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Two Democratic consultants are accusing Arianna Huffington and her business partner of stealing their idea for the powerhouse liberal website Huffington Post.

Peter Daou and James Boyce charge that Huffington and partner Ken Lerer designed the website from a plan they had presented them, and in doing so, violated a handshake agreement to work together, according to a lawsuit to be filed in New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan.



The complaint is a direct challenge to the left’s most important media property from two stalwarts of the progressive movement. And it challenges Huffington’s own oft-told story of coming up with the idea in conversation with Lerer and other friends.

“Huffington has styled herself as a ‘new media’ maven and an expert on the effective deployment of news and celebrity on the Internet in the service of political ends,” says the complaint. “As will be shown at trial, Huffington’s and Lerer’s image with respect to the Huffington Post is founded on false impressions and inaccuracies: They presented the ‘new media’ ideas and plans of Peter Daou and James Boyce as their own in order to raise money for the website and enhance their image, and breached their promises to work with Peter and James to develop the site together.”

The suit against Huffington, Lerer, and Huffington Post also sheds light on the very political aims of the left’s most powerful – and valuable – online voice.

Democrats need “to develop a dominant position within the Internet,” Daou said during an early meeting about the site, according to the complaint. “It is a system [for] pushing the message, not just for fundraising,” he allegedly said.

Huffington called the charge of stolen ideas and broken deals “a completely absurd, ludicrous supposition” from men whom she’d turned down for jobs on the site.

“We have now officially entered into Bizzaro World. James Boyce and Peter Daou, two political operatives who we rejected going into business with or hiring 6 years ago, and who had absolutely nothing to do with creating, running, financing, or building the Huffington Post, now concoct some scheme saying they own part of the company,” she and Lerer said in a written statement to POLITICO, writing that the two “tried to cash in” before filing suit and “said they’d go away for just a little money.”

“For months now they have been trying to extract money from us. They are filing the lawsuit of course because we did not agree to any payment,” they wrote.

Boyce and Daou said they are filing suit now only for recognition and vindication: They will, the two said in a statement, use any proceeds beyond legal fees and expenses “to support progressive causes and citizen journalists and bloggers who are active in support of those causes.”

“How noble,” Huffington and Lerer said in their statement.

The lawsuit touches on the same legal frontiers of intellectual property and deal-making as did a famous lawsuit Facebook settled in 2008. The success of the suit, which seeks unspecified damages, will hinge on whether Daou and Boyce can prove they had offered “something more specific than a generalized notion” and that Huffington had agreed to make them part of the deal, said Dan Kornstein, a prominent New York litigator.

Huffington Post has emerged as a juggernaut since its launch on May 9, 2005. The site’s front page offers a leftward tilt on political news, a sort of mirror image of the Drudge Report. A cadre of bloggers contribute analysis for free and a growing staff provides original content on politics and whatever other content – notably, celebrity – drives traffic and buzz.

Forbes reported that the site was valued at $100 million when it last raised venture capital, in 2008.




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Alhaji Aliko Dangote has taken delivery of his new Bombadier Global Express XRS. The Aircraft would the third in his fleet.The aircraft landed the Nigerian airspace from Canada yesterday (The same say that the billionaire marked his 53rd Birthday in Lagos).
In this year's Forbes Richest Billionaires in the world, Dangote, a Nigerian from the northern city of Kano was also listed.

we gather that the 8 seater jet is worth about 7 billion Naira. The journey from Canada to Nigeria was said to have taken about 9 hours.

"The Global Express XRS is an improved version of the original aircraft, offering higher cruise speed, increased range, improved cabin layout and lighting. It is reported that the letters have no significance, but were chosen by focus groups simply to improve the brand image.

The range increase is achieved by addition of a 1,486 lb (674 kg) fuel tank at the wing root. The Global Express XRS entered service in early 2006. The unit price is estimated to be $45.5 million (US). Bombardier claims it takes 15 minutes less to fuel the XRS than the original model thanks to improved computer systems and mechanical refinements"

Dangote is a commodity merchant and financial back up of the ruling Peoples Democratc Party (PDP) in Nigeria. He is also the Chairman of Dangote Group of Companies and his investments are in cement,sugar, oil, banking,properties and other areas.

Some reports have been circulating about Dangote's top billionaire status as Business Mogul Mike Adenuga was claimed to have laughed on his Forbes listing as Naija's richest man and Dangote was once accused of plotting

EXILE OF ADENUGA BECAUSE OF ENVY
The problem that the billionaire Chairman of Globacom, Otunba Mike Adenuga had with former President Olusegun Obasanjo was masterminded by Alhaji Aliko Dangote. And the cause was mere envy of the ever rising status of the silent but meticulous multi- billionaire, Mike Adenuga.


It all started when Adenuga acquired the old National Oil which he transformed to Conoil.

Chemical Ali as he is known went to town claiming that Adenuga used funds from Bureau of Public Enterprise.

Same thing reared its ugly head when Adenuga acquired the second National Carrier Licence which enabled him to join the world mega business of telecommunication. He smeared the names of Adenuga and former vice president, Atiku Abubakar. He claimed that Atiku who oversaw the then Petroleum Trust Fund helped pay for the licence from the Fund's cover.

This was the final straw that brokes the camels back of camaraderie between Atiku and his former boss Obasanjo.

These incidents made the guru as Adenuga is fondly called to go on voluntary exile.

Adenuga's sins according to Dangote's gospel is due to his unapproachability. He claimed that the guru was too arrogant, taciturn and always elusive to the extent that 'Adenuga could not be asked for favours like using his private jet because his own jet, a rickety 14 year old NS 125 old cargo which he bought from the Federal Government always breakdown constantly without notice and also because Adenuga is richer than him.

The hatred for Adenuga got worse few years ago during one of the editions of Nduka Obaigbena's This Day Awards.In that year's edition of the award despite the fact that the Globacom boss was not present physically as against Aliko who was there live, Adenuga was the cynosure of all eyes as his representatives were busy collecting awards after another on his behalf whilst Dangote with all his pride and ego was just there looking at the glory of Adenuga without a single award .Since then the attempt to ruin Adenuga started because he didn't want anybody to surpass him. To further humiliate Adenuga after he had succeeded in setting EFCC after him, “Chemical Ali” was always dramatising how Adenuga was behaving when he was to be arrested by EFCC operatives and during this time

one will always see him holding white handkerchief and waving it at the EFCC operatives which
signals peace as Adenuga was said to be pleading THEN.

.

As for Mike Adenuga's group. He owns a series of oil exploration and marketing companies that include Conoil, which he bought from the government and lead on an incredible turnaround from a hopelessly sick company to the pearl of the oil marketing industry. The value of Conoil stock increased 15-fold in the first year of the takeover. He is also the owner of Mega-telecoms giant Globacom. He has signed deals to procure network infrastructure worth $10billion. That is almost as big as AT&T and clearly bigger than any other African network. He bought 2 Boeing 747 aircraft with the sole aim of moving infrastructure straight from the Siemens, Alcatel and SonyErickson plants in Europe to the cities in Nigeria where the infrastructure is needed (cutting shipping time, and all those delays). He delivered the first 2.5G network in Africa. As Second-National Operator, he took the competition to the other firms and led to the introduction of per-second billing that Nigerians had been yearning for. When Nitel, the First-National Operator tried to block Globacom from using the brand new ocean fibre optic cable that was intended to route most of Africa's telecoms traffic to the outside world, Globacom dared to dream big and built their own fibre-optic ring around West Africa to steal market from the first ring that was constructed by National carriers across the continent.

Mike Adenuga also owns two banks in the country. It's a pity we don't know exactly how much he's worth, but he's definitely a multi-billionaire in all world currencies. He's majority shareholder in many huge companies.He recently was said to have flown in Beyonce for his daughters Carnival Wedding .
What do you think

is It chemical Ali or The Guru ?
I vote the Guru Mike Adenuga





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