Sunday, April 27, 2008

Wimpy CNET May Appeal JANA Director Ruling

A Delaware court ruled that CNET's hostile invaders--JANA & Co--can put 7 board members up for election after all. (That's why the stock is up today: Shareholders were suddenly filled with hope.) CNET had tried to quash this attempt at shareholder democracy by arguing that it violated the company's by-laws.

So what will CNET do now? Consider an appeal. Why? Because God forbid the company's new owners should be allowed to try to get current management fired.

If JANA should prevail, meanwhile, CNET's management intends to try to persuade shareholders that it is doing a good job and shoudn't be fired. And thank goodness for that.

If CNET's management wants to persuade us that they actually have shareholder interests in mind instead of their own, they'll go ahead and let JANA put up its director slate. Thus far, the company's responses to JANA's actions have been, well, wimpy. If Neil Ashe is the right guy, he should get up there and demonstrate that--not hind behind some by-law technicality.