Corporate & legal

RIM co-CEOs could face $100 million penalty

Research In Motion's co-CEOs could be facing a hefty fine for their involvement in yet another stock options-backdating scandal.

The Globe and Mail reports that the Ontario Securities Commission--the Province of Ontario's SEC--is considering imposing fines of up to C$100 million ($79 million) on RIM's Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazardis as punishment for allowing stock options backdating to occur on their watch. Balsille would have to pay the majority of the fine, according to the report, which, if it reachs $100 million, would be a record for Canada.

Like many technology companies over the last decade, … Read more

In today's security analytics, every bit of data matters

There is a change brewing in information security and information management. In the early days, this discipline really came down to event detection. Security information management systems scanned a bunch of data looking for needle-in-the-haystack events that indicated trouble. All other data was considered "noise" and thrown away.

With the onset of regulatory compliance a few years ago, this model went through an initial change. The "noisy" data was now necessary information to demonstrate security controls for compliance audits. Still, event data and compliance data remained separate entities.

Now things are changing yet again. In today'… Read more

Recession hits mobile-phone market

The global recession is hitting the handset market hard, as the biggest supplier in the market, Nokia, is seeing its sales plunge.

The Finnish handset maker said Thursday that fourth-quarter sales dropped 19 percent to $16.5 billion compared with the same period a year earlier. And its profit fell about 69 percent.

Nokia had warned investors in November and December that sales volumes were going to be lower than expected, but the magnitude of the decline still came as a big surprise to most investors.

Sales were hit not just at the high end, but also at the low … Read more

Microsoft cutting jobs, but not products

Although Microsoft is cutting jobs, the software maker apparently isn't axing any major products as part of its cost-cutting moves.

On a conference call with analysts Thursday, though, CEO Steve Ballmer defended the company's decision to stick by all of its businesses, even as it looks to cut up to 5,000 jobs.

"I like our portfolio," Ballmer said on the conference call. "The board likes our portfolio," he said, before moving on to the next question.

But should they be so pleased?

Microsoft itself acknowledged on the call that it does not have … Read more

Live blog: Microsoft's earnings call

After posting disappointing earnings and disclosing plans to lay off 5,000 workers, Microsoft held a call with financial analysts. Here's our minute-by-minute coverage of the call, in reverse chronological order.

8:56 a.m. PST: Call has ended.

8:55 a.m. PST: Ballmer on Yahoo: "I don't think we have anything to say about Yahoo." He said the company has been quite public that it remains interested in a search deal. On Yahoo's new CEO: "I know Carol Bartz...(I'm) glad to see her at the helm of Yahoo." Ballmer … Read more

Ballmer's e-mail to employees regarding layoffs

From: Steve Ballmer Sent: Thursday, January 22, 2009 6:07 AM Subject: Realigning Resources and Reducing Costs

In response to the realities of a deteriorating economy, we're taking important steps to realign Microsoft's business. I want to tell you about what we're doing and why.

Today we announced second quarter revenue of $16.6 billion. This number is an increase of just 2 percent compared with the second quarter of last year and it is approximately $900 million below our earlier expectations.

The fact that we are growing at all during the worst recession in two generations … Read more

Microsoft, eBay drag down market

Update at 9:15 a.m. PST: Prices of companies' shares and market activity updated. Update at 8:55 a.m. PST: Research from eBay analysts added. Correction at 6:33 a.m. PST: Microsoft's year-over-year revenue rose 2 percent.

Bellwether tech stocks Microsoft and eBay pulled down the broader market Thursday, after they both reported quarterly earnings that apparently gave investors an unpleasant jolt.

Their results smothered hopes for a turnaround following Apple's impressive quarterly results and those of IBM.

By 9:15 a.m. PST, Microsoft shares had fallen 10 percent to $17.40. Earlier in … Read more

How much will Google benefit from cost cuts?

Google will report financial results Thursday for the last quarter of 2008, but the crystal-ball set likely will be watching for indications of how much Google's belt-tightening efforts will help the search and advertising giant's future profits.

It's not clear exactly how deeply Google is affected by the recession. The company has been bullish about how its search-ad business is better able to withstand a down economy because advertisers can find out just how well a campaign is faring financially and because cost-conscious buyers might use Google's services more. But the economic malaise has proven a … Read more

Sony warns of first loss in 14 years

Consumer electronics giant Sony warned Thursday that it will record a $2.9 billion operating loss this year, its first annual loss in 14 years.

The company, which blamed the loss on sliding demand for its products and a stronger yen, said it will detail plans to restructure late Thursday, according to a Reuters report. The warning follows reports Wednesday that Sony plans to close two television factories in Japan and shed 2,000 jobs.

Sony also said it expects to post a net loss of $1.65 billion in the fiscal year ending March 31. In October, the company … Read more

Microsoft's internal org chart down amid layoff chatter

With rumors of layoffs swirling, some Microsoft workers were dismayed on Wednesday to discover that the company's online internal organizational chart tool is scheduled to be down until Friday.

According to several online postings on Wednesday, those using the tool, known as Headtrax, got the following message:

"The Headtrax application is unavailable at this time and is expected to be back up again on January 23rd."

Workers were not reassured by the message, given that Microsoft announces its quarterly earnings on Thursday and is expected by many to soon detail the company's first-ever companywide layoffs. (It … Read more