Penguin pays $75m to settle ebook price-fixing case
Apple left to swing it out with DoJ
Penguin has agreed to hand over $75m along with costs to sort out US antitrust allegations over ebook price fixing.
The publisher had already agreed to settle with the Department of Justice and has put the price tag on the deal to pave the way for its merger with Random House.
Penguin is the last publisher to settle the case. …
Brit spooks bugged Edward VIII's phones, records reveal
Plus Churchill and Stalin had a massive drinkathon in Moscow
Intelligence files kept hidden for nearly 80 years have shown that the British government was bugging King Edward VIII's phones in the days leading up to his abdication.
Journalist's telegram about Edward VIII's abdication Neil Forbes Grant's telegram confirming the King's abdication.
Government officials were clearly …
IBM gets ready to push more UK and Irish bods overboard
Exclusive Big Blue set to become Somewhat Smaller Blue
IBM has started a 45-day consultation on letting up to 270 people go from its UK and Ireland operations.
Sources have told The Register that Big Blue is once more readying the axe for employees in Blighty, adding to rounds of layoffs that have seen over 6,000 workers sacked globally since 2009.
An IBM spokesperson confirmed …
Sony's board debates breaking up with Spider-Man
Firm considers investor plan to make its movie and music division public
Sony has said that it will consider a proposal from activist investor Daniel Loeb that the group should sell off parts of its music and movies business, which includes popular franchises Spider-Man and Resident Evil and the weepy ballads of Brit crooner Adele.
Chief exec Kazuo Hirai told reporters from the Financial Times, …
Slim Shady wannabe Zuck's Facebook 'STOLE' MY SONG - Eminem
Rap star's publisher slaps copyright claim on Home ad
Rapper Eminem's song publisher Eight Mile Style is accusing Facebook and its ad agency of (slim) shady dealings with one of his songs.
Eminem Eminem ... laugh all you want, but this man is worth millions
The publisher filed a copyright lawsuit this week alleging that a short Facebook advert broadcast during the social network …
David Cameron asks UK biz to pay their low, low taxes
Oi, Dave, less of this 'political point-scoring'
UK Prime Minister David Cameron has told a quarterly meeting of the government's business advisory group that in return for lower taxes, companies should really pay the tax they do owe, while business leaders have accused the government of "political point-scoring".
A government source whispered to Reuters that Cameron had told …
Curiosity plunges its drill into Mars AGAIN, seeks life-giving sample
Crew hopes results from second stone will back up wet Mars theory
Intrepid Mars rover Curiosity has bored into its second stone on the surface of the Red Planet, taking a sample from the interior of a rock called "Cumberland".
Second stone drilled by Curiosity
The Martian nuclear truck drilled into Cumberland on Sunday, making an impression 1.6cm in diameter and 6.6cm deep, and is expected …
It! Started! With! A! GIF!... Yahoo! Actually! Buys! Tumblr! for! $1bn!
Mayer gets animated, 'promises not to screw it up'
Yahoo! has "promised not to screw it up" after agreeing to acquire cat'n'porn blogging site Tumblr for about $1.1bn.
The Purple Palace is sticking to a hands-off approach to try to keep its square taint off the cool vibe of GIF-heavy Tumblr and stop users abandoning it in droves.
Yahoo! said the blogging site would continue as …
Crack Army pilot to be first PROPER British astronaut IN SPAAAACE
Ground control to Major Tim, countdown commencing, engines on
Ex-Apache helicopter pilot Tim Peake will become the first bona fide British astronaut in space - and live and work on the International Space Station.
Tim Peake training in a Soyuz simulator Peake performance ... Tim trains in a Soyuz simulator (Credit: ESA)
The former army major, and a serving member of the European Space …
Schmidt: Don't like our tiny tax bills? Google this... 'Change the law'
Ad biz chairman says he can't wait for reform
Google chief Eric Schmidt has once more defended his advertising giant for its pitiful UK tax bills: the search supremo said his biz abides by the rules, and claims he can't wait for the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development to reform those rules.
Schmidt said in an op-ed for The Observer that Google "has always …
Yahoo! triumphs! in! $2.75bn! Mexican! standoff!
Mighty award against it abruptly slashed to $172,500
Yahoo! has said that a Mexican appeals court threw out a $2.75bn ruling against it and Yahoo! Mexico over contracts in the country.
Worldwide Directories and Ideas Interactivas won the "non-final judgement" at the end of last year after alleging breach of contract, breach of promise and lost profits from a deal on a yellow pages …
Apple chief Cook: You - senators. Get in here and redo this tax law
Listen up, Popeye, fix it if you don't like it
Apple supremo Tim Cook will dare US senators to rewrite tax laws seeing as the politicians are so upset about tech giants' tiny contributions to America's public coffers.
At a Senate hearing on Tuesday, the chief exec will suggest ways to persuade firms to bank their profits at home rather than in offshore accounts, a move that …
TOO GOOD! Groupon ex-boss to drop, er, 'motivational business album'
Andrew Mason to share 'wisdom' through music
Ex-Groupon chief Andrew Mason is moving to San Francisco to start a new company, after of course, he releases an album of "motivational business music".
Mason has been keeping himself busy since he was ousted from the voucher bazaar he helped found, doing all those things that (really, really rich) people do when they're …
'I think you DO do evil, using smoke and mirrors to avoid tax'
Quotw Plus: 'What's next? Will they ask for my inside leg measurement?'
This was the week when someone kicked Blighty's tax ant-hill and sent MPs and multinationals scurrying in all directions. The Public Accounts Committee called Google and its auditor Ernst & Young back to give more evidence about their British tax dealings, after a Reuters report suggested there might be "inconsistencies" in …
Google 'DOES DO EVIL', thunders British politician
Parliamentary tax probe has leaked documents, say MPs
Even as its I/O shindig in San Francisco dominated the headlines, Google was today accused of lying over its claims last year that it makes no sales in the UK - in order to justify its tiny UK corporation tax bill.
The web giant keeps its vast UK ad revenues out of reach of Blighty's taxmen by insisting that a team in Ireland …
Biz email slinger Mimecast tumbles over
'Makes me look a tool for recommending them' sniffs bloke
Mimecast, which touts webmail for businesses, has toppled over in Blighty, leaving its customers unable to send or receive emails.
Our readers told us the service wasn't delivering mails, and the web portal was inaccessible for users.
And peeps on Twitter reckoned the service went down sometime around 11am this morning.
Looks …
Apple: ebook price fixing? Nooo, nothing to do with us, no siree
Maybe you should ask the publishers
Apple has told a US court it certainly wasn't involved in any conspiracy to rig the prices of ebooks.
The fruity firm said that it was neither involved in nor knew of any meetings or conversations between the publishing houses that "allegedly formed the basis of the purported conspiracy".
"Apple did not conspire to fix e-book …
Euro trade chief snaps on glove, goes it alone in Huawei, ZTE probe
But first, he'll have a little word with China
European Union trade chief Karel De Gucht will investigate allegations that Chinese telecoms hardware makers are undermining their Euro rivals.
The China-based electronics goliaths are accused of unfairly gaining an advantage by trousering state subsidies from the communist regime and dumping cheap networking kit on the European …
EU wants the Swiss and pals to cough up IT giants' hidden bank info
Where's my money, eh? WHERE'S MY MONEY?
Europe's finance ministers will start talks with five non-member states to close tax law loopholes exploited by tech multinationals - such as Google and Amazon.
The ministers said they wanted to open up negotiations with European Free Trade Association members Switzerland and Liechtenstein as well as with "tax haven" microstates …
Judge orders redacted Aaron Swartz prosecution docs to be revealed
MIT and JSTOR allowed to black out names and network info
A US judge has ordered that documents from the criminal hacking case against internet activist Aaron Swartz should be unsealed, after they've been redacted by MIT and JSTOR.
Swartz took his own life in January just ahead of the trial over the theft of academic articles from online reference library JSTOR using a computer at the …
Dell committee to Icahn: Show us the money
How exactly will you buy new shares for everyone?
Dell's special committee has asked Carl Icahn and his investment partner Southeastern Asset Management for a bit more info on their plan to thwart Mike Dell's bid to take the firm private, while Icahn suggests himself for the board.
The committee, set up to look into Mike Dell's offer to take his company private for $24.4bn with …
Amazon coughs millions for Liquavista screen tech while workers strike
Kindle Colour soon? Not while Leipzig's downing tools
Amazon has nabbed screen tech firm Liquavista from Samsung, potentially for its use in building a colour ereader, while its workers go on strike in Germany.
Although the etailer already has Kindle-branded tablets in colour, it doesn't as yet have a sun-defying ereader display that can do colour, an option that would give its …
Sun lets loose with THREE record eruptions in 24 hours
Excited boffins say star may even show off twin peaks
The Sun looks like it's ramping up to its expected solar maximum this year, after it let loose three X-class solar flares in just 24 hours.
Our solar system's parent star lashed out late Sunday night and again on Monday with two coronal mass ejections (CMEs) from its upper left side. The Sun followed that up on Monday night …
You thought only Google dodges UK taxes? So do all the Brit firms
Amazing how much tech business gets done in the Caymans
Big British-based tech firms like Autonomy and BSkyB have subsidiaries in onshore and offshore tax havens, and avoid paying taxes in much the same way as has been highlighted in the case of US firms Google and Amazon.
Research shows that most of Blighty's top companies have offshoots in tax havens, according to charity ActionAid …
HP wanted to offload Autonomy on SAP, says SAP co-chief
Updated But German software firm was 'never seriously interested'
HP tried to offload Brit software house Autonomy onto German giant SAP sometime before last month, it is claimed.
Bill McDermott, co-chief exec of SAP, told the UK's Times that the firm had been approached by HP after it was told the business was "available", but SAP wasn't keen on the idea.
"We were aware that it was on the …
PERIL in ORBIT: ISS leak plugged in FIVE-HOUR spacewalk
Nauts lash new ammonia pump on leaky truss
International Space Station engineers Chris Cassidy and Tom Marshburn have plugged the ammonia coolant leak on the orbiting science lab.
The pair's successful spacewalk and repair job over the weekend has cleared the way for their crewmates to set off home for Earth tonight.
Flight Engineers Cassidy and Marshburn completed …
UK superfast broadband crew: EC competition bods are holding us up
Why must they hassle us over BT monopoly?
The UK is accusing the European Commission of holding up its superfast broadband programme with pesky concerns about free market competition.
The government has been trying to get its hands on state aid to build the infrastructure necessary to get better broadband to everyone, but unfortunately, with state telco BT pretty much …
Icahn and Southeastern try to hamstring Mike Dell's buyout bid
'IT IS NOT TOO LATE TO DO THE RIGHT THING, DELL BOARD'
Investor Carl Icahn and fund Southeastern Asset Management have proposed an alternative to the Mike Dell-led buyout of Dell.
In a letter to the PC firm's board, Icahn and Southeastern said they reckoned Dell shareholders should get the option to hang onto holding stock in Dell and take an additional $12 in shares or cash.
The …
PERIL in ORBIT: Emergency spacewalk as ISS takes a leak
'This is unexpected, Dad is not unprepared' son of strumming commander tells El Reg
The crew of the International Space Station (ISS) is preparing for an emergency spacewalk as early as tomorrow to fix an ammonia leak from the cooling system.
Commander Chris Hadfield reported seeing small white flakes floating away from the P6 truss structure of the ISS last night. Mission Control confirmed that the ammonia …
UK MPs tell Google: Get back here and bring your auditors with you
Choc Factory and E&Y to be hauled in front of PAC next week
The UK's Public Accounts Committee has said that it will be hauling Google and its auditor Ernst & Young back in front of MPs to answer further questions about its paltry British tax bills.
The PAC said on its website that Matt Brittin, Google veep for sales and ops in Northern and Central Europe and John Dixon, head of tax at …
'Hotmail, since you changed to Outlook, you've been a massive pr**k'
Quotw Plus: 'Pause and ask yourself: Where's the beef?'
This was the week when Nokia took some acrimonious advice from shareholders at the AGM, one of whom suggested the firm was on its way down to the pits of doom. Tired of the firm's direction and the absence of the much-promised turnaround, shareholder Hannu Virtanen told chief exec Stephen Elop:
You're a nice guy ... and the …
Why are scribes crying just 'cos Google copied their books? asks judge
'A lot of authors would say: Hey, that's great for me!'
A US Appeals Court has suggested that authors suing Google should be pleased that the advertising giant is scanning millions of books and putting them online for all.
A lawsuit to halt the tome digitising effort, brought by the Authors Guild and groups representing photographers and graphic artists, is up before the lofty court …
Brit unis get £7.5m of taxpayers' cash for cybersecurity PhDs
22 scholarships at Oxford and Royal Holloway up for grabs
Two UK universities are going to split £7.5m in government funding to train the next generation of cybersecurity experts.
The University of Oxford and Royal Holloway University bagged £3.65m and £3.8m respectively to run doctoral courses in computer security from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and the …
IT'S ALIVE: Groupon stock up, spreadsheets still soaked in red
Sales better than expected at web deals bazaar
Groupon shares rallied in after-hours trading last night, jumping at least 10 per cent - after the daily deals site announced a better-than-expected rise in revenue.
The voucher bazaar is still making a loss, however.
Investors have been more optimistic about the site's stocks since co-founder and chief Andrew Mason was ousted …
New 'BLOCKBUSTER' APPLE iTHING imminent - billionaire Einhorn
Cupertino unicorn farm will reward me, says Mr Unicorn
Billionaire investor David Einhorn has upped his shares of Apple through his Greenlight Capital Re reinsurer and is waiting for the fruity firm's "next blockbuster product".
“Our thesis remains that Apple has a terrific operating platform,” he said on a conference call yesterday, reported by Bloomberg, Reuters and others. “Its …
Groupon's retail chief heads for the door... after just 1 year
Office supplies... mmm. We hear there's money in that
Groupon's head of retail is leaving the beleaguered voucher bazaar after just one year in the job.
Faisal Masud, who joined Groupon from eBay to run its Goods division, will be leaving at the end of this month to develop ecommerce at office supplies firm Staples.
Groupon Goods is the daily deals site's alternative revenue …
HP knew Autonomy was a duff buy, claim HP shareholders in $1bn suit
Apotheker ignored accounting irregularities and outdated tech
HP ignored numerous warning signs about the state of Autonomy's finances and accounting irregularities at the firm before acquiring it for $11bn, shareholders have alleged in a $1bn lawsuit.
The investors are suing HP's current CEO Meg Whitman, her predecessor Leo Apotheker, former HP chairman Ray Lane and Autonomy founder Mike …
Larry Ellison forks out over $200m to slurp up sexy Malibu strip
Neighbours not wanted at coveted 'Billionaire's Beach'
Billionaire Oracle chief Larry Ellison has added to his impressively opulent property portfolio with an entire strip of houses on the so-called "Billionaire's Beach" in Malibu.
Ellison has made sure that he won't have any problems with noisy - or nosy - neighbours by buying a string of properties on Carbon Beach, along with: a …
Chair of Dish in dash for Sprint seat: Tries to slurp HALF its shares
Bold move could see Charles Egren slip through telco's back door
Dish chairman Charles Ergen mighty be able to sneak through the back door into the boardroom where Sprint's special committee are meeting by attempting to snaffle over 50 per cent of the telco's shares.
Sprint said yesterday it had received notice that Ergen was trying to buy up the stocks, through Dish Network or wholly owned …
Watchdog: Y'know what Bitcoin really needs? A REGULATOR!
US derivatives commission mulls rules for e-cash
A US financial regulator has said it's figuring out if crypto-currency Bitcoin falls under its remit.
Top bods at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) are discussing whether the cyber-cash should actually be covered by its rules, as Bitcoin gains in popularity.
"[Bitcoin] is for sure something we need to explore," …
First, the bad news: EA bags Star Wars games rights
Still waiting for the good news
Disney has made good on its promise to farm out future Star Wars games to an outside developer after scrapping LucasArts - and picked much-loved EA.
Electronic Arts will be able to build on its Jedi-inspired online multiplayer game Star Wars: The Old Republic now that the two entertainment giants have signed a multi-year …
Twitter snaps up ex-banker IPO expert - CAN'T THINK WHY
You've got 3 guesses as rumour mill churns stock market pro hire
Twitter has hired an ex-banker with experience in initial public offerings, mergers and acquisitions to head up its corporate development team, sparking rumours of an upcoming market debut.
The microblogging site is one of the next tech firm public offerings for investors to get overly excited about. Which they probably will, …
'Not only is James Bond fictional, he's not a fair representation of intelligence'
QuoTW Plus: 'Smart meters are crap computers in a crap box'
This was the week when a technology consultant tried to give people the FEAR by hacking Google Glass and suggesting that nefarious villains could use the tech specs to see and hear everything users do.
Jay Freeman, also known by hacker handle Saurik, showed he had gained root access to Glass in a blog post and said that with …
Dish boss: We're English-speaking Americans, hire us!
Ignore those Japanese foreigners, they just get 'personal'
Dish Network chair Charlie Ergen has offered a pointed response to Japan's SoftBank after it made what he called "personal attacks" in its bidding war with the US company over US mobile network Sprint. The exec said yesterday that Dish is the better bet because its employees are Americans who speak English.
Ergen pointed out …
DreamWorks spends millions on teen YouTube network
Animation studio looking for online swamp for Shrek
DreamWorks Animation has inked a deal to slurp teen YouTube network AwesomenessTV for up to $150m.
The firm said it will hand over $33m in cash straight up for the network and make additional cash payments of up to $117m if certain agreed earnings targets are met in 2014 and 2015.
Both DreamWorks and AwesomenessTV hinted that …
Lehman Brothers sues Intel over a billion dollar deal
Bankrupt bank claims tech firm breached swap agreement
Bankrupt investment firm Lehman Brothers is suing Intel over accusations that it had seized $1bn in collateral in breach of a swap agreement.
The bank synonymous with the global financial meltdown told New York's bankruptcy court in a filing that Intel had taken more than its fair share out of its subsidiary Lehman Brothers OTC …
Picture this: Kodak could get out of bankruptcy as early as July
Camera biz to become printing'n'imaging service
Eastman Kodak has said that it's hoping to get out of bankruptcy as early as July this year, as it turns itself into a commercial imaging firm under the control of its creditors.
The one-time camera company told the US bankruptcy court in Manhattan that it expects to issue new stock, with most of it going to folks it owes money …
Taxi app Uber's $1bn uber price tag: CEO speaks out
Bigwig puts record straight
Travis Kalanick, the chief of taxi service app Uber, has denied that his company is about to open a new funding round that would value it at over a billion dollars.
Kalanick tweeted that the company hadn't spoken to a single investor about raising new cash injections since November 2011, after reports suggested that Uber was …
Yahoo! scuppered! in! Dailymotion! buyout! attempt!
French gov cries 'Non!' to $300m video slurp
Yahoo! has had to give up its attempt to take a controlling stake in French video startup Dailymotion after the government intervened, according to media reports.
The Purple Palace was forced to abandon its pursuit of a 75 per cent stake in the online video site when French industry minister Arnaud Montebourg, part of the ruling …
Google 'will be pulled back in front of MPs' on its UK tax affairs
London Googlers 'aren't sales people', claims ad giant
Enormous advertising firm Google has said that any suggestion that its veep Matt Brittin was less than accurate when testifying to Parliament on the firm's UK corporation tax affairs is "wilfully misleading".
The Chocolate Factory told The Register that it has written to parliamentary Public Accounts Committee chair Margaret …
