SanDisk subpoenaed in US antitrust probe
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Canada, US courts want a piece too SanDisk and its CEO Eli Harari have received grand jury subpoenas from the US Department of Justice for possible anti-trust violations in the NAND flash memory market.â¦
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Advanced Micro Devices said it had received a subpoena regarding an investigation into possible antitrust violations in the graphics processor and card business.
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Toshiba joins partner SanDisk in government probe over alleged price-fixing in memory industry.
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NEW YORK -- Barnes &amp; Noble Inc., the biggest US bookseller, received a subpoena from a US attorney requesting documents on its stock options practices, according to a regulatory filing.
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(InfoWorld) - Apple CEO Steve Jobs has been subpoenaed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to give a deposition in the stock option backdating lawsuit against former Apple General Counsel, Nancy Heinen. Citing two sources familiar with the case,Â Bloomberg reportsÂ that the subpoena is not part of an SEC investigation. Jobs' testimony is required as part of aÂ lawsuit brought against Heinen by the SECÂ in April 2007. Heinen is the only former Apple executive charged in the backdating scandal.Â Apple's internal investigation cleared all current executivesÂ of any wrongdoing and the SEC reached a deal with former CFO Fred Anderson in the case. Apple representatives were not immediately available to comment. The SEC says that Heinen granted 4.8 million options to six Apple executives, including herself, Anderson and CEO Steve Jobs, in February 2001. To avoid reporting an US$18.9 million compensation charge, Heinen backdated the options to January 17 when the company share price was much lower, the SEC said. She then told her staff to prepare false documents showing the board of directors had acted on that day. Later, in December 2001, the company granted 7.5 million options to Jobs. Again, Heinen avoided a $20.3 million charge by drafting minutes for a fake board meeting she said happened on Oct. 19, the SEC said. That meeting had never occurred. Heinen has maintained her innocence in the case and a statement by her lawyers said, "Nancy Heinen's integrity is unimpeachable."Apple's backdating problems started in June 2006, when the company announced thatÂ an internal probeÂ had found some irregularities in some option grants issued between 1997 and 2001. Four months later, Apple said a special committee hadÂ found irregularities in 15 of the grantsÂ made between 1999 and 2002. The internal investigation also found that Jobs was aware that favorable grant dates had been selected but didn't receive or benefit from those grants and was "unaware" of the accounting implications. In late December,Â Apple disclosed more backdating-related news,Â again clearing current executives and taking an $84 million charge on its restated earnings. Macworld is an InfoWorld affiliate.
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Fresenius Medical Care AG, the world&#39;s largest provider of dialysis care, said US prosecutors have subpoenaed documents about its operations, making it the third company involved in an industrywide investigation.
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The U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) has launched four investigations involving the import of computers or electronic device components, including one based on a complaint that several companies are violating patents on DRAM chips.The USITC also voted to launch an investigation, based on a complaint by IBM, into the import of motherboards, graphics cards, notebook computers, server computers, bare-bones computers, and routers by Asustek Computer of Taiwan and Asus Computer International of Fremont, Calif.In the DRAM case, Tessera of San Jose, Calif., filed a complaint on Dec. 7 alleging that 18 companies violated its patents for semiconductor chips with a minimized chip package size. Acer and Kingston Technology are among the companies named in Tessera&#39;s complaint.The commission on Friday also announced it has initiated so-called 337 investigations into the import of silicon microphone packages used in mobile phones and semiconductor lasers used in disc drives.In the Tessera complaint, the company accused competitors of violating four semiconductor patents. The company has filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, as well as the USITC complaint. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has granted reexamination requests on two of those patents.Representatives of Acer and Kingston didn&#39;t immediately respond to a request for comments on the USITC investigation.IBM filed a complaint on Dec. 5, asking the USITC to bar Asustek and North American subsidiary Asus Computer International from importing equipment using PC power supplies, cooling fans, and clustering technologies into the United States. IBM accused Asustek of infringing three patents related to those technologies.IBM attempted to reach a licensing agreement with Asustek after a licensing deal expired in December 2004, an IBM spokesman said in December. An Asus spokeswoman didn&#39;t immediately respond to a request for comments.The semiconductor laser complaint covers lasers used in high-definition disc drives. The investigation is based on a complaint filed by Seoul Semiconductor of Korea on Dec. 4, alleging that Nichhia of Japan has violated its patent.In the silicon microphone case, the patented technology covers microphones in several devices, including mobile phones. The complaint, filed by Knowles Electronics of Itasca, Ill., on Dec. 6, alleges that Mems Technology Berhad of Malaysia has violated its patents.The cases will be referred to an administrative law judge, who will schedule and hold an evidentiary hearing. The judge will make an initial determination as to whether there is a violation of Section 337 of the U.S. Tariff Act of 1930. That initial determination is subject to review by the USITC.Within 45 days, the commission will set a target date for completing the investigations.
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SEOUL: South Korean prosecutors said that Hynix Semiconductor is being investigated in connection with an alleged accounting fraud involving 1.7 billion dollars.
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(InfoWorld) - The U.S. Department of Justice is asking questions about conduct by Hewlett-Packard Co. that has embroiled the technology company in controversy. HP acknowledged in a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing Monday that it isÂ cooperating with an inquiryÂ by the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California intoÂ possibly illegal tactics used by investigators hired by HP to investigate news leaks from the company's board members. HP described the U.S. Attorney's inquiry as "informal" and said the questions are similar to those asked by the attorney general of California. HP is based in Palo Alto, California. "We are cooperating fully with these inquiries," HP said in its SEC filing. The probes are looking into the use of "pretexting" to search phone records to determine which board members may have been talking to reporters. The phone records of nine reporters from various news organizations were also obtained to determine who their sources from within HP might have been on stories about the company. Pretexting refers to posing as a phone company customer to get access to personal records. California Attorney General Bill Lockyer says a crime was committed in connection with the pretexting, but his office is still investigating what crime and by whom. The scandal has brought pressure on HP Chairman Patricia Dunn, who ordered the investigation, but claims she didn't know the outside investigative firm hired to trace the leaks would engage in pretexting. HP's board is meeting Monday for the second straight day to discuss its response to the controversy. Former HP director Thomas Perkins, who quit in protest in May because of the way the investigation was conducted, called on Dunn to resign. His statement, released Saturday by his attorney, was prompted by Dunn's comments in media interviews last week in which she alleged that it was Perkins who wanted "more aggressive measures" used to investigate the leaks, including use of lie detectors on board members. "I am saddened, but not surprised, that Patricia Dunn has attacked me personally for doing my job. I acted not from any ill will toward Ms. Dunn but to protect the best interests of HP. I think the past months and days have shown that those interests are best served if Ms. Dunn would resign from the board," said Jenkins in his statement. The U.S. Federal Communications Commission also is investigating HP. The FCC reportedly sent a "letter of inquiry" to AT&T Inc. asking how its customer phone records may have been accessed, according to an Associated Press report. An FCC spokesman could not confirm that. HP's internal probe identified director George Keyworth as the source for a CNet Networks Inc. story about HP's strategy, which the technology news Web site posted in January. He refused to resign when asked to doÂ so by Dunn in May, but theÂ board has since voted not to renominate him to his seat. Â
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Fresenius Medical Care, the world's leading supplier of dialysis products and services, said that it had been subpoenaed by the US Justice Deparment in New York to provide a &quot;broad range of documents&quot; relating to its operations.
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Apple CEO Steve Jobs has been subpoenaed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to give a deposition in the stock option backdating lawsuit against former Apple General Counsel, Nancy Heinen.
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ST. PAUL, Minn. Saint Paul Travelers Companies says it has been subpoenaed by the New York attorney general for documents relating to its business practices.
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Genentech Inc., the world&#39;s second- biggest biotechnology company, received a subpoena from the US Attorney&#39;s office in Philadelphia as part of a criminal and civil investigation into marketing of its top-selling drug, Rituxan.
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U.S. antitrust regulators are investigating possible anti-competitive practices at the American Stock Exchange and Chicago Board Options Exchange, according to the annual report of the National Association of Securities Dealers.
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The U.S. Department of Justice has issued subpoenas to Nvidia Corp.  and Advanced Micro Devices Inc.  as part of a probe into potential antitrust violations involving graphics chips, helping to send shares in the companies lower.
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SanDisk Corp. is suing 25 companies, including South Korean giant LG Electronics Inc. for allegedly infringing patents used in removable flash storage products including MP3 players and USB flash drives.
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Take-Two Interactive Software said it received additional grand jury subpoenas seeking information about its financial activities.