Brin, Page Interview in Playboy

[garyp]

Google founders' Playboy interview may raise regulatory concerns
Source: AP
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...510EDT0568.DTL

The seven page Playboy interview is out and the AP is reporting that it could cause a problem.

The interview, contained in a Playboy issue delivered to some subscribers Thursday, threatens to delay Google's initial public offering because securities regulations restrict what executives can say while preparing to sell stock for the first time.

Google needs the Securities and Exchange Commission to approve its registration statement before it can complete the IPO. The process will be complicated by the Playboy interview, predicted Michael Zuppone, a former SEC attorney.

"I don't want to rain on their parade, but I think this interview is going to cause regulatory concern. There could be consequences," said Zuppone, now in private practice in New York.

The SEC sometimes imposes a "cooling off" period when a company involved in an IPO releases any information that deviates from its IPO registration statement. A similar situation developed recently before the IPO of Salesforce.com.

[Joseph Morin]

Can you just picture all of the copies of Playboy strewn across the SEC, Wall Street and attorney's offices?

[garyp]

You're right JM.

The Wall St. Journal is reporting that the SEC is investigating.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...e_playboy_dc_1

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is looking into whether an interview between the founder of Google Inc. and Playboy magazine might have violated the quiet period ahead of the No. 1 Web search engine's much anticipated public offering next week, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.

Citing an unnamed source, the newspaper's online edition reported that the securities watchdog was examining the interview with Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin published in the September issue of Playboy magazine, due on newsstands on Friday.

Here's a quote from the WSJ article (sub required):

The effect of the IPO, which is expected to be completed next week, plays a big part in the early section of the interview. Sergey Brin and Larry Page tell the magazine they've spent a lot of time thinking about how the IPO will change the corporate culture at the company, and also how it has handled its own growth.

When asked whether he was worried that the business would become "less fun" after the IPO, Mr. Page said he's "worried all along."

"I worried as we got bigger and there were new pressures on the company," he told Playboy. "It wasn't so long ago that we were all on one floor. Then we moved to a new, larger office building and were on two floors. We added salespeople. Each change was huge and happened over a very short period of time."

The article concludes by mentioning the problems Salesforce.com had when its CEO, "gave a wide-ranging interview to The New York Times."

[Nacho]

Originally Posted by Joseph Morin

Can you just picture all of the copies of Playboy strewn across the SEC, Wall Street and attorney's offices?

LOL

Oh, I love a good laugh here at the forums.

Maybe they wanted to buy a little more time . . .or . . . taking their pick, being the two most wanted bachelors.

[garyp]

Excerpts from Google co-founders' Playboy interview
News.com
http://news.com.com/2100-1024_3-5308146.html

News.com offers a few brief excerpts from the Brin/Page interview. I don't see anything grounbreaking in the excerpts.

You'll read that:
+ Larry thinks Google is an "important" company.

+ Sergey says the company won't be pressured into commercializing search results after the IPO.
Comment: All of the other major players do a good job with setting ads apart from other results. Plus, we've seen numerous times that it's not that difficult to manipulate Google results. Which major players commercialize results?

+ Larry says Google is not a portal. "We built a business on the opposite message... The portal strategy tries to own all the information."

+ People use Google to learn about who they are dating. "If you think everybody is relying on us for information, you understand the responsibility."
--Larry

Comment: Yes, in some cases people can learn about who they are dating with Google but...
+ what if they have a common name?
+ what about the quality and accuracy of the data?
+ could you GoogleSLAM someone by posting bad info?
+ what about all of the data someone might want to know about that's not available via Google (or any other web engine) for that matter? Is it less important or useful because it's not in Google?

In this article Chris talks about that the overlap between engines is not as great as many people think. What does this mean to the researcher who is trying to learn about someone? What does relying only on one tool mean?

Yes, Google has proven VERY responsible to this point as a company but like all web engines, fee databases, and books, the info is not perfect and always accurate. Btw, do Google competitors do something to the data they provide access to that makes them less responsible?

[garyp]

and so it goes...

Google Says Story May Violate IPO Rules

In the filing with the SEC, Google said it does not believe its involvement in the Playboy article constitutes a violation of so-called "quiet period" rules, but it could be required to buy back the shares sold to investors in the IPO at the original purchase price for a period of one year following the violation.

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.j...ryID=596991 6

Amended SEC Filing, Aug. 13, 2004
http://www.secinfo.com/d14D5a.148c8.htm

[garyp]

It just so happens that the full text of the Playboy interview is included in today's SEC filing. If you want to read it go to:
http://www.secinfo.com/d14D5a.148c8.htm#1ovvc

[Everyman]

For those who aren't eager to attempt downloading a 3-meg HTML file, the full text of only the interview is available here.

[AussieWebmaster]

Nice links guys... but I will still have to get a copy

[hiero]

Looks like all's well that ends well

[Everyman]

but I will still have to get a copy

Me, too. These guys are unbelievable. I studied Kant and Hegel in grad school, but they apparently watched Tron and read cyberpunk. It's scary that they'll have the billions to impose their ideas on the world for decades to come.

PLAYBOY: Is your company motto really "Don't be evil"?
BRIN: Yes, it's real.
PLAYBOY: Is it a written code?
BRIN: Yes. We have other rules, too.
PAGE: We allow dogs, for example.
...
BRIN: ... Ultimately you want to have the entire world's knowledge connected directly to your mind.
PLAYBOY: Is that what we have to look forward to?
BRIN: Well, maybe. I hope so. At least a version of that. We probably won't be looking up everything on a computer.