-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1
A Question About the Novell-Microsoft Deal
,----[ Quote ]
| As an investor, I want to consider all possibilities, which means having all
| material facts available. If I am missing material pieces, it's just
| guessing. I read conflicting reports about the deal, and I have no way to
| know which is true. You would need details. For example, we read that
| Microsoft bought certificates, for which it paid Novell now. So it looks like
| Novell just made $100 million. But once the vouchers are obtained by
| customers, then Microsoft gets some of the money the customer pays for the
| services and support, I'm thinking, or why would they do it? So exactly what
| is the figure that Novell really gets in the end? I have no idea, and I have
| no way to find out, unless they file the agreement with the SEC and let me
| read it.
|
| So, what are the regulations? I had no idea, so I went to look. I hoped to be
| able to do some research and get a firm understanding, but the truth is, this
| is a subject that is, for starters, a little squishy in the wording of the
| regulation and a deep enough subject that lawyers and accountants who
| specialize in such matters go to conferences to try to keep up with latest
| developments in this area of speciality, so the odds of me figuring it all
| out in a couple of days are somewhere between slim to none. So I'll just show
| you the regulation, and the exception, and let those who understand all this
| better than I do figure out the answer to my question: why doesn't Novell
| have to reveal the terms of this agreement in a filing with the SEC? Or
| Microsoft? I may not know the answer, but I know it's the right question.
`----
http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20080904043402537
Related:
Novell fraud lawsuit settled for $13.9M.
,----[ Quote ]
| After more than seven years in the courts, Novell will spend $13.9 million to
| make a securities fraud class-action lawsuit go away.
`----
http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/gi_0198-225344/Novell-fraud-lawsuit-settled-for.html
,----[ Quote ]
| "For instance, Microsoft, the world’s most valuable company, declared a
| profit of $4.5 billion in 1998; when the cost of options awarded that year,
| plus the change in the value of outstanding options, is deducted, the firm
| made a loss of $18 billion, according to Smithers."
`----
http://etheridge.ca/articles/economist-options.html
Whistleblower settles after Microsoft SEC fraud claim
,----[ Quote ]
| He claimed to have been forced to resign in 1995 after reporting his
| suspicions about Microsoft bookkeeping to CFO Mike Brown and COO Bob Herbold.
|
| [...]
|
| But court records of the case show Pancerzewski had claimed he'd been ordered
| to destroy a consultant's report about potential tax liabilities in Europe,
| and that he'd found that Microsoft was controlling the level of reported
| income by switching money back and forth from reserves. Much simplified, this
| procedure involves putting money into reserves in good times, and
| transferring it back into reported income when times are hard. It's used to
| keep earnings apparently growing smoothly, and it is illegal, under SEC
| rules.
`----
http://www.theregister.co.uk/1999/01/09/whistleblower_settles_after_microsoft_sec/
Unauthorized biography of Steve Ballmer turns up little new
,----[ Quote ]
| A lengthy anecdote about accounting irregularities exposed by whistleblower
| Charles Pancerzewski concludes weakly, "Microsoft paid over $4 million to
| make Pancerzewski go away, an amount that presumably wouldn't be paid out
| without the Office of the President, the trio to which Ballmer belonged,
| signing off on it."
`----
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/86841_ballmer13.shtml
Microsoft's Accounting Under Scrutiny
,----[ Quote ]
| The company has still not made enough information public to provide analysts
| with detailed information on the profitability of its MSN Internet business,
| Mr. Galvin said, adding, ''There's still room for them to obfuscate.''
`----
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A03E1DC173DF932A35754C0A96F958260
Microsoft - Undeserving of Libertarian Praise
,----[ Quote ]
| One strategy that Microsoft has employed in the past is paying for the
| silence of people and companies. Charles Pancerzewski, formerly Microsoft's
| chief auditor, became aware of Microsoft's practice of carrying earnings from
| one accounting period into another, known as "managing earnings". This
| practice smoothes reported revenue streams, increases share value, and
| misleads employees and shareholders. In addition to being unethical, it's
| also illegal under U.S. Securities Law and violates Generally Accepted
| Accounting Practices (Fink). Mr. Pancerzewski claims he was forced to retire,
| for raising the issue of deferred earnings with Microsoft executives, thereby
| making plausible deniability more difficult for said executives. He has since
| sued Microsoft, who responded by settling out of court, but also sealing the
| records to prevent public disclosure (Fink).
`----
http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2002/8/20/11034/3908
Microsoft Agrees To Refrain From Accounting Violations in SEC Settlement
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft has agreed to refrain from accounting violations to settle federal
| regulators' allegations that it misrepresented its financial performance, the
| government announced Monday.
|
| Under a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the software
| giant neither admitted to nor denied wrongdoing. No fine was imposed.
|
| The SEC alleged that Microsoft's accounting practices from July 1994 through
| June 1998 caused its income to be substantially misstated.
`----
http://www.crn.com/it-channel/18819490
"Microsoft Tax," MSN Enters the Black Hole, New Names for NT
,----[ Quote ]
| The lawsuit, filed last year by Mukilteo City Councilman Charles
| Pancerzewski, alleges that he was forced to resign as Microsoft's general
| auditor in January 1996 after working for the company's internal auditing
| department for more than four years. The suit claims that a "significantly
| younger man" with little auditing experience was picked to replace
| Pancerzewski, who was finally forced out because he discovered Microsoft
| might have been violating government regulations. Once Pancerzewski left the
| company he was replaced by the younger man, who his attorneys believe
| was "less prone to raise issues of possible legal improprieties which could
| threaten or embarrass Microsoft or its management.
`----
http://www.msboycott.com/news/98_06_22.shtml
SEC Investigating Microsoft Practices -- Earnings Manipulated, Former Employee
Contends
,----[ Quote]
| "The CFO to whom Charlie was reporting his concerns about illegality was the
| biggest advocate for the very illegality that was going on," Vial argued in
| court a year ago.
`----
http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19990701&slug=2969514
Microfraud?
,----[ Quote ]
| THE ALLEGATIONS WERE shocking: For years, Microsoft has systematically
| distorted its profit figures in an effort to consistently beat Wall Street
| expectations and keep its stock price steadily rising. The false reports
| would violate SEC regulations, and amount to outright fraud.
|
| More shocking was the source of the allegations: Microsoft's chief of
| internal audits, Charlie Pancerzewski, who reported directly to the company's
| chief financial officer.
|
| Most shocking of all was what happened to Pancerzewski when he reported the
| suspicious bookkeeping to his supervisors, Microsoft CFO Mike Brown and chief
| operating officer Bob Herbold, in the spring of 1995. Soon afterward,
| Pancerzewski—who for nearly five years had received stellar performance
| evaluations—received his first-ever unsatisfactory one, and was eventually
| forced to resign.
|
| Two months ago, Microsoft quietly settled a lawsuit containing these
| allegations, filed in 1997 by Pancerzewski under the Whistleblowers
| Protection Act. The auditor claimed he was wrongfully terminated after
| telling his supervisors that Microsoft might be breaking securities and tax
| laws. The lawsuit made its tortuous way through several rounds of pretrial
| motions until last fall, when US District Judge Carolyn Dimmick denied
| Microsoft's final plea for summary judgment, finding credible evidence that
| Microsoft may have violated SEC rules, as Pancerzewski alleged. Shortly
| thereafter, Microsoft and Pancerzewski settled out of court. Terms of the
| agreement were sealed, but one source who claims familiarity with the case
| says that Microsoft paid Pancerzewski $4 million.
`----
http://web.archive.org/web/20070308032343rn_2/www.seattleweekly.com/1999-01-06/news/microfraud.php
Ex-Microsoft Manager Sentenced for Fraud
http://www.hardocp.com/news.html?news=MzM3NjYsLCxoZW50aHVzaWFzdCwsLDE=
Ex-Microsoft Manager Pleads Guilty, Sentenced For Embezzlement
http://www.crn.com/software/209400603
Ex-Microsoft manager ordered to prison
http://www.upi.com/Business_News/2008/07/19/Ex-Microsoft_manager_ordered_to_prison/UPI-73221216506990/
Ex-Microsoft manager jailed for $1m fraud
http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2222135/microsoft-manager-jailed-1m-cons
Ex-Microsoft Manager Gets 22 Months for Fraud
http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/148642/exmicrosoft_manager_gets_22_months_for_fraud.html
Ex-Microsoft boss sentenced
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/371393_msftcourt19.html
Former Microsoft Manager Gets 2 Years In Jail
http://news.portalit.net/fullnews_former-microsoft-manager-gets-2-years-in-jail_1427.html
Kirkland woman senteced to 22 months, ordered to repay nearly $1 million, for
embezzlement scheme
http://www.pnwlocalnews.com/news/25634819.html
Ecuador Tax Agency Closes Microsoft Branch Offices For 7 Days
,----[ Quote ]
| "We have twice requested balances, payment reports and complete tax
| information, but the company hasn't given it to us, so in accordance with our
| laws we have proceeded with the closure," the SRI official in charge of the
| proceeding said.
`----
http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/djf500/200710041610DOWJONESDJONLINE000810_FORTUNE5.htm
Microsoft Office raid in Hungary
,----[ Quote ]
| "Such behavior could lead to the exclusion of competitive products from
| the market and violate European Union rules, according to the authority
| known as the GVH."
`----
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/07/26/ap3957835.html
Microsoft exec dumped stock prior to Red Ring announcement
,----[ Quote ]
| To make matters more murky, the sales were not registered with the Securities
| and Exchange Commission within the mandatory two days of the transaction, a
| result of an alleged "administrative error." Microsoft has since remedied the
| issue by following the "procedures required of late-filers."
`----
http://arstechnica.com/journals/thumbs.ars/2007/08/14/microsoft-exec-dumped-stocks-prior-to-red-ring-addresment
Microsoft's Bach sold more stock before Xbox news
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft Corp. executive Robbie Bach sold $3 million more in company stock
| during the period leading up to an announcement about a costly flaw in its
| Xbox video game console than previously reported, according to a filing
| Monday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
`----
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/microsofts-bach-sold-additional-stock/story.aspx?guid=%7BBECA3A50-EF33-4161-A111-A43BDC8B0462%7D&siteid=yhoof
Insider Trading Hasn't Affect Microsoft Stock - Yet
,----[ Quote ]
| MarketWatch.com reports that Robbie Bach, president of Microsoft's
| Entertainment and Devices division, sold $6.2 million of Microsoft
| stock just prior to announcing that Microsoft was going to have to
| extend XBox 360 warranties to three years because of extensive
| failures. The filings note that this was not part of any
| scheduled diversification or selling program; this was a
| conscious, unscheduled sale by the guy in charge of releasing
| news that could affect the value of Microsoft stock.
|
| [...]
|
| Insider trading is a very serious violation of the law; just
| ask Martha Stewart, who served five months in prison for
| avoiding losses of $43,000 through trades that just had suspicious
| timing (no insider trading was actually proven). This is $6.3
| million that went straight into Robbie Bach's pocket.
`----
http://biz.yahoo.com/seekingalpha/070713/40947_id.html?.v=1
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.4.9 (GNU/Linux)
iEYEARECAAYFAkjAC/gACgkQU4xAY3RXLo4sYACeK2gdEJn9gcAUKPAO5wo5lxO+
bBoAni6yo9xFIRRiI7fTPwaYnPWb5qW7
=j274
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
|
|
