Yahoo stockholders vote against anticensorship proposal
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(InfoWorld) - Yahoo Inc. shareholders voted down a proposal that would have forced management to adopt stronger policies regarding government attempts to limit Internet access and to curtail freedom of speech in countries where Yahoo operates. Shareholders voted only 15.2 percent of Yahoo shares in favor of this proposal at the company's annual shareholders' meeting on Tuesday. Yahoo's management had recommended that shareholders vote against this anticensorship proposal, which was presented by the New York City Comptroller's Office on behalf of the New York City Pension Funds. The organization, which owned about $124 million in Yahoo shares as of last Friday, also saw a similar proposal defeated last month at Google Inc.'s shareholders meeting. Yahoo, Google and other Internet companies are under pressure by shareholders and human rights groups to resist demands from governments to censor search-engine results that these governments find politically objectionable. Critics also want Internet companies to refuse governments' requests to turn over members' information when the intention behind those requests is to persecute otherwise law-abiding journalists and dissidents. The defeated proposal would have required Yahoo to implement a series of policies, such as not hosting individuals' data in countries where political dissent is considered a crime. The proposal also called for Yahoo to not engage in self-censorship and to use all legal means to resist censorship demands, complying with them only if legally bound to do so. In recommending shareholders vote "no," Yahoo said in the meeting's proxy statement that the proposal would give the company "insufficient flexibility" to respond to legal requirements in the countries where it operates. Yahoo also said it shares many of the proposals' concerns and objectives, but that its presence is a positive force toward reform in countries where speech and press freedom is limited. The company believes that there is only so much pressure that the private sector can apply to foreign governments, and that it's more powerful to establish bilateral and multilateral dialogues about political and human rights issues to bring about change. Yahoo also listed in the proxy statement a series of steps it is taking to address Internet freedom problems, including participating in policy discussions with private sector peers, governments, universities and other organizations. Yahoo has also created a team made up of Yahoo employees to coordinate and support Yahoo's efforts at addressing privacy and free expression issues.
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Yahoo's board rejects Microsoft's $44.6 billion acquisition bid, saying it substantially undervalues the company.
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With Yahooâs shares up slightly on the news that its board has officially rejected the $31 a share bid from Microsoft, it appears investors are betting the company is looking for a better deal.
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NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO  - Yahoo Inc  is  reportedly in talks with News Corp  to combine their  Web properties, but Wall Street analysts rained scorn on the  likelihood of a deal that can fend off Microsoft Corp's   $42.1 billion bid for Yahoo.
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Yahoo Inc. has formally rejected Microsoft Corp.'s $44.6 billion takeover bid as inadequate
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SANTA CLARA, California  - Shareholders at the annual meeting of Yahoo Inc.  voted down proposals to control executive pay and challenging the company's human rights policies in China, a supervisor of the votes said on Tuesday.
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Yahoo&#39;s Chairman Roy Bostock is leading a group of the company&#39;s board members in favor of accepting&#160;Microsoft&#39;s unsolicited $44.6 billion takeover bid,&#160;according to a new report.The informal group headed by Bostock also includes other board members and billionaire investor Ron Burkle, according to the report in the New York Post, which quoted unnamed sources close to the situation. Board members Eric Hippeau, a managing partner at Softbank Capital, and Robert Kotick, CEO of Activision Publishing, are standing behind Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang, who does not want to accept Microsoft&#39;s offer.On Monday,&#160;Yahoo&#39;s board rejected Microsoft&#39;s offer,&#160;saying it undervalued the company.According to the Post, the discord revolves around Yang and his followers who are so opposed to selling the company to Microsoft that Bostock and his group fear they will act out of emotions rather than their fiduciary duty to Yahoo shareholders. Such an action could expose the board to lawsuits by shareholders.Yang sent a letter to shareholders&#160;Wednesday night, saying that Microsoft&#39;s bid substantially undervalues the company and that Yahoo is positioned to take advantage of growth in the online advertising market.Yahoo could not be reached for comment.Computerworld is an InfoWorld affililate.
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Yahoo&#39;s Chairman Roy Bostock is leading a group of the company&#39;s board members in favor of accepting&#160;Microsoft&#39;s unsolicited $44.6 billion takeover bid,&#160;according to a new report.
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The New York Stock Exchange has quietly pushed back a plan that would prevent brokers from voting their clientsÂ shares in board elections when the stockholders have given no voting instructions of their own.
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Yahooâs rebuff of the $44.6 billion takeover bid raises the stakes in a battle involving two of the worldâs most prominent technology companies.
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Yahoo! has lost an appeal against a US district courtâs ruling which said that the company does not have to obey a French courtâs decision requiring it to block French citizens from accessing internet auctions of Nazi memorabilia at Yahoo!
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Yahoo's board is planning to reject Microsoft's $44.6 billion offer, arguing that it "massively undervalues" the company, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
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SANTA CLARA, California  - A strong minority of Yahoo Inc.  shareholders challenged the Web company's direction on Tuesday by voting against board-nominated directors at the annual meeting, and investors confronted Chief Executive Terry Semel.
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Yahoo Inc's board of directors is to  meet on Friday to discuss Microsoft Corp's $44.6 billion buyout  offer, the TechCrunch blog said, citing unnamed sources.
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Skeptical investors are trading Yahoo Inc  shares at a 6.5 percent discount to Microsoft Corp's  unofficial offer price, but some Wall Streeters expect the software giant to raise its bid.
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Blog: Shareholder advisory firms urge shareholders to protest Yahoo CEO's $71 million salary package by voting against re-election of three board members.
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Yahoo and Microsoft would still be the underdog in the increasingly important business of Web search if Microsoft's unsolicited $44.6 billion bid to buy Yahoo is approved by regulators and Yahoo shareholders.