Digital Trends
Renegade Macintosh clone maker Psystar stirred up a hornet’s nest by offering unauthorized Macintosh clones in the form of low-cost computer systems with altered version of Mac OS X on them, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the southern district of California. In its petition, Psystar cites the current economic conditions as the primary reason for seeking bankruptcy protection, rather than the company’s pending legal action with Apple.
It’s official: Circuit City is going under. The company announced today that it will be seeking bankruptcy court approval to liquidate the company’s assets, including its remaining inventory, retail locations, services, and its online operations like FireDog. The move will mark the end of some 567 retail locations in the the United States and over 760 retail stores and dealer outsets in Canada. The company employes over 30,000 people. The company says it will offer more details about the liquidation plans—which could spell hot deals for consumers—but doesn’t anticipate the liquidation will generate any value for its investors.
The Wall Street Journal reports that electronics retailer Circuit City is facing a very tough decision: either close 150 stores, or file for bankruptcy protection.
A decision to declare bankruptcy could have a major negative effect on the company, potentially eroding consumer confidence in the retailer and raising doubts about whether the company would be around to honor warranties and other deals. While closing a large number of stores could raise many of the same issues for consumers on a local level, it could also produce a short-term holiday windfall both for the company and consumers, since the company could use the move to generate an estimated $350 million in revenue through job cuts, reduced real estate costs…and liquidating inventory.
Robert Moore said Wednesday that he’ll decide within weeks whether his 321 Studios Inc. would seek federal bankruptcy protection to free itself of copyright-related lawsuits by Hollywood and makers of computer games.
Moore long had cast his crusade as a David-and-Goliath struggle, insisting his suburban St. Louis company’s software was meant to let consumers innocently make backup copies of their DVDs and computer games.
Hollywood and three leading makers of video games argued otherwise, accusing 321 of violating the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act. That law bars circumvention of anti-piracy measures used to protect DVDs and other technology.
The company filed documents with the American Securities and Exchange Commission just before E3 which indicated that heavy layoffs were likely, following a major drop in sales in the first quarter of the year.
At that point it indicated that it was considering options including the sale of various assets (such as publishing rights to forthcoming games) or a merger for the company; filing for bankruptcy leaves those options open, but makes them rather more urgent if the company is to survive in any form.
Opta Systems submitted a final bid, which was approved by the Bankruptcy Court. The purchase price is subject to adjustment and the consummation of the transaction is subject to certain closingconditions. The Companies anticipate the transition of assets to be completed by mid-April.
As the former Chief Executive Officer of Sensory Science Corporation, I understand the true value of this business unit,†said Roger Hackett, Vice Chairman, Opta Systems. “I believe in the products and the GoVideo team and I am confident that together with management, we can leverage the tremendous growth in the digital video marketplace to achieve GoVideo’s full potential.
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