Author: Ken Chan

Categories
corporate buzz ipo

If We Stopped Exporting Cars…

Time: China’s Quest for Oil. Motorists bemoaning high prices at the pumps—oil rose to a record $55 a barrel on Oct. 15, up 65% this year—can with some justification point an accusatory finger toward the mainland. Its booming economy and burgeoning appetite for cars and other modern conveniences have caused energy demand to soar.

You think gas prices are high right now? Here’s the sobering message from the article above: “The number of cars on mainland roads – about 20 million – is expected to increase by 2.5 million this year alone.” For a country with a population of 1.3 billion people, China only has 20 million cars on the road. California, alone, has almost 30 million vehicles. The numbers all point to higher and higher gas prices in the future.

I’ve added Brilliance China Automotive Holdings contracts and China Automotive Systems contracts to the web site. I’ve also added contracts from eLong, a Chinese online travel web site that recently filed for an IPO.

Categories
corporate buzz

Reality TV: The Candidate

CBS MarketWatch: Sinclair to Air Anti-Kerry Show. Sinclair Broadcasting Group, which owns the largest chain of TV stations in the United States, has told its stations to broadcast a documentary accusing Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry of betraying American prisoners during the Vietnam War, according to a news report Monday.

I guess this is the conservative answer to Michael Moore’s “documentary.” Sinclair includes 20 FOX stations – for those seeking fair and balanced coverage. So much for the pretense of an unbiased and impartial media. I’ve added Sinclair Broadcast Group contracts – including a number of employment agreements – to the web site.

Categories
litigation

PeopleFired

Red Herring: Conway to Take the Stand. Less than a week after he was booted from the top spot at PeopleSoft, Craig Conway is expected to face tough questions from Oracle lawyers in a Delaware courtroom on Wednesday.

You can find Craig Conway’s Employment Agreement and other PeopleSoft contracts on the web site.

Categories
litigation

55170-054 Living Omnimedia

USA Today: Martha Stewart Will Serve Her Time in W. Va.. Martha Stewart has been ordered to serve her sentence for lying about a stock sale at the federal prison in Alderson, W.Va., a source close to the case told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons provides a handy Inmate Locator to help you keep track of Martha Stewart or any of your other favorite inmates. I’ve added some new Martha Stewart Living contracts to the web site, including her latest Employment Agreement.

Categories
litigation

Non-GAAP Accounting Software?

SiliconValley.com: Kumar, Facing Jail Time, Disavows Concept of 35-Day Month. In March of 2002, dissident Computer Associates investor Sam Wyly, who the year before had mounted an unsuccessful campaign to unseat the software company’s board of directors, demanded that CA fire its top three executives.

This coming from a company that offers solutions enabling “you to meet regulatory compliance issues.” I guess they weren’t using their own software. I’ve posted Computer Associates contracts, including a deferred prosecution agreement, on the web site.

Categories
litigation

Sony Loses Suit over Jittery Joysticks

CNET News.com: Jury slaps Sony with $82 million verdict. Immersion, a maker of force-feedback joysticks, said Wednesday that a jury on Tuesday found that Sony’s PlayStation unit infringed on its patents and awarded the company $82 million.

I’ve posted Immersion contracts, including a number of licensing agreements, on the web site.

Categories
ipo

Meet Ms. Tamagotchi

CNN: Virtual Girlfriend Could End Dating Woes. She needs to be coddled with sweet talk and pampered with gifts, but you’ll never see her in the flesh, says a Hong Kong company that’s developing a “virtual girlfriend” for new cell phones with video capability.

For the next series of The Bachelor, the contestant will have to choose between Miss Nokia, Miss Samsung and Miss Nextel. And the winner is … petite with a mute button and a vibrate mode. Anyways, the “brains” behind this product is going public. I’ve added Artificial Life contracts to the web site.

Categories
corporate buzz

Layover in Bankruptcy Court

Cincinnati Post: Bankruptcy Looming at Delta, Auditor Says. Delta Air Lines said Wednesday it has revised its 2003 annual report to include a new report by its independent auditor warning that bankruptcy is looming.

Nowadays, the most popular destination for the major airlines is bankruptcy court. Some are headed in that direction. Some have departed from there. And, one airline just made a return trip back to bankruptcy. I’ve added Delta contracts and US Airways contracts to the web site.

Categories
corporate buzz

Fidelity Intercepts Bank Technology Company

Reuters: Fidelity National to Buy InterCept. Fidelity National Financial Inc., a U.S. title insurance company, said on Thursday it agreed to buy bank technology company InterCept in a deal worth about $400 million, expanding its customer base.

I’ve posted InterCept contracts – mostly service agreements and employment agreements – on the web site.

Categories
litigation

Dump sales. Hire more lawyers.

Forbes: Software Company Sees Goldmine in Patent Cases. While it tries to build its line of scheduling software, Austin-based Forgent has been hiring lawyers to extract revenue from the company’s store of old patents. Already, Forgent has reaped nearly $50 million by claiming that one of its patents covers JPEG, the popular standard for digital images. Sony Corp. and Adobe Systems Inc. are among the tech giants that have settled with Forgent.

Interesting article that compares Forgent to “trial lawyers.” Also, the article includes a quote from an attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) comparing this to class-action lawyering. Do I detect an anti-plaintiff bias? Anyways, I’ve posted Forgent contracts on the web site.