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Digital entertainment company RealNetworks said Wednesday that its founder stepped down as chief executive officer, but will remain chairman. In a statement, Founder Rob Glaser, 47, said that after 16 years he decided it was time for him to step away from day-to-day operations. RealNetworks spokesperson Bill Hankes said Glaser plans to focus on philanthropic and political interests.
Foreign companies are criticizing a new Chinese regulation they fear could block them from the multibillion dollar business of selling high-tech products to government departments. The rule requires sellers of high-tech products to have them accredited based on “indigenous innovation” — local intellectual property — before they can be listed in a government procurement catalog.
European Union regulators said Friday that they have extended until Jan. 27 a deadline to wrap up their antitrust review of Oracle’s planned US$7.4 billion takeover of Sun Microsystems. The European Commission said Oracle had asked for more time “in order to have the opportunity to further develop its arguments in response to the Commission’s concerns.”
Time Warner said Monday that it will spin off its Internet business, AOL, as a separate company on Dec. 9. On that date, Time Warner shareholders of record as of Nov. 27 will receive one share of AOL common stock for every 11 shares of Time Warner common stock they hold, the media company said.
An Arizona-based debt settlement company accused in a lawsuit of preying on people who can’t pay their bills has been ordered to pay nearly US$200,000 in penalties for defrauding customers in New York state. New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo launched a nationwide probe last spring into a “renegade industry” of debt settlement businesses.