Monster, the Internet's largest employment service, is suing its former president as he works to start a new online recruitment business.
Monster filed the lawsuits in Marion Superior Court, claiming that William O. Warren and his employees have conspired to take confidential marketing data, customer contact lists and other information to use in their new business, the WOWemployers Network.
The suits ask for the immediate return of any proprietary information, and seek compensation for any income lost as a result of their appropriation. Monster also seeks punitive damages for "malicious misappropriation" of trade secrets.
Warren said Monster's parent company, TMP Worldwide (TMPW), maintains that he should never work in the online recruitment industry again, even though he has satisfied the requirements of a "do not compete" clause that went into effect when he left Monster in 1999. The clause expired in December, Warren said, and he's under no obligation to halt the startup of WOW Network.
WOW has several clients signed up already, including Alcoa (AA), Eastman Kodak (EK) and Nike (NKE), Warren said.
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Incubator out of Silicon Valley: Internet incubator Idealab, which has seen the value of its listed companies plunge in recent months, said it is pulling out of Silicon Valley.
Pasadena, California-based Idealab said in a statement that it intends to shut its Palo Alto office, effectively ending local efforts for grooming new technology startups. Idealab said the office would continue to support the three companies that operate out of Silicon Valley facilities.
The companies still being supported at the Palo Alto facilities are Airwave, which is building a high-speed wireless network, Mybiz, an online customer relationship management services company, and eLease, an online capital equipment leasing marketplace.
Idealab has about 50 companies in various stages of development, the company said.
Among the better known Idealab-backed start-ups that have faltered since going public are eToys (ETYS), NetZero (NZRO), and eMachines (EEEE).
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WorldCom for sale? WorldCom chairman and chief executive Bernie Ebbers says the nation's second-largest long distance provider is for sale, as it has been since day one, but the company is focusing on improving its value, not takeover bids.
Ebbers' comments were in response to a Wall Street Journal article Wednesday that said he has "expressed interest" in selling the company.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Ebbers "is said to be interested in parting ways" for the right price, possibly $35 a share. That figure is more than double the closing price Wednesday for WorldCom shares (WCOM).
Ebbers said selling the company for the reported share price would not be in the best interest of shareholders, "and I happen to one of them." Analysts who follow the telecommunications giant said they don't expect a deal anytime soon.
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Digital deal for film industry: Qualcomm and film processor Technicolor unveiled the first plan to equip movie theaters with 1,000 new digital projection systems to kickstart the industry's move into a new digital era.
The two companies said they had formed a joint venture called Technicolor Digital Cinema that would underwrite part of the cost of converting the initial theaters from current film projection systems, which are based on near 100-year-old technology.
In recent years, theater owners have been hit hard by sharply increased costs, and some see digital systems as a way to add new revenues by expanding the uses of their venues to include sporting events, rock concerts or Broadway shows.
For their part, the major Hollywood studios who make and distribute films see new digital systems and movies as a way to dramatically cut the costs of shipping thousands of canisters and film strips around the world.
Technicolor is offering to pay for installing and maintaining the digital systems in exchange for a share of the box office that equals roughly 12.5 cents per person, per movie, Dave Elliott, president of the joint venture, said. He said the cost is based on about the same per person expense a theater incurs to install an analog projection system.
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More users using AOL more often: AOL Time Warner's America Online said that worldwide membership for its flagship AOL Internet service has surpassed 28 million.
The Dulles, Virginia-based company said the success of AOL 6.0, as well as investments it has made in network infrastructure and customer support, has been reflected in strong subscriber growth and increased member usage.
America Online also said that AOL members are averaging almost 70 minutes on the service daily, up from 63 minutes a year ago.
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This Czechvar's for you: Czech brewer Budejovicky Budvar is taking on Anheuser-Busch in the United States, launching its version of the Budweiser Budvar beer there under a new name to circumvent Anheuser-Busch's rights to the trademark, a Czech daily reported.
Business daily Hospodarske Noviny said the state-owned brewer, which is locked in dozens of trademark disputes worldwide with its bigger rival, has begun shipping small amounts to the United States under the name "Czechvar." The brewery declined to comment on the report, which quoted Petr Bohacek from Czech Beer Importers, Budvar's representative in the United States.
Budvar spokesman Martin Dolezal said the company was planning a news conference to present its new U.S. strategy at the end of March. He declined to give details.
Budejovicky Budvar has for years fought legal battles around the world over rights to the "Budwiser," "Bud" and "Budweis" trademarks.
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AOL gets one exec, keeps another: AOL Time Warner named Robert Friedman president of AOLTV, the company's interactive television service for mass market consumers.
Previously, Friedman was co-chairman of worldwide theatrical marketing for New Line Cinema and president of New Line Television.
AOL Time Warner (AOL) also got good news from co-chief operating officer Bob Pittman, who said he was "absolutely not interested" in becoming chief executive officer of Yahoo after the job was vacated by Yahoo's longtime CEO Tim Koogle.
Pittman's name has been mentioned as a possible successor after Yahoo said Koogle would step down from the post.
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Break out the champagne: The U.S. economy is not in a recession, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Michael Moskow said.
"I don't personally think we're in a recession at this time," he told reporters after speaking to the Prairie State Foundation. But, he added, "I think the balance of risks are still toward weaker economic growth."
Moskow said he saw advantages to the Fed changing interest rates at its regular meetings but said inter-meeting moves at times served a valuable purpose.
Reuters contributed to this report.
