Microsoft's Play for Yahoo

http://www.voanews.com/specialenglish/2008-02-15-voa1.cfm

Microsoft's Play for Yahoo | Hollywood Writers Back to Work
A proposed new contract would pay TV and film writers for the first time for material that appears on the Internet. Transcript of radio broadcast:
15 February 2008


This is the VOA Special English Economics Report


The competition between Microsoft and Google took a new turn on February first. Microsoft made a public offer to buy the Internet company Yahoo. Microsoft says the combined companies would be in a better position to compete against Google in the online services market.

This week, Yahoo rejected the offer. Its board of directors said the price undervalued the company. The offer was worth almost forty-five billion dollars in cash and stock, or thirty-one dollars per Yahoo share. Yahoo is said to want forty dollars a share.

Microsoft says it offered a full and fair price. It says moving forward quickly with the deal would be in the best interest of shareholders. Yet since February first, the value of Microsoft's offer has fallen to twenty-nine dollars a share because of a drop in its stock.

Microsoft thinks it could better compete against Google with Yahoo's expert knowledge. Microsoft could attempt a hostile takeover. But that is not the way it normally does business, and there is risk of angering Yahoo's employees.

In the last two weeks, Yahoo has discussed possible combinations with other companies, including the News Corporation, AOL and Google. But Yahoo may not be able to avoid a buyout by Microsoft. The latest reports are that some big Yahoo shareholders would support a deal if Microsoft raised its offer.

The purchase would be the largest ever by the world's leading software maker. Yet Microsoft has made little progress in its Internet search abilities and in the growing business of online advertising. Google, the leading Internet search company, is the strongest competitor for those advertising dollars.

Microsoft is based in Redmond, Washington. Yahoo and Google are in California's Silicon Valley.

Internet technology was also at the heart of the television and movie writers strike, which ended this week. Writers voted in Los Angeles and New York to return to work after one hundred days on strike. A proposed new contract would pay them for the first time for creative material that appears online and in other new media.

Members of the Writers Guild of America are expected to approve the three-year deal with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. Now the producers need to negotiate a new agreement with the Screen Actors Guild or risk another strike. The current contract with the actors union ends June thirtieth.

And that's the VOA Special English Economics Report, written by Mario Ritter. I'm Bob Doughty.

----------------------------Google Translate

微软的发挥，为雅虎|好莱坞作家重返工作岗位
拟议中的新合约将收费电视和电影作家为第一次为材料出现在互联网上。全文电台广播：
2008年2月15日


这是美国之音特别英语经济学报告

之间的竞争，微软和Google采取了新的转机，于二月首次。微软作出了公开要约收购互联网公司雅虎。微软称，合并后的公司将处于更有利的地位去竞争， Google在在线服务市场。

这个星期，雅虎拒绝了这一提议。该公司董事局表示，价格被低估的公司。出价总额近450.00亿美元的现金和股票，或31美元，雅虎的份额。雅虎表示，要四十美元的份额。

微软称，它在提供了一个全面和公正的价格。它说，迈步向前迅速完成收购后，将在最好股东的利益。但2月以来首次，其价值微软的报价已跌至29美元，每股因为一个下跌的情况，在股票。

微软认为，它可以更好地竞争，对Google与雅虎的专业知识。微软可能试图敌意收购。但事实并非如此，一般的业务，并有可能激怒雅虎的雇员。

在过去的两个星期，雅虎已经讨论了可能的组合与其他公司，包括新闻集团，美国在线和Google 。但雅虎可能无法避免买断微软公司的。而最新消息显示，一些大股东，雅虎将支持一项协议，如果微软将其收购报价提升。

采购会规模最大的一次，由世界领先的软件制造商。然而，微软已经取得了多大进展，在其与互联网搜索能力，在业务增长的在线广告。 Google的，领先的互联网搜索引擎公司，是最强的竞争对手，对于那些广告收入。

微软公司的总部设在位于华盛顿州雷德蒙， 。雅虎和Google在加利福尼亚州的硅谷。

因特网技术也处于核心地位的卫星电视和电影作家的罢工，从而结束了这一周。作家投洛杉矶和纽约返回工作岗位后一百天罢工。拟议中的新合同将支付他们为第一次为创作素材出现在网上和其他新媒体。

成员美国剧作家协会是可望批准为期三年的合同，与该联盟的议案，图片和电视节目制作人。目前，制片人需要谈判一项新的协议，与美国演员工会或风险又罢工。目前的合同与演员工会完六月三十。

这也是该美国之音特别英语经济学报告，写马里奥里特尔。我鲍勃奥尔布赖特在强悍。