State spyware law yields $84,000 settlement

Pacific Northwest

A Portland man who made money by tricking people into buying a bogus anti-spyware product became the first defendant to be penalized under a new Washington state spyware law.

Zhijian Chen will pay fines and restitution of nearly $84,000, Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna announced Tuesday.

Chen's settlement is also the first in a broader case the attorney general and Microsoft filed against Secure Computer of White Plains, N.Y., in January. The company allegedly marketed its Spyware Cleaner product through Internet advertisers like Chen, who used deceptive sales tactics made illegal by Washington's 2005 Computer Spyware Act.

Company favored in software suit

A federal appellate court Tuesday effectively ended an attempt to bring a nationwide class-action antitrust lawsuit alleging overcharging against Microsoft.

Plaintiffs have said claims in the case, which mainly covered software purchased in the 1990s, could have exceeded $10 billion.

A three-judge panel of the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the ruling of U.S. District Court Judge Frederick Motz, who found the plaintiffs had not purchased software or licensing agreements directly from Microsoft, but rather from computer manufacturers and retailers. As so-called "indirect purchasers," the plaintiffs cannot recover overcharges alleged against Microsoft.

The panel also deemed other claims were too generalized or speculative, or not covered by antitrust laws. These included claims that plaintiffs were deprived of competitive technology, and that bundling Internet Explorer and Windows hindered performance of their computers.

Pacific Northwest

Seattle-based Widevine, which helps cable, satellite, Internet and other providers sell content securely, said it has raised $16 million in a third round of venture capital.

New investors include Cisco and Telus, with existing investors VantagePoint, Bear Stearns Constellation Ventures, Pacesetter Capital and Phoenix Partners also participating.

To date, Widevine has raised $62 million. The company, which has 75 employees, will use the money to increase global sales and market additional product lines.

Group to take offer to shareholders

Obsidian Finance Group and Campbell Group, whose $1.3 billion cash bid to buy out Longview Fibre was rebuffed twice, said they will take their offer to the company's shareholders.

Management of Longview Fibre, a pulp and paper company, rejected the $26-per-share cash bid in March and again on Monday after reviewing new information from Obsidian, a private equity firm, and Campbell Group, a timber-investment management company. Longview Fibre's board said the bid undervalues the Longview-based company.

Obsidian said it and Campbell will ask Longview stockholders to ask the company to hold a special shareholder meeting to discuss the proposal. Under company bylaws, Longview must hold a meeting upon request from shareholders representing 10 percent of the company's shares, the investment group said.

Nation and World

Search upgrade aimed at companies

Hoping to become less dependent on Internet advertising, online search-engine leader Google is introducing a tool designed to make it easier for companies and their workers to find vital information scattered across a maze of complex software applications.

The latest upgrade to Google's 4-year-old search engine for corporate America will be able to fish through a deep pool of data and display the requested information in a box near the top of the computer screen so users won't have to scan through other pages.

This "one box" approach is similar to the system that Google deploys at its own Web site whenever visitors are looking for information about local weather forecasts or stock-market quotes. In those instances, Google's search engine provides a snapshot of requested information at the top of the results page.

$25 million paid for historic property

Adobe Systems, the world's biggest maker of graphic-design software, agreed to pay $25 million for a 5.5-acre site in downtown San Jose, Calif., three blocks from the company's headquarters.

The property is being purchased from the metropolitan area's water utility, Adobe said in a statement Tuesday. The transaction is expected to close by August.

The site includes the utility's 15,900-square-foot office building. Erected in 1934, the building is designated eligible for the National Register of Historic Places and is a city landmark. Adobe said any development plans would maintain the building's exterior.

Adobe doesn't have immediate plans to use the site, spokeswoman Jodi Warner said in an interview. The company has 2,300 employees working at its headquarters and can accommodate 500 more, Warner said.

Adobe has about 500 employees at its Seattle facility in the Fremont neighborhood.

Demand spurs plan to hire 300 engineers

Sikorsky Aircraft on Tuesday said it plans to hire more than 300 engineers due to demand for its military and civil helicopter products and services.

The Stratford, Conn.-based unit of United Technologies said it will fill openings at facilities in Alabama, Connecticut, Florida, Maryland and New York.

Compiled from Seattle Times staff, The Associated Press and Bloomberg News