SEC Accuses Former Pixar CFO of Backdating
The former CFO of Pixar Studios, the award-winning studio behind many of Hollywood’s most successful CGI-animated films, is accused of approving backdated stock-option grants. The SEC’s Los Angeles office is accusing Ann Mather, now on the board of directors for Google, of violating federal securities laws relating to options transactions that occurred while employed by Pixar from 1999-2004. According to a Wall Street Journal source, Pixar’s options-granting practices were established before Mather joined the company and the company’s board, auditors and outside legal counsel were aware of them.
11th Grader Given Detention For Using Firefox Mouthing Off
An 11th grader at Big Springs High School in Pennsylvania caused an Internet controversy when he released a copy of his detention slip showing that he had been punished for using the Web browser Mozilla Firefox in class. Firefox fans and users around the World were both amused and outraged by the punishment, seen as a slight to the popular open source Web browser. Many thought the school lacked knowledge on Firefox and was expressing a preference for students to use Microsoft’s Internet Explorer. However, it turned out that the school was lacking in data integrity and authentication best practices. The detention slip was determined by school officials to be a hoax. The student, who received detention for failure to follow instructions and work on a class assignment, scanned in his original detention slip and altered it to make it appear as if he was disciplined for using Firefox. The school received a tremendous amount of unflattering publicity as a result of the hoax and continues to get questions about its Internet policy.
E-Mails in First Trial May Haunt Johnson
While former PruchasePro executive Charles Johnson is currently on trial in U.S. District Court on charges of making improper deals to inflate company earnings, he is staying in the headlines for an earlier case that ended in a mistrial and led to the firing of Johnson’s former attorney, Preston Burton.
In that case, prosecutors and the FBI stated that emails produced by Johnson were fabricated, citing inconsistencies in text and typeface. Burton has stated that Johnson told him both that the fabricated emails were a joke and an effort to challenge his legal team. The trouble continued when junior associates on the defense team could not find two important emails Johnson has previously provided, giving prosecutors additional evidence that indicated Johnson had been tampering with electronic records.
Lawyer’s Altering Of Documents Could Be Trouble For Best Buy
Timothy Block, a lawyer representing Best Buy Co. in a nationwide class action suit, admitted that he altered electronic documents before giving them over to plaintiffs during the discovery portion of the case. The 2003 lawsuit, accusing Best Buy of signing up at least 100,000 unknown customers for Microsoft’s MSN Internet Service, could cost the electronics retailer tens of millions of dollars in damages and legal fees…
Backdating Fine May Set Model: Brocade Is the First to Pay Penalty in Options Probe; SEC Debated Punishment
Technology company Brocade Communications, Inc. faces a $7 million fine from the Securities and Exchange Commission as a penalty for improperly issuing stock options. Brocade is the first company to receive such a penalty and the settlement represents a significant decision among SEC commissioners as to whether companies should be penalized for stock option violations…
Former Coke Secretary Sentenced In Trade-Secret Case
Joya Williams faces as many as 10 years in prison on the single conspiracy charge in a failed scheme to sell Coke’s trade secrets to rival Pepsi for at least $1.5 million. U.S. District Judge J. Owen Forrester told Williams that he was meting out the long prison term because, “This is the kind of offense that cannot be tolerated in our society.”
Auto Officials Accused of Leaking Tech Secrets to China
Hyundai and Kia Motors estimated the damage from the IP theft could add up to W4.7 trillion by 2010 in the Chinese market and W22.3 trillion in the global market…
Industrial Espionage Reveal Problems at Kia
Five former and current employees of Korea’s Kia Motors were accused of stealing and delivering 57 corporate secrets to a Chinese automaker. Kia’s lax corporate IT security policies allowed employees to email profitable company secrets to a competitor, contributing to a huge operating loss for the company…
Cell Phone Evidence Used to Convict, Called into Question
R&B singer Waymond Anderson could walk free from jail if an appeal against his murder conviction is successful. The star has spent 13 years in prison after being convicted of first-degree murder of Robert Wellington in 1993. Defense lawyers claim Anderson was miles from where the killing took place and have submitted statements from two trial witnesses to say they lied under oath. His conviction lies in the strength of electronic evidence seized from his cell phone placing him at the scene, but prosecutors first must prove the authenticity of that evidence or Anderson will be set free…
Insider Tries to Steal $400 Million at DuPont
Gary Min, a DuPont employee, stole $400 million worth of DuPont trade secrets with the intention of offering them to his next employer. Over the course of four months, Min downloaded 22,000 abstracts and 16,700 documents in the Delaware office…
