed
yesterday with the Justice Department, the International Longshore and
Warehouse Union also said the department appears to blame longshoremen
for the backlog. The union says the department has not asked the maritime
association to respond to union charges that its mismanagement is keeping
ports clogged." -By Frank Vinluan -SeattleTimes.NWsource
-West
Coast Port Lockout
- "Longshore
union blames owners for port backlog: Letter
to feds refutes charges by management." ... "A combination of increased
traffic, a lack of skilled labor, equipment shortages and breakdowns and
other logistical problems that are the responsibility of employers explains
the decline in number of cargo containers processed, said the International
Longshore and Warehouse Union." ... "The union made its case in a letter
to the Department of Justice, which had requested a response to an allegation
of a slowdown made by the owners' group, the Pacific Maritime Association."
-By George Raine -SFGate.com
- "Disney
to Offer New Internet Access Service [Through Microsoft]."
... "That could create a curious conflict, since MSN's news service is
provided by MSNBC, Microsoft's joint venture with NBC News, not Disney's
ABCNews.com. Mr. Eisner said in an interview that Disney had already decided
to accept adjacent cooperation and competition. Last year, Disney merged
its ESPN.com sports Web site with the sports section of MSN. That deal
helped ESPN.com rise to be the clear audience leader among sports sites
on the Web." -By Saul Hansell
-NYTimes via -Google-News
- "N.Y. Times
to buy Post's 50% share of IHT." ... "The International
Herald Tribune will be acquired by one of its two current owners, The New
York Times Co., which will buy out the 50 percent interest of The Washington
Post Co. under a plan announced Tuesday." ... "The sale, which follows
some contentious, behind-the-scenes negotiations between two of the world's
most famous newspapers, should not have any immediate effect on the IHT.
"The world's daily newspaper," as the IHT calls itself, will continue to
be published in 22 printing sites around the world and distributed in more
than 180 countries." ... "After Katharine Graham's death last year, she
was replaced by her son Donald, who is chief executive of the Post company.
Though the elder Sulzberger remains as IHT co-chairman, his son Arthur
Ochs Sulzberger Jr., is now chairman of the Times company." -IHT.com
- OPINION
- "Can
You Trust Your Computer?" ... "Who should your computer
take its orders from? Most people think their computers should obey them,
not obey someone else. With a plan they call "trusted computing," large
media corporations (including the movie companies and record companies),
together with computer companies such as Microsoft and Intel, are planning
to make your computer obey them instead of you. Proprietary programs have
included malicious features before, but this plan would make it universal."
... ""Treacherous computing" is a more appropriate name, because the plan
is designed to make sure your computer will systematically disobey you."
... "Programs that use treacherous computing will continually download
new authorization rules through the Internet, and impose those rules automatically
on your work. If Microsoft, or the U.S. government, does not like what
you said in a document you wrote, they could post new instructions telling
all computers to refuse to let anyone read that document. Each computer
would obey when it downloads the new instructions. Your writing would be
subject to 1984-style retroactive erasure. You might be unable to read
it yourself." -By Richard Stallman
-NewsForge via -CorpWatch.org
-West
Coast Port Lockout
- "Imports,
exports clog ports." ... "More than a week after
longshoremen returned to the docks after the 12-day lockout, a logjam of
ships persists at 29 ports in Oregon, Washington and California, confounding
shipping lines' schedules, sowing confusion among importers and exporters,
and in several cases threatening their bottom lines." ... "Since May, the
International Longshore and Warehouse Union has battled the Pacific Maritime
Association, which represents terminal operators and shipping lines, over
a new three-year contract. Acrimonious negotiations prompted the maritime
association to lock workers out Sept. 27." -By Boaz
Herzog and Dylan Rivera -OregonLive.com/Oregonian
- "Bush
Seeks to Cut Back on Raise for S.E.C.'s Corporate Cleanup."
... "Less than three months ago, President Bush signed with great fanfare
sweeping corporate antifraud legislation that called for a huge increase
in the budget of the Securities and Exchange Commission to police corporate
America and clean up Wall Street." ... "Now the White House is backing
off the budget provision and urging Congress to provide the agency with
27 percent less money than the new law authorized. Administration officials
say their proposed increase is enough and that other budgetary needs, like
the military and security against terrorism, make it impossible to afford
more." ... "Harvey L. Pitt, the commission's chairman, has acknowledged
through a spokesman that the administration's level of financing will not
allow it to undertake important initiatives." (1, 2)
-By Stephen Labaton-NYTimes
via -AltaVista-News
- Enron
News - "CHRONOLOGY-
California power crisis investigations." ... "A former
top Enron Corp. electricity trader pleaded guilty Thursday to inflating
prices during the California energy crisis, confirming the suspicions of
state officials who are demanding billions of dollars in refunds." ...
"Timothy Belden, who was employed by Enron as the head of its western power
trading unit in Portland, agreed to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy
to commit wire fraud, federal prosecutors said."
-Reuters via -Fortune
- "Jakarta links
Bali bombing to Al Qaeda: Security boosted
at plants of U.S. energy companies." ... "In the government's most explicit
acknowledgment that Al Qaeda is operating in Indonesia, the defense minister
linked the terrorist group Monday to a nightclub explosion Saturday that
killed and wounded hundreds of people on the resort island of Bali." ...
"President George W. Bush, linking the bombing of a French oil tanker off
Yemen and the shooting of two U.S. Marines in Kuwait, said Monday that
the Bali explosion appeared to be part of "a pattern of attack" by Al Qaeda."
... "Australia said Monday it had information linking Al Qaeda to the Bali
bomb blasts, Reuters reported from Bali." -By Seth
Mydans -NYTimes
-IHT.com
-West
Coast Port Lockout
- "Shippers:
W. Coast Dock Work Slows: West Coast Shipping
Lines Say Dock Work Rate Is Down About 25 Percent." ... "Officials with
the International Longshore and Warehouse Union said it was only a matter
of time before their employers accused them of slowing down work. The union
has said the docks are congested because of the 10-day lockout, which ended
Wednesday evening on orders from a federal judge in San Francisco." ...
""You've got a logistical nightmare out here caused by their lockout,"
said union spokesman Steve Stallone. "They've created all the problems
themselves and they're searching and searching for a way to say it's the
union's fault."" ... "He said that the union has asked the association
to train more workers than the current 10,500 members, but that it has
balked. Union members also said they will adhere to safety rules."
-AP via -ABCNEWS.com
-West
Coast Port Lockout
- "Dock
backlog likely to hit Christmas sales: Intervention
by Bush will get ports moving again, but return to normal is uncertain."
... "At least four weeks of loading and unloading backlog still lie ahead,
after which the movement of goods will still be crimped. The amount of
available dock space, and the number of containers, ships, and personnel
to process goods are all in question." ... "The result, for the short term
of five weeks, will continue to be the stranding of both perishable foodstuffs
as well as goods destined for those markets with very specific windows
of salability." -By Daniel B. Wood
-CSMonitor/buy
-West
Coast Port Lockout
- "Bush
Gets The Goods Moving." ... "Judge Alsup will hold
a hearing in a week on whether to grant a full 80-day injunction. Such
an order would push the dispute past the Christmas buying season, past
the November elections--and, perhaps, past the start of the war, if it
comes." ... "The judge issued a temporary restraining order that expires
Oct. 16. On that day, he will hold a hearing to determine whether to impose
the 80-day cooling-off period as mandated by Taft-Hartley at that time.
Both sides expect the judge to do so." -By Dan Ackman
-Forbes
- -West
Coast Port Lockout
- "Asia
Relieved U.S. Ports Reopen: Asia Relieved,
but Counts Cost As West Coast Ports Set to Reopen." ... "Hong Kong's Trade
Development Council has estimated local losses linked to the shutdown would
be at least $128.2 million." ... "The impact has varied, though with countries
like Malaysia and Taiwan that specialize in high-value electronics and
computer equipment to the United States saying they are least affected
because a large share of their exports are shipped by air."
-AP via -ABCNEWS.com
-West
Coast Port Lockout
- "West
Coast Ports Set to Reopen After Court Intervenes in Labor Dispute."
... "Workers may need as long as two and a half months to clear the backlog
of goods caused by the 10-day lockout at 29 major Pacific ports." ... "The
most often-cited study estimated total harm to the economy from the labor
strife at between $1 billion and $2 billion a day. The study, prepared
for the shippers' association by Martin Associates of Lancaster, Pa., estimated
the cost of a 10-day stoppage at $19 billion."
-AP via -ABCNEWS.com
- -West
Coast Port Lockout
- "Port
Lockout Left Cargo Stranded." ... "The current port
shutdown occurred in a critical month, October, when imports are generally
at their highest as American retailers rush to obtain deliveries for the
all-important Christmas sales season. The October-December period normally
accounts for 40 percent of retailers' annual sales." ... "The West Coast
ports, which handle more than $300 billion in trade annually, account for
more than half of all containerized cargo moving in and out of the country,
reflecting the burgeoning trade with Pacific Rim countries." -By
Martin Crutsinger -AP
via -Newsday.com
-West
Coast Port Lockout
- "Stocks
Rise on Hopes That Port Dispute Will Be Resolved."
... "Investors took heart after Bush said he will seek a court order to
suspend a management lockout of workers at 29 U.S. West Coast ports. Citing
a need to protect the U.S. economy and jobs, Bush is invoking the 1947
Taft-Hartley labor act for the first time since 1978 despite administration
fears of an organized labor backlash."
-Reuters via -NYTimes
via -Moreover
-West
Coast Port Lockout
- "U.S.
Port Talks Break Down, Crisis Escalates." ... "The
lockout of ports handling $300 billion in trade has raised widespread fears
of new disruptions in the faltering U.S. economy." ... "With billions of
dollars worth of cargo stranded in ship holds and dock terminals, manufacturing
production lines are beginning to shut down, food shipments are rotting
and retailers are growing anxious that shop shelves will be bare just as
the U.S. holiday shopping season gets underway." -By
Kevin Krolicki-Reuters
via -ABCNEWS.com
-West
Coast Port Lockout
- "Bush
to Intervene in Port Lockout." ... "President Bush
will take the first step toward ending a labor dispute between West Coast
port workers and shipping lines Monday by forming a board of inquiry to
make a quick assessment of the economic damage and determine whether the
two sides are negotiating in good faith." ... "Bush is forming the board
under the Taft-Hartley Act, hours after talks broke down between the union
and management Sunday night." -By Leigh Strope
-AP via -Seattle-PI.com.NWsource
-West
Coast Port Lockout
- "Port
Talks Break Off Indefinitely." ... "Labor talks broke
off between longshoremen and shipping lines after the union rejected the
latest contract proposal in a dispute that has shut down West Coast ports
and done billions of dollars in damage to the economy." ... "The Pacific
Maritime Association, which represents shipping companies and terminal
operators, has locked out 10,500 members of the longshoremen's union, claiming
the dockworkers had engaged in a slowdown late last month." -By
Simon Avery -AP
via -Seattle-PI.com.NWsource
-
- "Night
owls boost online spending." ... "Internet shopping
has captured a new "out-of-hours" market which is claiming an ever greater
proportion of UK retail spending, a report said." ... "Research from Barclaycard
suggested that one third of all online sales were made between 6pm and
9am." ... "The report suggested travel and financial service products were
the most popular online purchases with night owls, and that the average
spend was £1.60 higher than during the day."-BBC/News
