Showing results for: “digital markets act”
Churchill Sans Cigar?
AFP is reporting that the British government may allow film, television, and stage actors to… brace yourself… smoke in public! Oh…but only if smoking “is integral to the plot or storyline” of the performance at issue. Announcing this little dollop of (potential) legislative grace, a Department of Health spokesman explained: The government is considering providing ... Churchill Sans Cigar?
UnitedHealth Option Backdating Lawsuit Complaint
As I noted in this post, there are a variety of federal securities law claims that could be alleged with respect to option backdating. The case filed against UniteHealth, however, is a derivative suit which indicates it is based on state law claims. I was curious as to what exactly the claims are so I ... UnitedHealth Option Backdating Lawsuit Complaint
Dirty Coal’s Rent-Seeking Pays Off
Today’s Heard on the Street column in the W$J reports that utilities are moving away from low-sulfur coal in favor of the dirtier, high-sulfur variety. This might seem odd, given that the Clean Air Act operates on sort of a “ratchet” principle — i.e., when air quality improves, degradation is generally forbidden. One might expect ... Dirty Coal’s Rent-Seeking Pays Off
Option expensing has arrived
Under SEC rules, a public company is required to start expensing options commencing with its quarter one 10-Q for its fiscal year beginning after June 15, 2005. This means the time has arrived for public companies with calendar year-ends, and as a result, this month many companies have reported or will be reporting for the ... Option expensing has arrived
Legal Structure for Co-Blogging
Many of the papers for the upcoming Bloggership conference are available on SSRN here. I’ve skimmed a number of them. One paper in particular I want to talk about is Eric Goldman’s paper “Co-Blogging Law.� Here’s the abstract: Bloggers frequently combine their efforts through joint blogging and guest blogging arrangements. These combinations may be informal ... Legal Structure for Co-Blogging
Bernstein on the Law Deans, Tenure, and the ABA
My colleague David Bernstein at VC points out this article in Inside Higher Ed by Doug Lederman discussing the American Law Deans Association’s criticisms of the ABA’s imposition of requirements that go well beyond “assuring the quality of legal education.” Here’s David’s take: I can certainly see the case for law schools choosing to give ... Bernstein on the Law Deans, Tenure, and the ABA
New Academic Paper on Option Backdating
Following up on this post, a new paper entitled “The Dating Game: Do Managers Designate Option Grant Dates to Increase Their Compensation?� was recently posted on SSRN (click here). The paper was co-authored by two U. of Michigan Finance professors, M.P. Narayanan and Hasan Nejat Seyhan. Here’s the abstract: We provide evidence of a dating ... New Academic Paper on Option Backdating
The FCC Payola Probe Continues
The Federal Communications Commission has announced that it is stepping up efforts in its investigation of payola practices at four radio conglomerates: Clear Channel, CBS Radio, Entercom, and Citadel, and has issued former letters of inquiry. Bill pointed me to an article in the LA Times which reports that settlement talks with the four radio ... The FCC Payola Probe Continues
Option Backdating: The Next Big Corporate Scandal?
Option backdating was on page one of the W$J again yesterday (here). The story was spurred by comments made by UnitedHealth’s CEO, William W. McGuire, during UnitedHealth’s First Quarter 2006 Results Teleconference on Tuesday. UnitedHealth’s option grants to Dr. McGuire were among those cited as suspicious by a March 18 page one W$J (article here; ... Option Backdating: The Next Big Corporate Scandal?
Manne & Williamson get results from the FTC and DOJ!
My co-author, Marc Williamson, just alterted me to this section in the recently-published FTC/DOJ Merger Guidelines Commentary (.pdf): Industry Usage of the Word “Market� Is Not Controlling Relevant market definition is, in the antitrust context, a technical exercise involving analysis of customer substitution in response to price increases; the “markets� resulting from this definition process ... Manne & Williamson get results from the FTC and DOJ!
Shameless Self-Promotion
I’ve always been puzzled by the fairly widespread custom in the blawgosphere, on listservs, etc. of referencing “shameless self- promotion� when promoting one’s work (scroll down for recent examples on this blog). The reason this puzzles me is because it implies that some people are ashamed of self promotion or perhaps that self-promotion is unseemly. ... Shameless Self-Promotion
Thank You for Smoking — And (Another) Shameless Plug
I went to see Thank You for Smoking over the weekend, expecting to endure the usual one-sided attack on the business everyone loves to hate, Big Tobacco. I was pleasantly surprised. The film undoubtedly skewers the industry a bit (as when a tobacco executive proclaims, “We sell cigarettes. They’re cool. They’re available. And they’re addictive. ... Thank You for Smoking — And (Another) Shameless Plug
