Michael Liedtke

January 08, 2007 | Corporate Counsel

Scrambling to avoid a hefty tax bill, VeriSign's chief financial officer and another executive have agreed to recalculate the value of over 50,000 stock options. VeriSign already has acknowledged the mishandling of some stock options will force it to absorb a charge of up to $250 million. The bungled accounting has threatened VeriSign's listing on the Nasdaq Stock Market and raised embarrassing credibility questions for a company whose business revolves around validating the trustworthiness of Web sites.

By Michael Liedtke

3 minute read

August 15, 2005 | Legaltech News

Stung by a publishing industry backlash, Google has halted its efforts to scan copyrighted books from some of the nation's largest university libraries so the material can be indexed in its leading Internet search engine. The project troubles publishers because they fear making digital versions of copyrighted books available on the Internet could open the door to unauthorized duplication and distribution, similar to the rampant online pirating that has decimated music industry sales.

By Michael Liedtke

3 minute read

October 24, 2007 | Law.com

The popular online social network Facebook Inc. is being sued by an Indiana woman who alleges it has profited from its members sending thousands of unauthorized text messages, some including explicit language, to mobile phone users whose numbers previously belonged to other people. The lawsuit highlights the confusion and frustration that can arise as Web sites extend their services to mobile handsets with phone numbers that have been reassigned, or "recycled," after another customer's service ended.

By Michael Liedtke

2 minute read

May 19, 2008 | Law.com

A lawyer for Yahoo shareholders says Yahoo is seeking to conceal large portions of a suit alleging the company's board improperly thwarted Microsoft's $47.5 billion takeover offer. In a letter sent Friday to the judge overseeing the case, the lawyer argued that Yahoo is trying "to whitewash embarrassing documents" because the company thinks the information will damage the board's efforts to repel a challenge by activist investor Carl Icahn.

By Michael Liedtke

3 minute read

August 05, 2004 | The Legal Intelligencer

Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s employee wages and benefits policies cost California taxpayers $86 million annually to provide health care and other public assistance to the retailer's underpaid workers, according to a new study.

By Michael Liedtke

2 minute read

July 29, 2010 | Legaltech News

Google is gearing up to sell its web-hosted applications to a wider range of government agencies after winning a prized security clearance. Federal Information Security Management Act certification means Google's systems are considered reliable enough to store U.S. government data.

By Michael Liedtke

3 minute read

March 20, 2006 | Law.com

Google's methods for ranking Web sites came under attack Friday in a lawsuit accusing the online search engine leader of ruining scores of Internet businesses that have been wrongfully banished from its index. The civil complaint, filed by KinderStart.com in federal court in California, seeks to be certified as a class action representing the owners of all Web sites blacklisted by Google's search engine since January 2001. KinderStart says it was dropped from Google's index a year ago without warning.

By Michael Liedtke

3 minute read

January 08, 2007 | Law.com

Scrambling to avoid a hefty tax bill, VeriSign's chief financial officer and another executive have agreed to recalculate the value of over 50,000 stock options. VeriSign already has acknowledged the mishandling of some stock options will force it to absorb a charge of up to $250 million. The bungled accounting has threatened VeriSign's listing on the Nasdaq Stock Market and raised embarrassing credibility questions for a company whose business revolves around validating the trustworthiness of Web sites.

By Michael Liedtke

3 minute read

September 08, 2005 | Corporate Counsel

Google has settled the last part of a lawsuit alleging the online search engine leader's ad network illegally exploited insurer Geico's brand, avoiding a trial on an issue that threatened to bog down one of the Internet's biggest moneymaking machines. The Geico suit is just one of several trademark battles shadowing Google's method for selling the text-based ads that provide the financial fuel for the company's popular search engine.

By Michael Liedtke

3 minute read

November 13, 2006 | Legaltech News

Escalating exuberance over Internet-based business manifested itself at the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco -- a 3-year-old event renamed this year to underscore its exclusive status. Startups paid $10,000 apiece for the privilege of making five-minute onstage demos.

By Michael Liedtke

2 minute read