Industry Standard: Burst, Microsoft Reach Settlement. Microsoft Corp. will pay video player software vendor Burst.com Inc. US$60 million to settle Burst’s antitrust and patent-infringement claims. The settlement will give Microsoft a nonexclusive right to Burst’s media player software, according to a Burst press release from late Friday.
Here are the Burst.com contracts.
Boston Globe: Donations Tied to Delay Trip. An Indian tribe and a gambling services company made donations to a Washington public policy group that covered most of the cost of a $70,000 trip to Britain by House majority leader Tom DeLay, his wife, two aides, and two lobbyists in mid-2000, two months before DeLay helped kill legislation opposed by the tribe and the company.
I’ve added eLottery contracts to the site, including a Management Agreement for the National Indian Lottery. I can understand the Korea-US Exchange Council paying DeLay to take a trip to South Korea on a fact-finding mission, but what’s the connection between Indian gambling and Great Britain?
ZDNet: The Big Fuss Over Little Retek. Software maker Retek emerged from relative obscurity this week after Oracle began a wrestling match with archrival SAP for ownership of the company–a move that has Wall Street betting on an all-out bidding war.
I’ve added Retek contracts to the site. This includes the merger agreements with SAP America and Oracle, as well as a number of Change in Control Agreements.
San Francisco Chronicle: Defense Firms to Merge. United Defense Industries Inc., the maker of the Bradley Fighting Vehicle, has agreed to merge with British defense firm BAE Systems in a $4 billion deal, the two companies announced Monday.
So will the Bradley Fighting Vehicle now come with a right-hand drive option? I’ve added the BAE/United Defense Merger Agreement to the compilation of United Defense contracts.
Washington Post/AP: Biogen Drug Debacle May Drag Down Industry. The debacle over faulty drugs besetting the pharmaceutical industry has now spread to the biotech sector, with one of its best performing companies and a partner pulling their highly touted multiple sclerosis drug from the market after one patient died and another fell seriously ill.
What’s happening? Is this another reality TV show where one drug gets voted off the market each week? I’ve added Biogen Idec contracts to the site. Includes a number of R&D and licensing agreements.
Hewlett-Packard just filed Carly’s severance package with the Securities and Exchange Commission. If you’re getting a $14,000,000 severance payment, do you really need an additional $50,000 for financial/legal/career fees? The severance payment will be paid six months from the termination date with interest of 2.78%, which should work out to be just shy of $195,000 by my calculation. I guess she won’t have to dip into the interest to pay for her financial counseling now.
San Francisco Chronicle: Computer Break-in Imperils Californians. Criminals may have stolen personal data of 35,000 Californians by infiltrating computers at ChoicePoint Inc., a company that keeps background information on virtually every U.S. citizen.
So, instead of stealing from one person at a time, they’ve figured out a way to steal from thousands at a time. I’ve posted ChoicePoint contracts on the site.
SmartMoney.com: Cheaper by the Dozen. By early January, Krispy Kreme declared it would have to restate results from some prior quarters because of accounting errors, potentially triggering the default of its main credit facility on Jan. 14. Soon after Chief Executive Scott Livengood stepped down, and the company hired turnaround company Kroll Zolfo Cooper. Kroll partner Steven Cooper, a restructuring expert, was named the new CEO.
I’ve added the between Krispy Kreme, Stephen Cooper, Steven Panagos and Kroll Zolfo Cooper LLC to the site.
Chicago Sun-Times: OfficeMax CEO Resigns Amid Turmoil. A widening scandal at Itasca-based OfficeMax spurred its chief executive to resign Monday, and the company revealed it would restate its profits from the first three quarters of 2004.
I’ve added OfficeMax contracts – mostly employment and severance agreements – to the site.