psunite
Joined: 27 Jan 2005
Posts: 6213
Location: Columbus OH
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| Posted: Thu May 22, 2008 11:42 pm Post subject: Craigslist: Meg Whitman seduced us |
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In what is one of the more amusing lawsuit filings I've read in recent memory, Craigslist has fired back in its legal battle with eBay.
Craigslist's lawsuit against eBay, filed in San Francisco County Superior Court, accuses eBay of unfair competition, fraudulent business claims, copyright infringement, false advertising and lays out a story of "corporate spying" Craigslist believes eBay was using its stake in Craigslist to engage in.
It states:
"craigslist was first advised of eBay's interest through the Former Shareholder's counsel on May 4, 2004, and at that time was told that eBay agreed with craigslist's vision and was willing to accept a minority stake in craigslist."
"On Wednesday, July 21, 2004, eBay invited craigslist to a meeting which was to take place the next day, at which Ms. Whitman, eBay's then President and Chief Executive Officer, would personally present her case for why craigslist should welcome eBay as a shareholder. That evening, eBay's counsel circulated a revised term sheet, which was described as a term sheet for a 'basic investment, without any extraordinary rights or obligations'."
"The parties met on July 22, 2004, as eBay requested. In attendance (among others) were Ms. Whitman and Michael Jacobsen (eBay's Senior Vice President and Corporate Counsel) from eBay, and Mr. Newmark and Mr. Buckmaster (craigslist's Chief Executive Officer) from craigslist. Ms. Whitman mentioned how much she loved craigslist, and even noted that one of her sons had successfully used the site when locating an apartment. She said that eBay and craigslist were similar companies, in that the strength of each was in their very loyal user communities, and that the success of both companies had resulted from listening to what their communities wanted. She emphasized that eBay espoused very high values and pointed to the 'Code of Conduct' created by eBay's founder, Pierre Omidyar, which at the time was prominently featured on the eBay website."
"Ms. Whitman stated how much eBay could help craigslist on issues such as 'trust and safety,' where eBay had many years of experience, as well as in operating in international environments, where eBay also had substantial expertise and "on the ground" resources. She said that she viewed eBay's purchase of a minority interest as a courtship, and that craigslist should be happy that eBay was interested in helping craigslist and was willing to acquire the minority stake. Ms. Whitman further committed to craigslist that eBay would drop demands previously made for a bigger interest in craigslist than was presently being offered for sale by the Former Shareholder."
"Mr. Newmark and Mr. Buckmaster were impressed by Ms. Whitman's presentation; most notably the importance to eBay of its community and eBay's dedication to Pierre Omidyar's Community Values - particularly the values that 'We believe that people are basically good;' 'We believe that an honest, open environment can bring out the best in people;' and 'We encourage you to treat others the way you want to be treated.' These were very similar to craigslist's own principles and, in reliance on eBay's expressed commitment to these principles, along with Ms. Whitman's representations, craigslist agreed to resume discussions."
"As indicated above, Mr. Newmark and Mr. Buckmaster placed critical importance on what eBay asserted to be shared community values. They also gave particular weight to Mr. Omidyar's laudable philanthropic activities."
"However, eBay did not post a link to Craig's blog entry on its own website once the transaction had closed, as eBay had promised it would."
"They believed that Omidyar had a moral compass very similar to their own."
"Mr. Newmark and Mr. Buckmaster were taken aback by eBay's behavior, and feared that they had a wolf in sheep's clothing in their midst. However, they still had tremendous respect for Mr. Omidyar, and craigslist tried to review in good faith even extreme proposals made by eBay, particularly since many of the proposals were couched in terms of community service."
more.. link to news article |
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