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Microsoft Hires Lobbyists to Clinch Yahoo Takeover
time.com — Microsoft Corp. has yet to convince Yahoo Inc. to agree to a friendly takeover, but the software company is already hiring lobbyists to help it convince regulators to let the deal — hostile if it has to be — go through.
MakiMaki- 458 diggs
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- sajidf, on 04/18/2008, -17/+17Important story. Microsoft sucks!
- AppleMacStud, on 04/18/2008, -7/+6
+1 - centerblack, on 04/18/2008, -1/+15Microsoft is just funny because they desperately want to find someone they can fight against and win. They've branched out in so many different directions... They're like the short kid in school who has a complex about it and has something to prove. Any time anyone comes out with anything innovative in the tech sector, Microsoft starts a new branch to try and compete with them.
They should trim down and focus their work.- Stonekeeper, on 04/18/2008, -0/+4Nah, i'm hoping they spread themselves too thin.
- Drahkar, on 04/18/2008, -1/+8The thing that I can't get over is Microsoft's habit of 'If I can't get my way nicely I'll buy changes in Government rules so I can just take what I want.'
- AppleMacStud, on 04/18/2008, -7/+6
- DanielJoel, on 04/18/2008, -5/+13After that internal ad that leak, I dont think Yahoo wants anything to do with Microsoft. hah.
- IHaveCrayons, on 04/18/2008, -4/+13It doesn't look like Yahoo can stop it at this point, once Microsoft has its target set it will do what it takes no matter the cost.
- Vileputrid, on 04/18/2008, -15/+1Why hasn't Yahoo's CEO been arrested for treason? What he did when he aided China is a disgrace.
- philhatesyou, on 04/18/2008, -0/+14He never betrayed the nation, only your absurd sense of moral outrage.
- freedomknight, on 04/19/2008, -0/+1I really wonder why Google founders aren't apologizing for censoring content that they present to Chinese people.
- element2990, on 04/18/2008, -10/+2stupid billy gates
stop playing pac man - Celeron, on 04/18/2008, -9/+15Google is going to kick Microsoft's ass.
- 1Robinthehood1, on 04/18/2008, -7/+0i am gonna kick microsoft's ass, and google's ass
- 1Robinthehood1, on 04/18/2008, -0/+2man u never know how many people read these things until u say something stupid
- SniperGX1, on 04/18/2008, -7/+2Not likely. Google built an empire on one stream of income (ads). Microsoft isn't stupid, they make much much more money and can afford to lose millions in online ads so long as google loses more market share every quarter. This merger will be good for us consumers because google will be forced to actually innovate instead of buying startups and sticking their name on the products.
- freedomknight, on 04/19/2008, -0/+1Please stop using M$ encarta.
Knock yourself by downmodding me.
- freedomknight, on 04/19/2008, -0/+1Please stop using M$ encarta.
- thomasprebble, on 04/18/2008, -0/+6Google already has.
- 1Robinthehood1, on 04/18/2008, -7/+0i am gonna kick microsoft's ass, and google's ass
- AppleMacStud, on 04/18/2008, -8/+3I wonder if the people over at Yahoo saw that horrifying and ridiculous Vista SP1 video yesterday that Microshaft released and now they're REALLY having second thoughts?
- UltramegaOK, on 04/18/2008, -14/+1http://digg.com/politics/Kid_threatens_to_kill_pre ...
- 80hd, on 04/18/2008, -0/+1no
- CrimsonBlur, on 04/18/2008, -12/+11This is standard big business, not really anything to get excited about. Hostile takeovers happen all the time and the companies involved have to cover their bases.
Whatever you may think of MS, acquiring Yahoo! is a good move, and I actually believe it would be good for Yahoo!, the only reason the deal hasn't gone through is because Yahoo! thinks they are being undervalued, which is a bit of a joke considering how stagnant the company is right now despite some of the recent innovative things they have been doing.
Yahoo! simply does not know how to leverage their technology. They keep coming up with great ideas and they go absolutely nowhere. The cash pile that is MS could be great for them, because the monetary risk involved in pushing new ideas would basically be null.- Myztry, on 04/18/2008, -1/+9It's all about position. Microsoft is only ever successful as the dominant player and the leverage that provides. They don't compete well. All their products loose money except for Windows and Office.
It really wouldn't matter which company they seek to acquire as long as it was top two (dominator/competitor). Microsoft even has the giant advantage of having their search bundled with the most common OS/browser yet still rank fourth globally.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Search_engine
Microsoft can't develop a superior product regardless of funding because they still need to base it on an inferior Operating System that can't scale to the power of the cloud as Google and others have. They need to avoid technical disadvantage and try for raw fiscal maneuvers.
If anyone here has Yahoo stock then don't take any early offers. Microsoft has to get Yahoo or loose. And Microsoft can't afford to loose, least others simply become way to financially powerful for them to ever catch up. For so long Microsoft had untouchable wealth. They'd do anything to see that status shift to someone else.
The Internet market is going to make the Desktop market look like peanuts !- SuperMoses, on 04/18/2008, -0/+6Lose.
But other than that, I agree- Myztry, on 04/18/2008, -0/+1/me slaps forehead and gives a Digg...
- SuperMoses, on 04/18/2008, -0/+6Lose.
- riah, on 04/18/2008, -1/+3I can't help but see it as a loss for PHP, which is what Yahoo! uses to develop apps. Balmer said in an interview they'll let them keep some things PHP, but.... :'(
- CrimsonBlur, on 04/18/2008, -0/+3Yeah, that's a good point... but I'm not sure how much that would change. Ballmer says a lot of things, but to port everything Yahoo! has done would be a huge undertaking and waste of time and resources. That's not to say they wouldn't do it though... I think I remember hearing they made Hotmail rebuild their code from the ground up when they acquired them :/
- oshu, on 04/18/2008, -0/+3If Microsoft succeeds in buying Yahoo, they will have two choices. Let Yahoo keep running on their existing technology (Linux, FreeBSD, PHP, etc) or force them to migrate everything to MS technology and destroy Yahoo's value in the process. When you have that kind of forced culture clash of technologies, nothing good can come of it.
- WomensUnderwear, on 04/18/2008, -0/+3***** BALLMER
- CrimsonBlur, on 04/18/2008, -0/+3Yeah, that's a good point... but I'm not sure how much that would change. Ballmer says a lot of things, but to port everything Yahoo! has done would be a huge undertaking and waste of time and resources. That's not to say they wouldn't do it though... I think I remember hearing they made Hotmail rebuild their code from the ground up when they acquired them :/
- Myztry, on 04/18/2008, -1/+9It's all about position. Microsoft is only ever successful as the dominant player and the leverage that provides. They don't compete well. All their products loose money except for Windows and Office.
- ptFoe, on 04/18/2008, -9/+3Micrococks are disgusting as the politicians.
- Myztry, on 04/18/2008, -2/+11Lobbyist's are the diplomats of corruption in Government. It's yet another reason why Microsoft must not be allowed to hold any more positions of power. One monopoly per customer. Move along.
- danz32, on 04/18/2008, -0/+1Are you aware that Google has lobbyists too? A lot of companies do
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/28/politics/28googl ...
- danz32, on 04/18/2008, -0/+1Are you aware that Google has lobbyists too? A lot of companies do
- LyKwId, on 04/18/2008, -2/+11Apple is to marketing,
as
Microsoft is to strategy- 80hd, on 04/18/2008, -1/+6I don't quite get that. This reminds me so much of the AOL time warner merger. All I see is Microsoft dragging Yahoo down for a while before the two split
- 80hd, on 04/18/2008, -0/+1I'm not trying to challenge what you said, I was hoping you could explain
- 80hd, on 04/18/2008, -1/+6I don't quite get that. This reminds me so much of the AOL time warner merger. All I see is Microsoft dragging Yahoo down for a while before the two split
- 80hd, on 04/18/2008, -8/+14Hey Microsoft.....
Can't get people to use your browser? bundle it with your OS!
Can't get people to pay for your OS? DRM!
Can't control people with DRM? Become service oriented!
Can't get people to use your services? Buy out the providers people enjoy using!
Can't get people to sell you their decent service? Ok you get the point and beat me to it anyway- markdall, on 04/18/2008, -8/+3*****.
1. All the different things in Windows that render HTML use a single engine to do so. Yep, IE.
2. Other businesses want DRM. The devs at MS hate it. MS is forced to include it because when you're a business you have to cave to business partners - witness the whole "Intel made us lower our reqs. for Vista" debacle.
3. That's not really related... but whatever.
4. Yeah because nobody else in business does that.
5. The point is that you're an *****.- freedomknight, on 04/19/2008, -0/+1You just tried to make microsoft look like a cute kitty.
- SniperGX1, on 04/18/2008, -0/+2"Can't get people to use your services? Buy out the providers people enjoy using!"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_acquisitions_ ...
Microsoft tends to buy technologies that they are interested in building with. Goog stopped innovating years ago, all they do is re-brand existing ***** they buy.- Tasach, on 04/18/2008, -0/+5I am going to disagree that Google stopped innovating, their one innovation that counts is their search results which have to constantly evolve to keep at bay people trying to game the system as well as keep the results fresh and relevant.
- markdall, on 04/18/2008, -8/+3*****.
- 1Robinthehood1, on 04/18/2008, -4/+3democracy in action
- sirbeta, on 04/18/2008, -1/+1The only reason you have a problem with this is because it's Microsoft. Takeovers happen all the time, hostile or not. This is totally standard business. It's not like Yahoo is something amazing anyway.
- mikesly, on 04/18/2008, -2/+2Maybe this will finally create the big 2 search engines. Google (Pepsi) and Microsoft (Coke), cause the only thing Yahoo is right now is the RC of cola
- JasonCox, on 04/18/2008, -4/+3This is a standard practice and is only making news on Digg because, wait, yup, it's about Microsoft.
- freedomknight, on 04/19/2008, -0/+1Or about kevin rose or jay anderjon.
- user5124, on 04/18/2008, -1/+7If the law won't let you do what you want...BUY the law! Nothing beats legal bribery!
- greensky, on 04/18/2008, -1/+5That really sucks. Hopefully the community will take over the development of Zimbra (http://www.zimbra.com/) the really slick Outlook clone.
- Payman25, on 04/18/2008, -6/+0Yahoo's always been a stupid company, but resisting MS is the height of idiocy.
- lohphat, on 04/18/2008, -0/+12Welcome to capitalism children. Being a PUBLIC company means just that. If someone outside the company has enough cash to pay a premium for outstanding shares you pretty much MUST take the offer or you are at risk of being sued by other shareholders for not taking the offer. It's not about making employees happy, it's about making the shareholders happy and those shares are usually owned by large institutional investors (like pension funds) and upper management who want to see $$$ for taking the risk buying them in the first place.
If you want to pick and choose who can or cannot buy you, stay private and don't have an IPO.
AOL bought Netscape not because Netscape wanted to it's because AOL *could* and the regulators permitted it. It's that simple. The way the rules are set up mergers are about PROFIT not making people happy about it.- 80hd, on 04/18/2008, -0/+1Yeah but the thing is that when MS failed to gain approval, they start playing dirty and coercing people. Browser integration, DRM, propriety standardization, buying intellectual property.....
Plan A - Offer something, be nice about it
Plan B - twist their arm and tell them to smile
I don't want to deal with that.
- 80hd, on 04/18/2008, -0/+1Yeah but the thing is that when MS failed to gain approval, they start playing dirty and coercing people. Browser integration, DRM, propriety standardization, buying intellectual property.....
- shutter54, on 04/18/2008, -2/+0Resistance is futile?
- lvshankar, on 04/18/2008, -0/+5I feel M$ should stick to Office suites.
- YodaJones, on 04/18/2008, -0/+7Yahoo is making a deal with Google for advertising. I hope this screws with the Microsoft deal:
http://tinyurl.com/4bmkgn- 80hd, on 04/18/2008, -0/+1HA! They know whats good for them. Talk about revenge jeeze.
But you can practically smell death coming from MS vs shiny happy Google - so who blames them
- 80hd, on 04/18/2008, -0/+1HA! They know whats good for them. Talk about revenge jeeze.
- hellbent88, on 04/18/2008, -4/+2yahoo where is your god now?
- td04impostor, on 04/18/2008, -4/+0LEAVE MICROSOFT ALONE!!! :'(
- freedomknight, on 04/19/2008, -0/+1You sound more like a "Leave Britney Alone" video maker.
- td04impostor, on 04/20/2008, -0/+0That was the intention.
- freedomknight, on 04/19/2008, -0/+1You sound more like a "Leave Britney Alone" video maker.
- vincentweber, on 04/18/2008, -2/+2You know when I would laugh my ass off? If Yahoo! decides to be taken over by Microsoft for a big fat amount of money, all quit their jobs, and start a Wohoo! company :D Man oh man... chairs will be thrown out of windows :D I'd love to see Ballmer's face!
- eminiguy, on 04/18/2008, -0/+2This is one big nothing. Do you guys always comment when Ballmer farts? I prefer to leave the room instead...
- Zippo, on 04/18/2008, -2/+1Why bother to compete, innovate, and make new and fresh products when you can just buy someone else?
Now, granted, Yahoo isn't exactly an innovator these days either... they're almost just as bad. I can only see epic failure in both companies' future. - hseldon, on 04/18/2008, -0/+1How many people are going to keep their personal data on Yahoo with MS at the helm? It's an issue of trust.
- freedomknight, on 04/19/2008, -0/+1Yahoo has a policy of not displaying ads based on what ever email content you are currently viewing. And now its time for you to modify definition of trust in your dictionary.
- jav1231, on 04/18/2008, -0/+1Maybe this is how Balmer is going to "knock the socks off" the search industry. Buy into it. They've already proven they can't compete in it.
see: http://www.cio.com/article/336925/Ballmer_Vista_is ... - motang, on 04/18/2008, -0/+1Damn Microsoft is desperate! They like a teenage girl wanting something they can't have or is hard to get.
- HackerThatsme, on 04/18/2008, -0/+0ITS A TRAP!
- perot9296, on 04/18/2008, -0/+1Man this is so much *****. I can't say I like Yahoo much but the government should stop this *****.
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