eBay sues Craigslist as family squabble goes public
eBay's 28.4% stake diluted
Steps to Take Before Choosing a Business Continuity Partner
eBay has taken a family squabble with eBay public and it could get messy.
In a lawsuit filed Tuesday in the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware, the online auction house sued Craigslist, the online provider of classified ads for hookers, used toasters and room-mates that is 28.4 per cent owned by eBay. eBay claims that Craigslist's board of directors, which consists of founder Craig Newmark and CEO Jim Buckmaster, has taken unilateral and illegal actions to unfairly dilute that stake.
"Since negotiating our investment with Craigslist's board in 2004, we have acted openly and in good faith as a minority shareholder, so we were surprised by these recent unilateral actions," eBay General Counsel Mike Jacobson said here. "We are asking the Delaware court to rescind these recent actions in order to protect eBay's stockholders and preserve our investment."
The dealings between the two were so open, apparently, that the lawsuit was filed before eBay even bothered to broach the issue with Craigslist, according to a response headlined Tainted Love.
"We are surprised and very disappointed by eBay's unfounded allegations, which came to us out of the blue, without any attempt to engage in a dialogue with us," it states. "We have always done our best to protect the well-being of Craigslist and the Craigslist community, and will continue to do so. eBay has absolutely no reason to feel threatened — unless a hostile takeover of Craigslist, or the sale of eBay's stake in Craigslist to an unfriendly party, is their ultimate goal. (In which case, they’re out of luck!)"
eBay, which acquired the stake from a former Craigslist executive in 2004, said it filed the complaint under seal because it includes details protected by confidentiality requirements. Delaware's Court of Chancery, is a popular forum for settling internal disputes among companies registered in that state. ®
Requirements Checklist for Choosing a Cloud Backup and Recovery Service Provider
COMMENTS
@AC Torchwood
I agree, and Torchwood actually surprised me too, not enough to sit and watch it - then again, I haven't sat down and watched television for about 10 years now. I even missed the whole 'Big Brother' thing (read the books instead - no need to watch a poor application of a psychosocial "limited interaction" experiment). Oh, and no sports either - I stopped watching the Grand Prix when it became boring and never picked it up again, which was about 10 years ago.
How about that Torchwood show?
<Nervously tries to change the subject>
As someone who had watched Doctor Who for years, and only recently caught up with Torchwood, I have to tip my hat to what the UK allows on TV after 10pm. When they said "shit" uncensored, I was surprised. When they said "fuck" I was in awe. And that sex scene in episode two of season one? Never allowed on US TV even after 10pm.
<Yank tips hat to all over the pond>
Somehow...
..this thread has turned from an ebay vs cragislist discussion to a UK vs US discussion. Strange coincidence...? I THINK NOT!
IT infrastructure monitoring strategies
Requirements Checklist for Choosing a Cloud Backup and Recovery Service Provider
Cloud based data management
Enabling efficient data center monitoring
Agentless Backup is Not a Myth
