A Belgian court on Monday fined Internet search engine Yahoo! 55,000 euros (69,300 dollars) for failing to hand over personal details of users suspected of committing fraud.
Daily fines of 10,000 euros (12,590 dollars) were to be added for non-compliance.
In an enquiry into fraud carried out by people using pseudonyms in Yahoo! email addresses, the prosecutor had called on Yahoo to provide the true identity of the suspected cyber criminals.
California-based Yahoo! refused, arguing that it was a US company and therefore such information would have to be requested through US authorities.
"We strongly disagree with the court's ruling," Yahoo! said in a statement.
"The United States and Belgium have a formal international treaty which the prosecutor should have followed to properly seek information from a US company."
Yahoo! is basing its defense on a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty between Belgium and the United States.
The treaty is intended to "improve the effectiveness of judicial assistance" by having designated authorities, usually respective justice departments, work out legal matters such as producing evidence across borders, according to the US Department of State website.
The public prosecutor responded that Yahoo! was also a Belgian company as its services are available in Belgium, stressing that there had never been such problems with American rivals Google and Microsoft.
The court in the northern town of Termonde imposed the 55,000 euro fine for "refusal to collaborate" with the judicial procedure, adding it would cost Yahoo! a further 10,000 euros per day in fines if it maintains its refusal to hand over the user data sought.
Yahoo! plans an immediate appeal based on the grounds the court does not have jurisdiction over the California firm's US operations and the prosecutor is dodging an international treaty crafted to deal with such cases.
The prosecutor in the Belgian criminal case skipped the MLAT legal process and had the court directly order Yahoo! to hand over private information sought as potential evidence, according to the Internet pioneer.
"Yahoo! is not withholding information from the Belgium government," the company said.
"We have a legal and policy basis for not disclosing information. We have raised this issue with the US government."
Yahoo! was denigrated by US lawmakers in 2007 for providing the Chinese government with email and other information that led to the imprisonment of two men that had advocated online for democracy in the Communist country.
Yahoo! settled a lawsuit filed against it by the Chinese men and their families in US federal court.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Monday, February 23, 2009
CEO Bartz plans to reorganization Yahoo
Carol Bartz, named chief executive last month, is planning to revamp the beleaguered Sunnyvale Web portal in an effort to speed up decision making and help reverse its slowing growth.
The shakeup, which could come as early as this week, is expected to create a new, more streamlined organizational chart. No major layoffs are planned, according to an executive familiar with the matter.
However, as part of the upcoming reorganization, Bartz, 60, a former CEO of business softwaremaker Autodesk, is expected to replace some Yahoo executives. Who will be leaving, and when, was unclear.
A Yahoo spokesman declined to comment on what he called "rumors and speculation."
On Monday, Neeraj Khemlani, who led Yahoo's news, tech and weather properties, said he would be joining Hearst Corp., owner of The Chronicle, as vice president and special assistant to the chief executive for digital media. He said that his departure was unrelated to any Yahoo reorganization and that Bartz "really understands how to reposition the company, which needs a little bit of help, but has all the core assets that it needs to succeed."
Yahoo's management has undergone a series of upheavals over the past 20 months, including a raft of departures and shifting responsibilities amid a failed $47.5 billion takeover bid by Microsoft Corp. But the changes haven't prompted the turnaround that many investors were hoping for.
Derek Brown, an analyst with Cantor Fitzgerald, said that Yahoo's future success depends on fixing its internal problems. Only then will it be able to tackle the formidable challenge of Google Inc., whose success in search has cemented its position at the top of the Internet food chain.
Brown criticized Bartz's predecessor, Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang, for failing to make significant changes during his brief 17-month tenure, which started with him promising that there would be no sacred cows. He has higher hopes for Bartz, who he said seems to be more willing to do what's necessary to speed up "decision-making that was significantly slower than the marketplace demanded."
"One thing that seems reassuring on the outside is that you have a relatively new set of eyes assessing the situation more objectively," Brown said.
During her first six weeks on the job, Bartz has voiced thinly veiled criticism of Yahoo's past executives, describing the company "as one with enormous assets that frankly could use a little management." She also said that Yahoo needed fundamental change to speed decision making and to develop a clearer strategy.
Yahoo has steadily lost market share in search to Google, prompting some investors to ask whether Yahoo should get out of the search business and partner with Microsoft instead. The failure to compete has hurt Yahoo particularly hard amid the deteriorating economy because search ads have performed better than other kinds of online advertising, particularly banner ads, a category that Yahoo leads.
The shakeup, which could come as early as this week, is expected to create a new, more streamlined organizational chart. No major layoffs are planned, according to an executive familiar with the matter.
However, as part of the upcoming reorganization, Bartz, 60, a former CEO of business softwaremaker Autodesk, is expected to replace some Yahoo executives. Who will be leaving, and when, was unclear.
A Yahoo spokesman declined to comment on what he called "rumors and speculation."
On Monday, Neeraj Khemlani, who led Yahoo's news, tech and weather properties, said he would be joining Hearst Corp., owner of The Chronicle, as vice president and special assistant to the chief executive for digital media. He said that his departure was unrelated to any Yahoo reorganization and that Bartz "really understands how to reposition the company, which needs a little bit of help, but has all the core assets that it needs to succeed."
Yahoo's management has undergone a series of upheavals over the past 20 months, including a raft of departures and shifting responsibilities amid a failed $47.5 billion takeover bid by Microsoft Corp. But the changes haven't prompted the turnaround that many investors were hoping for.
Derek Brown, an analyst with Cantor Fitzgerald, said that Yahoo's future success depends on fixing its internal problems. Only then will it be able to tackle the formidable challenge of Google Inc., whose success in search has cemented its position at the top of the Internet food chain.
Brown criticized Bartz's predecessor, Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang, for failing to make significant changes during his brief 17-month tenure, which started with him promising that there would be no sacred cows. He has higher hopes for Bartz, who he said seems to be more willing to do what's necessary to speed up "decision-making that was significantly slower than the marketplace demanded."
"One thing that seems reassuring on the outside is that you have a relatively new set of eyes assessing the situation more objectively," Brown said.
During her first six weeks on the job, Bartz has voiced thinly veiled criticism of Yahoo's past executives, describing the company "as one with enormous assets that frankly could use a little management." She also said that Yahoo needed fundamental change to speed decision making and to develop a clearer strategy.
Yahoo has steadily lost market share in search to Google, prompting some investors to ask whether Yahoo should get out of the search business and partner with Microsoft instead. The failure to compete has hurt Yahoo particularly hard amid the deteriorating economy because search ads have performed better than other kinds of online advertising, particularly banner ads, a category that Yahoo leads.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Obama's antitrust pick: Microsoft 'so last century,' Google troubling
Christine Varney, nominated by President Obama to be the next U.S. antitrust chief, last year singled out Google -- not Microsoft -- as especially worthy of government scrutiny.
"For me, Microsoft is so last century," Varney said at an American Antitrust Institute conference. "They are not the problem."
Wow. Now there's a zinger. The people in Microsoft's legal department are probably loving it. The Windows team? Um, not so much. In any event, that snippet from Bloomberg merely whets the appetite and makes a nerd like me want to read everything Varney said on the subject. So I found the audio file on the AAI site and transcribed the whole passage. Enjoy.
"If any of my colleagues or friends from Google, or who represent Google, are here, I invite you to jump up and scream and yell at me. For me, Microsoft is so last century. They are not the problem. I think we’re going to continually to see a problem, potentially, with Google, who I think so far has acquired a monopoly in Internet online advertising lawfully. I do not think they have done anything other than be a spectacular, innovative company. I’m deeply troubled by their acquisition of DoubleClick, and I’m deeply troubled by their deal with Yahoo. I submit to you that this administration, although they may open a investigation or a review of the Google-Yahoo deal, will do nothing. I think this is a classic area to explore, how do you apply Section 2 in a highly innovative, highly networked, not terribly competitive environment."
As it happens, Varney was wrong in predicting that the Bush administration would let the Google-Yahoo deal go unopposed. Google walked away from the agreement after it became clear that the Justice Department was poised to fight it in court.
But her comments make it pretty clear which company she believes deserves the closer scrutiny nowadays.
Bloomberg quotes a White House spokesman saying that Obama nominated Varney “to vigorously enforce the law” and “is confident that she can do so in a fact-specific and evenhanded way with every matter she will face.”
"For me, Microsoft is so last century," Varney said at an American Antitrust Institute conference. "They are not the problem."
Wow. Now there's a zinger. The people in Microsoft's legal department are probably loving it. The Windows team? Um, not so much. In any event, that snippet from Bloomberg merely whets the appetite and makes a nerd like me want to read everything Varney said on the subject. So I found the audio file on the AAI site and transcribed the whole passage. Enjoy.
"If any of my colleagues or friends from Google, or who represent Google, are here, I invite you to jump up and scream and yell at me. For me, Microsoft is so last century. They are not the problem. I think we’re going to continually to see a problem, potentially, with Google, who I think so far has acquired a monopoly in Internet online advertising lawfully. I do not think they have done anything other than be a spectacular, innovative company. I’m deeply troubled by their acquisition of DoubleClick, and I’m deeply troubled by their deal with Yahoo. I submit to you that this administration, although they may open a investigation or a review of the Google-Yahoo deal, will do nothing. I think this is a classic area to explore, how do you apply Section 2 in a highly innovative, highly networked, not terribly competitive environment."
As it happens, Varney was wrong in predicting that the Bush administration would let the Google-Yahoo deal go unopposed. Google walked away from the agreement after it became clear that the Justice Department was poised to fight it in court.
But her comments make it pretty clear which company she believes deserves the closer scrutiny nowadays.
Bloomberg quotes a White House spokesman saying that Obama nominated Varney “to vigorously enforce the law” and “is confident that she can do so in a fact-specific and evenhanded way with every matter she will face.”
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Yahoo to establish Yahoo Vietnam company
Yahoo! Southeast Asia is going to close its representative office in Hanoi as of February 20 to open a company in Vietnam
The General Director of Yahoo! Southeast Asia office in Vietnam, Vu Minh Tri confirmed this information. Previously, Yahoo! Vietnam made some moves: recognizing four companies – Admax, FPT Online Advertising, GapIT Media JS Company and the Golden Media Group – as its four authorized advertising agents in Vietnam.
Yahoo also Vietnamized its website for Vietnam and some accompanied services. It also combined with some Vietnamese newspapers to upload Vietnamese articles on the www.yahoo.com.vn and joined hands with MobiFone to supply searching services for mobile phone users, named OneSearch.
In January 2009, Yahoo declared to close its Yahoo! Music website in Vietnam to review its music service strategy in the country.
The Yahoo! Southeast Asia representative office in Hanoi was licenced for the first time on August 3, 2007 by the Hanoi Department of Industry and Trade. The licence was amended for four times.
The General Director of Yahoo! Southeast Asia office in Vietnam, Vu Minh Tri confirmed this information. Previously, Yahoo! Vietnam made some moves: recognizing four companies – Admax, FPT Online Advertising, GapIT Media JS Company and the Golden Media Group – as its four authorized advertising agents in Vietnam.
Yahoo also Vietnamized its website for Vietnam and some accompanied services. It also combined with some Vietnamese newspapers to upload Vietnamese articles on the www.yahoo.com.vn and joined hands with MobiFone to supply searching services for mobile phone users, named OneSearch.
In January 2009, Yahoo declared to close its Yahoo! Music website in Vietnam to review its music service strategy in the country.
The Yahoo! Southeast Asia representative office in Hanoi was licenced for the first time on August 3, 2007 by the Hanoi Department of Industry and Trade. The licence was amended for four times.
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