MICROSOFT TO PAY AOL $750 MILLION

May 29, 2003 | business, law, Microsoft

You might have seen the news that Microsoft will pay AOL $750 million to settle AOL’s antitrust lawsuit. AOL acquired Netscape in 1998 and sued Microsoft in early 2002 for playing dirty to obtain market dominance. The deal makes sense from an economic perspective for...

ROB BLACK BACK ON THE AIR

May 20, 2003 | business

The world became dreary and pointless when CNET Radio went off the air a few months ago. True geeks can get a fix by signing up to receive daily downloads of 25 minute newscasts, served up in mp3 format for listening on the computer, portable devices, or anything else...

COREL DEATH WATCH

Mar 27, 2003 | business

Microsoft bailed out of its investment in Corel a few days ago. Now Corel has announced that it is soliciting takeover bids. Its stock price has been trading at the cash value of the company for much of the past year – last week, the stock market valued the company at...

CISCO BUYING LINKSYS

Mar 20, 2003 | business

Linksys equipment has become ubiquitous in homes and small businesses. Its inexpensive routers and wireless equipment are stacked to the ceiling in any store that sells computer peripherals. Cisco Systems has been looking for a way to break into the consumer...

SBC YAHOO DSL

Mar 15, 2003 | business

If you get a letter suggesting that you must “upgrade” your SBC DSL to “SBC Yahoo DSL,” burn it. It’s a fraud. Here’s some history to explain why. For a brief moment last year, Pacific Bell’s broadband service and support was going pretty well. Techs were...

COREL DEATH WATCH: MICROSOFT BAILS OUT

Mar 11, 2003 | business

In October 2000, Microsoft acquired a 24.6% share in Corel for $135 million. It has now signed a deal to sell its shares – for a total of less than $13 million. Microsoft’s cash infusion had saved Corel from going bankrupt a couple of years ago. The Microsoft purchase...