Also: Veritas, Symantec allay investors’ merger fears; ex-World Com execs agree to settle suit; IBM buys SRD; Minnesota to appeal FCC VoIP ruling; and more
Microsoft last week tried to sharpen its focus again on security by releasing the first beta of the anti-spyware software it acquired when it bought Giant Software last month. The company also says that next week it will begin shipping tools for removing malicious code from a PC. Microsoft Windows AntiSpyware can detect and remove spyware, and block known spyware from infecting computers. The company didn’t say when a shipping version of AntiSpyware would be available. Microsoft is making AntiSpyware available for Windows 2000 and later versions of the operating system. The company says it hopes users will join its voluntary SpyNet network to report potential spyware. The Windows malicious code removal tools are a compilation of three tools Microsoft released a year ago. While the tools don’t prevent malicious code from infecting a PC, they can remove it. Microsoft will update the tools the second Tuesday of each month, the same monthly schedule for new patches.
The heads of Symantec and Veritas Software joined forces last week in New York in an attempt to allay investor worries about the proposed merger of the two companies. In a presentation and discussion with Wall Street analysts and shareholders on the rationale for combining the firms, Symantec CEO John Thompson said that the $13.5 billion proposed acquisition of Veritas by Symantec has triggered “some trepidation and skepticism.” Thompson and Veritas CEO Gary Bloom tried to counter doubts by saying the two companies, which have teamed to sell the products to 29 corporate accounts in the past, expect to see 18% growth in the next fiscal year. While there is virtually no product overlap between Veritas and Symantec, Thompson said the two firms estimate there is about $100 million in overlap in things such as “back-office infrastructure,” which will have to be resolved after the merger. There is no date set for a shareholder vote on the merger.
Ten ex-WorldCom directors have agreed to pay $18 million out of their own pockets to settle a suit with the New York State Common Retirement Fund. The personal payment is part of a $54 million deal the lawyers for the former executives struck with the state. According to reports, the details are not yet public because the judge presiding over the case still has to approve the deal. Typically, when shareholders or investors sue a director, the company and the company’s insurance pay the penalties. But in WorldCom’s case, the boards were found to have shown poor judgment, and even neglect, for not recognizing fraudulent activities that eventually drove WorldCom into bankruptcy. The board members who have agreed to a settlement include Clifford Alexander, secretary of the Army during the Carter administration, and James Allen, former CEO of Brooks Fiber, one of the more than 70 companies WorldCom acquired in the 1990s.
IBM announced late last week that it has acquired privately held SRD for an undisclosed amount to fill out its business intelligence middleware portfolio. SRD makes analytics software that specializes in gleaning information about individuals’ identities and discovering obscure associations from disparate data sources – for example, if someone is bouncing checks at five different banks using five different names or identities. IBM plans to integrate SRD’s operations into its information management software group.
The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission plans to appeal a November decision by the FCC prohibiting states from regulating VoIP services , such as those offered by Vonage Holdings. This appeal of the FCC’s ruling marks the second appeal by a state public utilities commission, after California filed a petition for review with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in December. The commission’s chief concern over the FCC ruling was how VoIP carriers would implement E911 services without state regulation. Commissioners also expressed concern over whether VoIP providers would contribute to the federal Universal Service Fund, which subsidizes phone service in rural and poor areas, and what services VoIP carriers would provide to people with hearing loss. In November, the FCC ruled that Vonage-style VoIP service should be free from most state regulation because the service can’t practically be separated into intrastate and interstate components.
The Federal Trade Commission last week negotiated an agreement with Sanford Wallace and his companies, SmartBot.net and Seismic Entertainment Productions, to send online ads only to people who visit their Web sites and to refrain from infecting computers with adware until a lawsuit pertaining to this is resolved in federal court. The trial date to settle the complaint brought by the FTC against Wallace and his companies last October has still not been set.
