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ATD: Yahoo's CEO Scott Thompson to step down amidst degree scandal (update: confirmed)
While thousands upon thousands of Americans are celebrating graduation weekend with degree in hand, it looks as if the CEO of one particular internet company will be wondering why he lied about his. After weeks of investigating, word on the street has it that freshly appointed (as in January 4th) CEO Scott Thompson will be "stepping down." In other words, he's being canned. The news comes from an All Things D report on the matter, with the official word expected soon. The scandal took hold a few weeks back, with the official Yahoo bio listing a computer science degree that he allegedly didn't even have. The company line is that he's bolting for "personal reasons," but seriously -- what are the chances these "reasons" would've emerged sans scandal? It's bruited that Yahoo's global media head Ross Levinsohn will be filling Scott's shoes for now, but there's no word yet on who the firm's next CEO will be. It's a shame, but it sure feels like a revolving door in Yahoo's corner office. Update: Yahoo has confirmed Thompson's departure in an official press release (after the break), placing Ross Levinsohn in a interim CEO position, as expected. The firm also mentions that Roy Bostock's seat as Chairman of the board will be filled by Fred Amoroso. Hit the break for the official statement.
Japanese watchdog agency wants to fine Olympus $2.5 million
Wondering how this whole Olympus accounting scandal is gonna wrap up? Well, it might simply come to a close with a 200 million yen (about $2.5 million) fine. That's the seemingly tiny amount the Japanese SESC (Securities Exchange and Surveillance Commission) is recommending the company be fined. Ultimately the FSA (Financial Services Agency) will decide how large of a monetary punishment is appropriate for the $1.7 billion scandal. And, don't forget, there's still the drama of Olympus suing its own president and other executives to look forward to.
Mass Effect 3 director defends DLC, endings with 'common sense'
Turns out Mass Effect 3 is controversial. Some people like its DLC, ending and storyline, some don't, and some want to see the entire BioWare team thrown into pools of mud and flogged for days to pay for the things they put in their own game. Franchise executive producer and director Casey Hudson seems to be taking the mixed reactions in stride, and even has some simple, logical reasons behind a few of the supposed scandals, such as Mass Effect 3's day-one DLC, From Ashes."I think a lot of the common sense is prevailing," Hudson told Digital Trends. "Initially, it was spun in a direction that suggested that we had taken the lore out of Mass Effect 3 and were holding it inside the DLC only, which now the people who actually have played Mass Effect 3 and the DLC they know that that's not true."From Ashes is an optional piece of content not integral to the main story, Hudson noted."When we finish a game, we finish it many months before it actually hits the shelves and that team goes on to work on something else that in those intervening months represent millions of dollars of development time.... So in this case, we chose to work on a DLC which people really enjoyed for Mass Effect 2 and we also wanted to make sure that people had it as an opportunity to build it into their first play-through if they wanted that as an optional thing."As for the ending, Hudson said he likes its mystery and interpretation possibilities, and having a reactive ending is better than one that falls flat and fades out. "I didn't want the game to be forgettable, and even right down to the sort of polarizing reaction that the ends have had with people -- debating what the endings mean and what's going to happen next, and what situation are the characters left in -- that to me is part of what's exciting about this story."
Olympus board announces chairman and president picks, resigns
Olympus's entire board handed in its resignation this week, but not before picking a new president and chairman to head up the scandal plagued imaging company. Hiroyuki Sasa, from its medical equipment marketing arm, has been named for the president spot, and Yasuyuki Kimoto, who served as an executive for the Olympus-connected Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp., has been picked for role of chairman. Both appointments are pending shareholder approval. Sasa, for his part, stated the importance of getting consumers back on board with the company in light recent controversies, telling the press, "My duty is to win back as soon as possible the trust from everyone and repair this damaged brand."
Former Olympus chairman Tsuyoshi Kikukawa comes down from the mount, into police custody
If you've been following the latest camera industry accounting scandal, then you're probably well aware that all is not well at Olympus. The Japanese company took its latest blow today when former chairman Tsuyoshi Kikukawa was arrested in Tokyo on suspicion of having falsified financial statements. The Tokyo prosecutor's office released a statement saying that two other former execs were also brought into police custody, including Hisashi Mori, a former executive vice president, and Hideo Yamada, a former auditor. Olympus is also faced with the possibility of being delisted from the Tokyo Stock Exchange -- the decision has been deferred awaiting further evidence. So what does all this mean for the scandal-ridden camera maker's position in the industry? Little, perhaps, from a consumer perspective, considering that Olympus has continued to announce and ship new products, including the well-received EM-5. The fate of its former executives, however, is less auspicious.
Olympus turns to Sony to help it get its feet back on the ground (updated)
Olympus might have some good news soon: it might have found a hero to rescue it from its woes. The "troubled" (read: it hid $1.7 billion worth of accounting losses, was nearly de-listed from the Tokyo Stock Exchange and is currently suing its leadership team for fraud) company is reportedly about to negotiate a capital-and-business alliance with Sony. The TSE gave the optics-maker three years to clean up its act, which it's hoping Big S (that already owns a 0.03 percent stake in the company) will assist with some know-how, a big pot of cash, and maybe loaning them a competent accountant, or something. Whatever happens, the rumors are that all will be revealed at a press conference next week, we're just hoping Will Smith turns up to announce it. Update: The Nikkei is reporting that Sony could be interested in buying up between 20 and 30 percent of Olympus in order to get at its medical imaging business. It also mentioned that it's not a done-deal just yet, Fujifilm and (medical gear maker) Terumo are still circling in the hope of biting off a piece of the action.
Olympus sues its own president, executives over accounting scandal
Remember that super crazy Olympus accounting scandal we told you about a couple of weeks back? Yeah, well, it just got a lot crazier. The camera maker filed suit in Japan yesterday against its own president, Shuichi Takayama and 18 other past and present executives over the deal in which it worked to conceal $1.7 billion in loses. On top of that, current board members have agreed to resign, moving aside for investors to vote on new management for the company.
Olympus' Tokyo offices raided over accounting scandal
Eke. A nearly-century old outfit is currently giving up office space to Japanese prosecutors, who today moved in on Olympus' Tokyo facilities in a raid surrounding an ongoing accounting investigation. According to reports from The Wall Street Journal and Reuters, the scandal involves many billions of dollars -- "irregularities" that have raised serious concerns about the outfit's handling of funds. It's bruited that the company has been running a scheme to conceal over $1.5 billion in investment losses, and we're told that the raid should pass right on through Olympus' headquarters and into the "homes of executives involved in the cover-up." All of this follows an admission last month that the firm had used "inflated payments made in acquisitions in recent years," and while it remains unclear what all of this means for its future, there's no doubt a few dark months are ahead as things sort themselves out. So much for looking pretty for the camera, eh?
European regulators set sights on Carrier IQ, rootkit scandal goes international
Most of the bruhaha over Carrier IQ and its activity-tracking rootkit has been contained to the US so far. That's about to change though, and the software company could find itself at the center of an international privacy scandal. The British Information Commissioner's Office and the European Consumers' Organization have both started looking into the diagnostics software, while the Bavarian State Office for Data Protection has specifically engaged with Apple over its inclusion of parts of Carrier IQ's suite in iOS. This, of course, comes only days after US lawmakers requested their own government open an investigation. So far, all of the major British providers have denied using the tool on their handsets but, the drama is still unfolding and there's plenty of time for others to get caught up in this mess.
Activision complains about ModernWarfare3.com, a Battlefield 3 fansite
Activision filed a domain-name dispute with National Arbitration Forum on Friday over ModernWarfare3.com, a gag website attempting to convert Modern Warfare 3 fans to EA's Battlefield 3. Activision argues that the person behind ModernWarfare3.com "has no right or legitimate interest in the Domain Name," a violation of the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy, and wants the site under its own control. Activision has provided the panel with a two-page list of Modern Warfare's accomplishments as evidence of its right to the domain, or perhaps because it wants to see its "Best Shooter" award from CNN.com in writing. Activision claims the site contains copyrighted material, including the style of its Modern Warfare 3 header, and that the owner "supports the game Battlefield," quoting that it "urges visitors to 'grow up and forgettabout Modern Warfare 3 (because it looks just like Modern Warfare 2) and buy Battlefield 3 instead.'" ModernWarfare3.com was purchased on March 26, 2009, almost two years before Modern Warfare 3 was officially announced, and until recently the website redirected users to Battlefield3.com. Currently its front page reads, "Warning: this website is under seige," with the above clip from Monty Python's Life of Brian re-dubbed to bash Modern Warfare 3.
Generosity scandal rocks sci-fi sandbox
Players of [hardcore MMO] reeled today over the the latest scandal to hit the game. According to our sources, a character by the name of [player #1] of [guild name] flew his [spaceship name] above a neglected outpost on [game location], dumping over [huge number] [game currency] on the players below. The money has an approximate value of [huge number] USD. "[Player #1] is a travesty," one angry citizen declared. "This game is about scamming and swindling idiots out of their money, not giving it away like some namby-pamby carebear in [themepark MMO]." "I could have been killed!" insisted [player #2], who spends his game time [tradeskill ending in -ing] in the town. "All that [game currency] was really heavy. What if it had landed on my [body part]?" [Player #3], who is not an economist, suggested that donations of this magnitude ruin the economy. "We can't just go around throwing free [game currency] out of spaceships. It causes inflation and hurts [insulting term for newbie players]." [Game company] could not be reached for comment. Games Journalism sure is hard work, so we've decided to take a break today and let you write your own news! Too many stories about RIFT on Massively lately? Not enough about the game of your choice? No problem! Much in the style of Mad Libs, today is your day to create the news you want to read, all day on the :30s. Simply fill in the blanks and it's yours. Have fun!
WeTab boss Helmut Hoffer caught posting five-star Amazon reviews under fake name, resigns
Uh oh. WeTab's Managing Director, Helmut Hoffer, has just resigned his position after being caught using a fake identity to post positive, five-star reviews for his little MeeGo tablet. Hoffer, who originally faked the WeTab's (then known as the WePad) UI when introducing the tablet to the press, posted a review on Amazon's German site under the name Peter Glaser, a popular member of the Chaos Computer Club. A second glowing review was posted under the name Claudia Kaden -- an account apparently registered to Hoffer's wife. Of course, now that he's been outed, Hoffer admits that it was a mistake not using his own name and says he posted the reviews without the knowledge of the company. Naturally, this isn't the first case of egregious astroturfing that we've seen -- eh hem, Belkin -- and it certainly won't be the last. This guy's just the latest to get caught.%Gallery-104261%
Ce-Oh no he didn't!: Larry Ellison likens HP board to 'idiots' at Apple
Larry Ellison, Oracle CEO and regular tennis buddy of the disgraced (and now former) chief of HP Mark Hurd, has decided to share his thoughts on the matter of Hurd's departure in an impassioned email to the New York Times: "The H.P. board just made the worst personnel decision since the idiots on the Apple board fired Steve Jobs many years ago. That decision nearly destroyed Apple and would have if Steve hadn't come back and saved them." The communique, also obtained by the Mercury News, included other tasty tidbits such as Ellison describing HP's disclosure of the apparently unfounded sexual harassment claim against Hurd as "cowardly corporate political correctness," and dismissing the financial irregularities that forced the former CEO's resignation as "petty expenses report errors." So, in short, the world according to Larry is populated by messianic CEOs who shouldn't be held up to the same petty standards as the rest of us.
Ankhesentapemkah removed from EVE's Council of Stellar Management
EVE Online's democratically elected Council of Stellar Management has been the cause of a great deal of controversy since the programme's inception. The idea that players can bring their concerns on game design issues to a player-elected representative has been popular with forum-posters. Council members work tirelessly to compile lists of issues that are important to the player-base, then present them to CCP in the CSM Summit every six months. While the council has managed to push through some very important issues and work on key features, it's been the focus of several scandals and a great deal of EVE drama. Controversial council member Eva "Ankhesentapemkah" Jobse was removed from the council today. The official reason given for her dismissal was "a breach of the non-disclosure agreement (NDA)." The exact nature of the breach has not been publicised as the sensitive nature of the data involved renders the issue a private matter between Eva and CCP Games. As usually happens when information isn't available, the forums have exploded with speculation over what exactly Eva did that breached the NDA. Although Eva has yet to comment publicly on the issue, fellow council member Sokratesz was quick to allay suspicions that it was due to information posted in her personal CSM blog. When reached for comment, Eva had the following to say: "All I can say at the moment is that out of respect for the CSM, the players of EVE, as well as the good people at CCP, I cannot give any details besides my personal conviction that CCP's statement is not in relation to any of my recent publications, and that I do not share CCP's conclusion that there has in fact been an NDA breach. I am currently engaged in following up this situation with CCP." Eva plans to keep her followers updated on her situation via her CSM blog as the situation develops.
South Korea rocked by StarCraft gambling scandal
An ongoing investigation has made headlines in South Korean media over the past few days, thanks to an alarming scandal involving StarCraft. Overseas, Blizzard's RTS is played professionally and broadcast on national television. And, like most sports leagues, the competitions have drawn a following from the illegal gambling market. The growing controversy surrounds a number of professional gamers, including some famous and top-ranked players, accused of intentionally throwing matches to exploit the illegal gambling operations. The Korean police are currently investigating the accusations. However, considering the underground nature of the scandal, it's clear that it will take a long time before all potential suspects are apprehended. For further coverage, Team Liquid offers a recently updated and extensive overview of the scandal. [Via BigDownload]
WoW.com's top ten stories of 2009, part 3
If you were reading the site earlier this year, you'll remember that our first word about what was in the new expansion came long before BlizzCon did -- multiple leaks, some believable, some not, shaped our idea of what we'd be getting in the game's third add-on. Way back on July 1st, reader Ryan noticed for us that Blizzard had applied for a Cataclysm trademark, and from there, things spiraled out into rumors and speculation. Obviously, Cataclysm will already be one of the biggest stories of 2010, but it took up a lot of 2009 as well.
Ex-AMD CEO Hector Ruiz steps down as Globalfoundries chairman amid insider trading scandal
We won't dive back into all the backstory that led to former AMD CEO Hector Ruiz's current troubles as the chairman of AMD spin-off Globalfoundries, but let's just say that when your name is in the same sentence as "insider trading scandal" and "hedge fund probe," you're probably in a pretty bad way. While this story is obviously still far from over, it looks like Ruiz has at least realized the gravity of his predicament, and announced today that he's taking a "voluntary leave of absence" before formally resigning from the company on January 4th, 2010. He'll be replaced immediately by former Broadcom CEO Alan "Lanny" Ross, who will serve as interim chairman until the company's board appoints a permanent chairman.
EVE Online's largest player-run bank rocked by embezzlement
We've just gotten word that EBANK, a player-run bank in EVE Online self-described as "the largest financial entity ever seen in EVE" has been rocked by embezzlement from its own CEO, Ricdic. The former CEO stole roughly 200 billion ISK from EBANK, which is roughly 8.6% of the entire 2.3 trillion ISK that EVE's playerbase has deposited. EBANK chairman Hexxx has issued a statement on the game's official forums, stating that Ricdic has been banned by CCP Games for engaging in RMT, also adding that the former CEO "has scammed." The loss of nearly 9% of EBANK's deposits is a serious blow to the player-run institution, perhaps as much to investor confidence in the bank as it is to their funds, but Hexxx says their liquidity is still between 400 billion and 500 billion ISK. A June 6th news item on the EBANK site written by bank auditor LaVista Vista states, "We are currently experiencing some technical problems. Therefore, we ask that people do not deposit any ISK, until we have solved the problem." EBANK's director and head teller Athre has now assumed the role of interim CEO, as the EBANK staff determines the best way forward from here.
The Best of Massively: Five stories that scandalized you
Massively is just a week and a half away from its first birthday, and we're winding our Best of Massively series down in the final days! This week we're listing five stories we wrote that caused a lot of people to get very angry -- sometimes at us, sometimes at game developers or other industry figures, and sometimes at all of the above!If you have a thick skin for controversy (or if you're drawn to it like a moth to a flame like a lot of us are!), check out the list. Just... let's not let it come to violence, okay? Click to start >> %Gallery-35305%
Age of Conan GM fired amidst in-game sex scandal
An Age of Conan player tricked a naïve, Funcom-employed Game Master (an in-game customer service representative) into pursuing cybersex with him. The player posed as a female playing a male character and enticed the male GM with flirtatious remarks and innuendos. After the GM fully threw himself into the moment, the player revealed that he was male, and that the conversation had been a prank.Friends of the player posted screenshots of the conversation on MMORPG's forums, and the ensuing controversy led Funcom to fire the GM for unacceptable behavior and violation of the customer service guidelines. Destructoid then interviewed the prankster and hosted the unedited version of the conversation screenshots.Frankly, we're not sure who is the bigger jackass -- the GM for his unprofessional behavior, or the player for baiting him into it. Everyone seems to have his or her own unique interpretation of this fiasco.[Via Big Download]
