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Czytaj dalej... Skomentuj July 3rd, 2009
Userplane: We’re Not Dead Yet
Santa Monica-based Userplane, which develops web widgets used by other online community sites, including chat and other collaboration applications, told its users today in an email that the firm’s future “remains bright.” The firm–which hasn’t sent a monthly newsletter in awhile–sent out an email Thursday afternoon saying that the firm is “still comprised of forward-thinking, talented individuals who work hard to keep Userplane in demand and relevant in our industry.” The newsletter blast came after high visibility coverage in the last couple of months from TechCrunch and VentureBeat, speculating that the firm had been “mothballed” by AOL. Userplane told its users in its email that it has “every intention to keep going,” and is looking to grow with new partners and expand its products and services. Userplane was acquired by AOL in 2006.
Czytaj dalej... Skomentuj July 2nd, 2009
NovaStor Acquired By Management Team
The management team of Simi Valley-based NovaStor, a provider of data backup and restore software and related services, announced Thursday afternoon that it, along with a group of investors, has assumed majority ownership of NovaStor and all of its associated companies from Novavisions AG. According to the management team, it will share majority ownership of NovaStor with the unnamed investor group, with Novavisions remaining a minority shareholder. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. The firm will run by CEO Stefan Utzinger and Managing Director Mike Andrews.
Czytaj dalej... Skomentuj July 2nd, 2009
Rubicon Project Opens London Office
Santa Monica-based internet advertising firm the Rubicon Project said Thursday that the firm has officially opened up its London offices, and hired on a Director to handle UK publishers. Rubicon–which appointed a International VP just last month and said it would be setting up shop in London–said that it has recruited Justin Thomas as Director of UK Publisher Development for the new office. Thomas was most recenlty at Xelector, and has also served at AOL Europe, and has a degree from UCSB. Thomas reports to Jay Stevens, Rubicon’s new VP and GM International, who the firm snagged from MySpace last month. Rubicon Project is backed by Clearstone Venture Partners, Mayfield Fund, and IDG Ventures, and operates a service which optimizes online advertising networks and ads for Internet publishers.
Czytaj dalej... Skomentuj July 2nd, 2009
Livestrong.com To Highlight Tour De France
Santa Monica-based LIVESTRONG.com the online health and fitness joint effort between cyclist Lance Armstrong and Demand Media, said today that Armstrong will be adding exclusive content, including blog posts, videos, and photos, to the site as part of the 96th annual Tour de France. According to Livestrong, Armstrong will give updates on progress, interview other members of his team, and provide other content on the Tour de France portion of the web site. Livestrong.com’s coverage of the Tour de France includes photos and videos of Lance Armstrong, maps of the routes, detailed drug testing results of Lance Armstrong, plus an online forum to discuss the race and Lance Armstrong.
Czytaj dalej... Skomentuj July 2nd, 2009
Western Digital Completes Sale Of Factory
Lake Forest-based Western Digital has completed sale of one of its factories in Malaysia, according to buyer Hitachi GST. Hitachi Global Storage Technologies said it has completed its acquisition of a substrate manufacturing facility in Sarawak, Malaysia, which produces aluminum substrates used in hard disk drives. WD said it would sell the facility on May 20th, as part of an effort to adjust its cost structure. WD had acquired the facility when it purchased Komag a few years ago. No financial terms of the transaction were disclosed.
Czytaj dalej... Skomentuj July 2nd, 2009
Schwarzenegger Gets Into Affiliate Tax Battle
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has stepped into an Internet tax battle which has been brewing between online retailers Amazon.com, Overstock.com, and a number of states which have been mulling Internet taxes. The states have been working on legislation, targeted at Internet retailers which have affiliate advertisers in their state, to make them subject to local taxes. According to the Office of the Governor, Schwarzenegger said he promised to veto a tax on affiliate advertising, after Overstock.com said it would pull affiliates based in California, North Carolina, Rhode Island, and Hawaii due to efforts by those states to tax transactions of the firm.
Schwarzenegger said in a statement that his administration contacted Overstock.com when they learned of the news, saying it makes “no sense to go back to the taxpayers to solve the current shortfall.” Amazon.com is reportedly dropping its affiliate programs in North Carolina and Rhode Island, and was looking at dropping affiliate in California due to tax efforts in those states; Overstock.com followed Amazon.com and dropped its affiliates in California, North Carolina, Hawaii, and Rhode Island yesterday over efforts to tax Internet businesses.
All of those states have been looking to legislate that Internet companies who use “affiliate advertisers” based in their states, saying that those retailers can considered to have a physical presence in the state due to their affiliates–and hence can be taxed like local businesses. Currently, Internet retailers without a physical presence in those states do not have to collect taxes from customers in those states, which has long been a sore point with local retailers, states, and municipalities. Budget shortfalls due to the economy have pushed the tax issue to a boiling point, as states have looked for new ways to bolster their coffers.
Czytaj dalej... Skomentuj July 2nd, 2009
Done Right Acquired By N.C. Firm
Pasadena-based Done Right, a provider of an online, pay-per-performance directory of home improvement professionals, has been acquired by a North Carolina firm. According to Charlotte, North Carolina-based Tree.com, it has acquired certain assets of Done Right, and will offer Done Right as its newest service offering. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Done Right–formerly known as PerformLocal–was founded in 2005, and has received venture funding from August Capital, Glynn Capital Management, and MDV Mohr, Davidow Ventures. The firm’s executives included Paul Ryan and Tom Lamb, both previously executives at Overture Services before it was acquired by Yahoo.
Czytaj dalej... Skomentuj July 2nd, 2009
Entropic Communications Shuffles CTO
San Diego-basd Entropic Communications, a manufacturer of semiconductors for the home entertainment networking market, announced Wednesday that it has hired on a new Chief Technology Officer, Dr. Tom Lookabaugh. Lookabaugh has served as CEO of PolyCipher–a joint venture owned by Comcast, Time Warner Cable, and Cox Communications–and also was on the faculty of the Computer Science Department at the University of Colorado. In addition, he’s served at Harmonic and C-Cube Microsystems. Entropic said that its current CTO and co-founder of the firm, Dr. Itzhak Gurantz, will become an individual contributor working on “long term technology initiatives” for the firm.
Czytaj dalej... Skomentuj July 1st, 2009
CoreObjects Scores $2M In Venture Funding
Los Angeles-based CoreObjects, a provider of outsourced product development services to the venture-backed technology community, has raised $2.0M in a equity funding round, according to a regulatory filing by the firm today. Details on the funding have not yet been released by the company. According to the filing, Palomar Ventures–a prior investor in the firm–still holds two board seats, with Jim Gauer and Scott Walters sitting on the firm’s board of directors.
Czytaj dalej... Skomentuj July 1st, 2009