News

Time Warner to Pay $510 Million in Fines

By Ed Oswald | Published December 15, 2004, 1:10 PM

The U.S. Government Wednesday announced that an agreement with Time Warner has been reached to settle a lawsuit alleging its AOL unit purposely inflated revenue, and will pay fines of $210 million.

The suit claimed that during the fourth quarter of 2000 and the first quarter of 2001, AOL and the now-defunct website PurchasePro.com schemed to inflate PurchasePro's revenues to shareholders and the general public.

As part of the settlement, AOL will pay the fines and take steps internally to prevent further wrongdoing. In exchange, prosecution in the case will be delayed two years.

In an unrelated case, Time Warner is also expected to dole out $300 million more to the Securities and Exchange Commission to settle impropriety charges over its buyout of AOL Europe from Bertelsmann AG.

Time Warner representatives declined to comment on the settlements.

View comments by with a score of at least

The PDF redaction problem: TSA may have been using old software

Betanews tests and research reveals that if the Transportation Security Administration was using modern software, it might not have a security issue now.

Google Maps doesn't prevent car accidents, only search accidents

This week, Google updated Maps for Android 3.3.1, adding topography, nearby points of interest, and error reporting.

The $1 DVD rental debate: LA group says Redbox will lose movie makers $1B

A report from the Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation says cheap Redbox DVD rentals could seriously damage the movie business.

After telling US to mind its own business, Kroes slaps caps on Rambus royalties

The holder of many patents worldwide pertaining to DDR memory offered to reduce its royalty stake in that technology, and today the EU said yes.

Third-party mobile browsers Skyfire and Bolt give Opera a run for its money

Opera may be the biggest name in third party mobile browsers, but Skyfire and Bolt are charging forth with compelling updates.

In a peace offering to newspapers, Google offers a new news format

It's probably not a solution to the woes of major news publishers, but Living Stories may gather a few of those publishers together in search of one.

DOJ: Microsoft interop docs are now 'substantially complete'

A major milestone in the US Government's oversight of Microsoft is passed, as the Justice Dept. is now saying the company's protocol documents make sense.

First impressions of Droid: Easy, breezy, friendly, if a little fat

Though it's not quite as well-polished as Apple's iPhone OS, the version of Android that Motorola's Droid phone sports is still a breeze to use.

EC's Kroes to US senators: Mind your own business on Oracle + Sun

UPDATED The EU's antitrust chief told the United States Senate Tuesday that any merger that takes place in the world is more her affair than theirs.

Betanews Podcast: Rupert Murdoch and the buying stuff online problem

We'll have a more difficult time paying for online news if the underlying protocol for online payment has a big gaping hole in it.

Windows fix for TLS security bug still forthcoming, won't be Tuesday

Anyone looking for a fix for last month's discovery of a potentially serious security hole in TLS and SSL may have to wait until everyone is ready to act together.