Microhoo. Yahsoft. No, keep at it...

Michael Arrington is pretty sure he understands why Microsoft is pursuing Yahoo:

Microsoft makes a ton of revenue on sales of software that sit on the computer. $15 billion a year for Windows alone, and another $16 billion for Office and Exchange Server in 2007. That’s 60% of Microsoft’s total revenue, and profits from those groups float the rest of the company. Microsoft isn’t a viable company without their consumer and business desktop software profits.

The real question isn’t “What can Microsoft do to fix their Windows product?” but rather “Even If Windows and Office were perfect, would it be enough to keep Microsoft relevant in the medium term?” I think the answer to that latter question might be “nope.” And that, of course, is why they want Yahoo so badly. Online advertising revenue is their only real hope of long term survival.

TechCrunch: Gartner Says Vista Will Collapse. And That's Why The Yahoo Deal Must Happen. (11 April 2008)

Bear Stearns: Yahoo needs a social networking strategy

Courtesy of TechCrunch:

There is a bit of buzz around the presentation Bear Stearns Internet analyst Robert Peck gave a couple of days ago. It recommends a broad strategy for Yahoo to get their act together in the social networking space, and recommends a near term acquisition of one of the big players.

I’ve embedded the full presentation below. It is a broad overview of social networking in general, which Peck breaks down into four distinct types...

WaPo: Advocates Sue Yahoo In Chinese Torture Case

A human rights group sued Yahoo on Wednesday, accusing the Internet giant of abetting the torture of pro-democracy writers by releasing data that allowed China's government to identify them.

The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, says the company was complicit in the arrests of 57-year-old Wang Xiaoning and other Chinese Internet activists. The suit is the latest development in a campaign by advocacy groups to spotlight the conduct of U.S. companies in China.

As they seek a slice of the booming Chinese market, Yahoo and other American companies have sometimes set aside core American values, such as free speech, to comply with the communist government's laws.

Advocates Sue Yahoo In Chinese Torture Case - Washington Post (April 18, 2007)

The suit alleges that Yahoo helped the pack of thugs and criminals who pass for China's government identify internal dissident writers, so that they could be arrested, jailed and tortured. (China has always had a very... aggressive version of the Patriot Act in place, and past a certain level, one condition of doing business there and gaining access to the lucrative Chinese market has been a demonstrated willingness to be a collaborator.)

I know very little about the World Organization for Human Rights USA, the group that is helping Mr. Wang and his family file the lawsuit. I intend to do some due diligence, though; in this case, at least, they are on the side of the angels, and that suggests that they are potentially deserving of our help and support.