PhillyTechNews Daily Page 6/25-26



Looking back at some past GE ads

Tom Paine




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Its too early to be writing obituaries for GE. But in anticipation of that time, we can start reminiscing about some of its great ads:

GE: "We bring good things to life" was the main corporate umbrella ad for many years (BBDO, 1979-2003, which ia a very long time). It was an effort to convince consumers that GE was more than nuclear bombs, nuclear plants, airplane engines that occasionally malfunctioned, and an awful NBC before Comcast took control.









The GE Healthcare / Matrix ad was classic, really pushing the envelope in corporate advertising. GE hired Agent Smith of 'The Matrix'. (Connected Hospital,BBDO, 2013)

Today GE announced plans to sell 20% of GE Healthcare and spin off the remainder to shareholders.






And a recent ad targeted for the Olympics:




PhillyTechNews Daily Page 6/24: Comcast could be forced to raise Sky bid ; SAP aims to double CRM business in two years: sales chief



PhillyTech PeopleNews 6/24: Troubled Outcome Health names Publicis' McNally CEO; N.Y. Mayor Taps Drexel Professor For First Algorithm Quality-Control Task Force



Matt McNally / Publicis

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Sarah Sanders not welcome in public place in Virginia




PhillyTechNews Daily Page 6/22: Plymouth Meeting-based CRF Health on the block, WSJ reports




Plymouth Meeting-based CRF Health is on the block, the Wall Street Journal reports .

CRF Health makes or supplies electronic assessment technology (EDC) used in clinical trials. Founded in 2000, CRF also has offices in the UK, Finland and Poland. It has 609 employees listed on LinkedIn, of which about 180 are in the Philadelphia area. Timo Ahopelto, Jarkko Joki-Tokola and Jaakko Ollila are the founders, though they do not appear to be active in the business now. Technically, its headquarters is in Finland.

CRF has had a string of PE owners before being acquired by the European PE firm Vitruvian Partners in January 2015. CRF has reportedly hired Jeffries to pursue the sale. It generates EBITDA of €40 million ($46.3 million), the Journal said. My guess is that it would fetch a few hundred million.

Vitruvian also owns Phlexglobal, a UK-based electronic clinical trial master file vendor with offices in Malvern, but that business, which Vitruvian's website states has sales of €25 million ($29 million), is not involved in the sale. Vitruvian Partners' website says CRF has sales of €100 ($117 million) .

The question is, will the buyer be strategic or financial?

The market is not set in stone, but rather is still experiencing considerable change. For instance, Veeva Systems (VEEV) recently entered the market with its own proprietary EDC offering.




a class="twitter-timeline" data-partner="tweetdeck" href="https://twitter.com/phillytechnews/timelines/1010115984269676544?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">june22 - Curated tweets by phillytechnews


BTIG's Rich Greenfield on Disney-Comcast bidding war from CNBC.



PhillyTechNews Daily Page 6/19: How Ring went from Shark Tank reject to Amazon’s $1B acquisition; King of Prussia is becoming more than a mall now



PhillyTechNews 6/18: SAP didn't help German side much; Tronc, no longer Tronc, is Tribune again



PhillyTechNews. Daily Page 6/17: Avalara's IPO; Rockwell Automation partners with PTC, as LiveWorx opens



ThingWorx parent PTC partners with Rockwell Automation ($ attached); Bulotta back in corporate fold at Microsoft

Tom Paine




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After seemingly getting close to GE, which is obviously dealing with its own share of problems lately, over the past few years, ThingWorx parent PTC found a new strategic partner last week; Rockwell Automation , which invested $1 billion in PTC for less than 1/10th ownership. And starting Monday, PTC will hold its annual IoT-oriented LiveWorx conference in Boston that is expected to attract about 6,000 attendees.

The focus of Rockwell's interest is ThingWorx, founded in Exton (well, originally Downingtown) and acquired by PTC in 2013, and a small group of other IoT enablers surrounding it that were also acquired by PTC. Unlike many strategic partnerships, this one will involve an actual blending of products, merging the ThingWorx IoT platform, Kepware industrial connectivity and Vuforia augmented reality platforms with Rockwell's FactoryTalk MES, FactoryTalk analytics and industrial automation platforms.

Where this will leave ThingWorx as a brand name and organization is hard to say; its center of gravity has been gradually moving north for some time, and now only 40 ThingWorx employees are still in Pennsylvania per LinkedIn.

PTC was a shrinking CAD/CAM software firm ( originally Parametric Technologies ) left over from the 1980s when it bought ThingWorx at the end of 2013 for $100 million plus. PTC's share price has more than doubled since then, perhaps more of a result of PTC's growing mindshare of industrial IoT rather than actual results. PTC is moving its headquarters from suburban Needham to Boston.

The Boston Globe has a piece on PTC's rebirth ( "How Boston software maker PTC came back from the brink") .

In related news, ThingWorx cofounder Rick Bulotta, who has been mostly freelancing since leaving PTC, has shown up in a new uniform: Microsoft's (H/T Technical.ly Philly). Microsoft has partnered with PTC in a number of IoT initiatives.

Its a small world.


PhillyTechNews Daily Page 6/16: Apple supplier Foxconn now has a North American headquarters in Milwaukee ; Why Disney and Comcast are battling over Fox and Sky




How Boston software maker PTC came back from the brink . (Boston Globe)


Avalara has great IPO; is King of Prussia's Vertex keeping pace?

Tom Paine




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Seattle-based Avalara began trading yesterday following its IPO, and the offering was quite successful for the tax software company. Shares closed up 87 percent at $44.94 after opening at $35. Shares were priced at $24 in the company's $180 million IPO on Thursday. It ended up with a market capitalization in excess of $2 billion.

Revenue in 2017 climbed 27 percent to $213.2 million, though Avalara continued to lose money - $64 million.

Much like subscription billing services such as Zuora, Avatar depends heavily upon transactions, particularly in the rising digital economy. Avalara see its current US TAM (total addressable market) as being in excess of $8 billion.

Avalara CEO Scott McFarlane, who co-founded the company in 2004, told CNBC's "Squawk Alley" on Friday that in the next seven to 12 years, sales tax will have to be entirely automated.



Avalara CEO: We want to be a part of every internet transaction from CNBC.


The last revenue figure I've seen for Vertex was "in excess of $200 million", according to then-CEO Jeff Westphal two years ago. Vertex has 1,000 employees on LinkedIn; Avalatra has more than 1400 employees. These two aren't alone in the market; a Thomson Reuters unit, OneSource, and CCH are also players.


My sense of the matter is that Avalatra has been aggressive in attacking the boundaries in the enterprise tax software market, while Vertex had been more cautious. Vertex may have some catching up to do in the enterprise and international markets where Aavalara is strong.


Vertex had made some significant changes in recent years. Headquarters has moved from Berwyn to King of Prussia; Jeff Westphal turned over the CEO job to David DeStefano; it shuttered an income tax prep business in Florida; and expanded its Cloud Platform and capabilities.

Whether Vertex can or needs to go public in the near future is something I don't know; but the controlling Westphal family may need to expand or alter its capital structure to compete in an amped up market, perhaps yielding some control. Another outside possibility is hooking up with a company like Zuora.

One other point I found interesting: Vertex has a close relationship with Oracle , and Vertex' cloud is powered by Oracle.



PhillyTechNews Daily Page 6/15: Philadelphia-based private equity firm acquires RedZone Robotics; A health tech accelerator takes root in Amish country to support clinical validation







PhillyTechNews Daily Page 6/14: LLR Partners closes 5th fund at $1.2 billion; WeWork needs more money, or someone's willing to give them some



This is the end of Time Warner

Tom Paine




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Time Warner is kaput. RIP.

The modern Time Warner was put together by a somewhat questionable character named Steve Ross, who operated parking lots. It was one of New York's glamour businesses, an iconic piece of Americana with big perks and expense accounts, and a cool headquarters building. Time Warner knew how to sell advertising.

When I was in business school, Time Warner was much admired. A strong old media standout with things going on such as HBO, cable systems, and interactive prototypes that in some ways envisioned the Internet.

But as the Internet began to materialize in the early 1990, Time Warner didn't know how to react and made several missteps, the largest being getting taken by a rather shady AOL outfit, and getting bought with stock that would quickly implode. Time Warner had more of an internet solution than AOL did. And Time Warner Cable, in later years prior to being spunoff, seemed to lag behind the rest of the cable industry.

The one smart move Time Warner made in later years was buying Turner Broadcasting.





2016 Gettysburg Address: Trump: Would not approve an AT&T / Time Warner deal, and would seek to break up Comcast / NBCU


Tom Paine



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In his speech at Gettysburg today, Donald Trump began by criticizing, among other things, what he sees as a concentration of power in a few media companies.

He said that if an AT&T / Time Warner combination came before him as President, it would not be approved. He also said that Comcast + NBCU was too powerful, and his administration would move to break it up.


"Additionally, Comcast's purchase of NBC concentrates far too much power in one massive entity that is trying to tell the voters what to think and what to do. Deals like this destroy democracy," Trump said.

"We'll look at breaking those deals up like that and other deals like that. This should have never ever been approved in the first place. They are trying to poison the mind of the American voter."

Trump also attacked Amazon for not paying (he must have meant not collecting) taxes. Amazon customers are now required to pay sales tax on their Amazon purchases in 29 states.

Trump comment's followed his complaints about media bias, against his campaign specifically.

Trump has several gripes against NBC (including, presumably, whomever leaked that video), and has been a frequent critic of the coverage of him by CNN (Time Warner) and the Washington Post, owned by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos.








LLR Partners closes 5th fund at $1.2 billion; Three area firms among those already funded

Tom Paine




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LLR Partners, Philadelphia, announced the final closing of its latest buyout fund, LLR Equity Partners V, at $1.2 billion.

Its previous fund, LLR Equity Partners IV, closed at $950 million in March 2014.

LLR invests $15 to $100 million in companies having revenue up to $100 million.

LLR Equity Partners V has already invested in 8 companies, three of which are in the Philadelphia area: 3SI Security Systems (Malvern); eLocal (Conshohocken); and Professional Capital Services (Philadelphia).

Founded by Ira Lubert in 1999, LLR Partners says it has deployed $3.5 billion over 5 funds.

LLR Equity Partners V include the $54.8 billion Pennsylvania Public School Employees' Retirement System and the $30 billion Pennsylvania State Employees' Retirement System, according to the publication Pensions & Investments .

LLR recently published a video featuring managing director Michael Sala describing the firm's content strategy.





Past Comcast mega takeovers & those not succeeding

Time Warner Cable  2014   $45.2 billion     Withdrawn /regulatory issues

Disney             2004   $54.1 billion     Rejected by Disney

AT&T Broadband     2001   $52 billion       Completed

NBCU               2009   $30.0 billion*    Completed

*NBCU valuation including contribution of Comcast cable channels

Source: Philly Tech News research


Comcast Makes Superior All-Cash Proposal to Acquire Twenty-First Century Fox after Spinoff of “New Fox” 06/13/18



Comcast Makes Superior All-Cash Proposal to Acquire Twenty-First Century Fox after Spinoff of “New Fox”
06/13/18
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$35.00 Per Share Proposal Provides Premium of Approximately 19% to Current Value of Disney’s All-Stock Offer

PHILADELPHIA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jun. 13, 2018-- Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSA) issued the following statement:

Today, Comcast Corporation (“Comcast”) delivered a letter to the Board of Directors of Twenty-First Century Fox, Inc. (“21CF”) setting forth the terms of a superior proposal by Comcast to acquire the businesses that 21CF has agreed to sell to The Walt Disney Company (“Disney”) for $35.00 per share in cash, which represents a premium of approximately 19% to the value of Disney’s all-stock offer as of 12:00 p.m., noon (Eastern Time) on June 13, 2018. The structure and other terms of Comcast’s proposal, including with respect to the spin-off of “New Fox” and the regulatory risk provisions and related termination fee, are at least as favorable to 21CF shareholders as the Disney offer.

The following is a copy of the letter that Comcast delivered to the Board of Directors of 21CF:

June 13, 2018

Board of Directors
Twenty-First Century Fox, Inc.
1211 Avenue of the Americas
New York, New York 10036


Attention:
Mr. K. Rupert Murdoch, Executive Chairman


Mr. Lachlan K. Murdoch, Executive Chairman


Mr. James R. Murdoch, Chief Executive Officer

Dear Rupert, Lachlan and James,

We have long admired what the Murdoch family has built at Twenty-First Century Fox. After our meetings last year, we came away convinced that the 21CF businesses to be sold are highly complementary to ours, and that our company would be the right strategic home for them.

So, we were disappointed when 21CF decided to enter into a transaction with The Walt Disney Company, even though we had offered a meaningfully higher price. We have reviewed the publicly available terms of the proposed Disney transaction, as well as the joint proxy statement/prospectus filed with the SEC describing the reasons for the 21CF Board of Directors’ decision. In light of yesterday’s decision in the AT&T/Time Warner case, the limited time prior to your shareholders’ meeting, and our strong continued interest, we are pleased to present a new, all-cash proposal that fully addresses the Board’s stated concerns with our prior proposal.

Our new proposal offers 21CF shareholders $35.00 per share in cash and 100% of the shares of New Fox after giving effect to its proposed spinoff, providing superior and more certain value as compared to Disney’s all-stock offer. Our proposal represents a premium of approximately 19% to the value of Disney’s offer as of noon today. We are highly confident in our ability to finance the transaction, and our offer includes no financing-related conditions.

We are also highly confident that our proposed transaction will obtain all necessary regulatory approvals in a timely manner and that our transaction is as or more likely to receive regulatory approval than the Disney transaction. Accordingly, we are offering the same regulatory commitments as the ones 21CF has already obtained from Disney, including the same $2.5 billion reverse termination fee agreed to by Disney. To further evidence our commitment, we also are offering to reimburse the $1.525 billion break-up fee to be paid by you to Disney, for a total cost to Comcast of $4.025 billion, in the highly unlikely scenario that our transaction does not close because we fail to obtain all necessary regulatory approvals.

We welcome the opportunity to discuss the regulatory issues presented by each deal. We note that there should not be any meaningful difference in the timing of the U.S. antitrust review between a Comcast and Disney transaction. We have made our HSR filing today, which formally begins our regulatory review at the DOJ. In addition, we have already submitted a large volume of documents and data to the DOJ in connection with its review of the Disney transaction. This information largely overlaps with the information that the DOJ will need to review a Comcast transaction. As a result, our transaction should be reviewable by the DOJ in the same cycle as Disney’s transaction. We similarly expect that our transaction should be reviewable by international regulators in as timely a manner as the Disney transaction, and should be as or more likely to receive international approvals, given our relatively small presence outside the U.S.

Our Board of Directors has unanimously approved this proposal, and no Comcast shareholder vote will be required for this transaction.

Because of your decision to schedule the vote on the Disney merger proposal for July 10, time is of the essence for your consideration of our proposal. We are available to meet at any time to answer questions of the Board, management or your advisors, so that you are in a position to validate the superiority of our offer, and negotiate and enter into a merger agreement, as soon as possible thereafter. Given the very short time frame, today we are filing a preliminary proxy statement with the SEC in opposition to the Disney merger proposal, as we have been advised this is necessary to be in a position to be able to communicate with your shareholders directly regarding the votes they are being asked to cast on July 10. We hope this is precautionary only, as we expect to work together to reach an agreement over the next several days.

More detailed information regarding our proposal is attached.

I look forward to our discussions and working with you toward completing this exciting transaction for the Fox shareholders.

Very truly yours,

/s/ Brian L. Roberts

Brian L. Roberts
Chairman and CEO

COMCAST’S SUPERIOR PROPOSAL TO ACQUIRE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY FOX

All-cash consideration

Comcast proposes to acquire 100% of the outstanding shares of 21CF for $35.00 per share in cash, reflecting a $65 billion equity value for 21CF (after giving effect to the proposed spinoff of New Fox) and a premium of approximately 19% to the value of Disney’s offer as of noon today.

Our all-cash proposal will provide 21CF shareholders with certain value and immediate liquidity. Our proposal is not subject to a financing condition. We have received Highly Confident Letters from Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Wells Fargo.

We have prepared a draft merger agreement reflecting the terms described herein and our legal team of Davis Polk and Wachtell Lipton are available to meet with their appropriate counterparts to discuss and review the document. Our draft merger agreement differs from the Disney agreement only to reflect the superior terms described in this letter, to adapt the agreement to reflect an all-cash transaction (including no Comcast shareholder vote) and to provide greater certainty by eliminating the need for any 21CF charter amendments. Our draft is subject to review of any material non-public information relating to 21CF’s proposed transaction with Disney, including with respect to Disney’s regulatory undertaking and the separation of New Fox.

Allocation of regulatory risk

We have revised our proposal to specifically address the 21CF Board of Directors’ stated concerns regarding the treatment of any required regulatory divestitures, including their tax costs, and a reverse termination fee.

We will agree to the same divestiture package as Disney, i.e., a commitment to divest (i) any of 21CF’s RSNs and (ii) other 21CF assets representing up to $500 million of EBITDA (less up to $250 million of EBITDA attributable to divested RSNs).
We will agree to the same allocation of any tax obligations as Disney in connection with any required divestitures.
We will agree to the same reverse termination fee of $2.5 billion as Disney, in the event the transaction does not close as a result of a failure to obtain the required regulatory approvals.
We will also agree to behavioral restrictions as extensive as those agreed to by Disney and, like Disney, we will also agree to litigate any action taken by the Department of Justice to block the transaction.

Reimbursement of Disney Break-Up Fee

In addition to our payment of the $2.5 billion reverse termination fee, in the unlikely event that our transaction is terminated due to a failure to obtain the required regulatory approvals, we will also agree to reimburse 21CF for the $1.525 billion break-up fee required to be paid to Disney in connection with termination of the Disney transaction and entry into a merger agreement with us.

Sky

Comcast has separately announced, pursuant to Rule 2.7 of the UK City Code on Takeovers and Mergers, a pre-conditional all-cash firm offer for the entire issued and to be issued share capital of Sky plc. We intend to pursue this offer in parallel with our acquisition of 21CF. Of course, the terms of any transaction between Comcast and 21CF will need to be consistent with our respective obligations under the UK takeover regime.

Investor Conference Call Details

Comcast will host an investor call with the financial community today, June 13, 2018, at 4:45 p.m. (Eastern Time). The conference call and related materials will be broadcast live and posted on www.cmcsa.com. Details for the call are as follows:

Investor Call
Date: June 13, 2018
Time: 4:45pm (Eastern Time)
Dial-in: (800) 263-8495
Conference ID: 6499356

Replay of Investor Call
Time: Available from 7:45pm (Eastern Time) on June 13, 2018 until midnight (Eastern Time) on June 20, 2018
Dial-in: (855) 859-2056
Conference ID: 6499356

About Comcast Corporation

Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSA) is a global media and technology company with two primary businesses, Comcast Cable and NBCUniversal. Comcast Cable is one of the nation’s largest video, high-speed Internet, and phone providers to residential customers under the XFINITY brand, and also provides these services to businesses. It also provides wireless and security and automation services to residential customers under the XFINITY brand. NBCUniversal operates news, entertainment, and sports cable networks, the NBC and Telemundo broadcast networks, television production operations, television station groups, Universal Pictures, and Universal Parks and Resorts. Visit www.comcastcorporation.com for more information.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains statements which are, or may be deemed to be, “forward‐looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward‐looking statements are prospective in nature and are not based on historical facts, but rather on current expectations and projections of the management of Comcast about future events, and are therefore subject to risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from the future results expressed or implied by the forward‐looking statements. The forward‐looking statements contained in this press release may include statements relating to the expected timing, scope, terms and conditions of a Comcast transaction to acquire certain businesses and assets of 21CF, the likelihood and timing of receipt of regulatory approvals with respect to a Comcast transaction to acquire 21CF, the anticipated benefits of the potential transaction and other statements other than historical facts. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward‐looking words such as “plans”, “expects” or “does not expect”, “is expected”, “is subject to”, “budget”, “scheduled”, “estimates”, “forecasts”, “intends”, “anticipates” or “does not anticipate”, or “believes”, or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results “may”, “could”, “should”, “would”, “might” or “will” be taken, occur or be achieved. Although Comcast believes that the expectations reflected in such forward‐looking statements are reasonable, Comcast can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. By their nature, forward‐looking statements involve risk and uncertainty because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that will occur in the future. There are a number of factors that could cause actual results and developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward‐looking statements, including any legal and regulatory developments and changes and other risks and uncertainties including those described in Comcast’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). The forward‐looking statements contained in this press release should be construed in the light of such factors. Neither Comcast nor any of its associates or directors, officers or advisers, provides any representation, assurance or guarantee that the occurrence of the events expressed or implied in any forward‐looking statements in this press release will actually occur. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward‐looking statements. Other than in accordance with their legal or regulatory obligations, Comcast is under no obligation, and Comcast expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward‐looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Important Additional Information and Where to Find It

This document does not constitute an offer to buy or solicitation of an offer to sell any securities. This document is for informational purposes only and relates to a proposal that Comcast has made to 21CF. Comcast is filing a preliminary proxy statement in connection with 21CF’s special meeting of stockholders at which the 21CF stockholders will be asked to consider certain proposals regarding the proposed acquisition of 21CF by The Walt Disney Company (the “Special Meeting Proposals”). As further set forth in such proxy statement, which once definitive will be sent to 21CF stockholders, Comcast is soliciting votes against the Special Meeting Proposals. INVESTORS IN 21CF AND COMCAST ARE URGED TO READ THE PROXY STATEMENT, INCLUDING THE DEFINITIVE PROXY STATEMENT (WHEN AVAILABLE), AND ANY OTHER DOCUMENTS FILED BY COMCAST WITH THE SEC CAREFULLY IN THEIR ENTIRETY IF AND WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE AS THEY WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION. Investors may obtain free copies of the proxy statement and other documents filed with the SEC by Comcast through the website maintained by the SEC at http://www.sec.gov or by contacting Comcast’s proxy solicitation agent, MacKenzie Partners, Inc., at (800) 322-2885 or comcast@mackenziepartners.com.

Participants in the Solicitation

Comcast and certain of its directors and executive officers may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies from 21CF’s stockholders in connection with the Special Meeting Proposals. Information about Comcast’s directors and executive officers is available in Comcast’s proxy statement, dated April 30, 2018, filed with the SEC in connection with Comcast’s 2018 annual meeting of stockholders. Other information regarding the participants in such proxy solicitation and a description of their direct and indirect interests, by security holdings and otherwise, is contained in the preliminary proxy statement filed by Comcast with the SEC on June 13, 2018.



View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180613006179/en/

Source: Comcast Corporation

Comcast Corporation
D’Arcy Rudnay, 1-215-286-8582
or
John Demming, +1-215-286-8011
or
Jason Armstrong, +1-215-286-7972


PhillyTechNews Daily Page 6/12: Does Philly have worse accounting; Dreamit Ventures launches new security vertical



Time Warner deal APPROVED with no conditions




Now Comcast is free to pursue the 21st Century Fox assets it seeks, perhaps beginning today (people are still waiting).





Edmund Lee for the NY Times:

"It is hard to overstate how closely Comcast was monitoring the situation. Executives at NBCUniversal had dispatched people to wait in the courtroom to hear the verdict. Mr. Roberts waited at his executive offices at Comcast’s headquarters in Philadelphia, tuned to CNBC and keeping an eye on Twitter."

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/12/business/media/comcast-fox-media-deal-att.html


AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson ends a troubling losing streak vs DOJ.

Why did DOJ waste so much in time and resources in pursuing the case?
Likely never even had a chance, exemplified by the "no conditions attached" aspect of ruling.

MoffettNathanson principal and senior analyst Craig Moffett downgraded AT&T to “sell” from “neutral” a day after its blockbuster deal to acquire Time Warner was approved, Multichannel News' Mike Farrell reported:

"In a research note, Moffett said the problem isn’t Time Warner as much as the rest of AT&T’s business. Video distribution revenue – basically DirecTV – fell 6.2% in the last quarter and consumer broadband revenue is down 3.2%. Wireless revenue is down 1.7% and commercial wireline, which Moffett said is a business about as big as Time Warner itself, is down 3.3%."



Look for the AT&T logo at the start of all Time Warner programming and movies.


PhillyTechNews Daily Page 6/11: AT&T-Time Warner merger ruling expected this week; Remember RSS?



PhillyTechNews Daily Page 6/9



New Company Hu-manity.co Uses Blockchain to Declare a 31st Human Right, Empowering All Humans to Claim Legal Ownership of Inherent Human Data

­Hu-manity.co, a newly founded Princeton-based company designed to create decentralized human rights using proprietary technology and legal innovations on blockchains, has declared the 31st human right: “Everyone has the right to legal ownership of their inherent human data as property.”

Richie Etwaru, Founder and CEO of Hu-manity.co, was previously Chief Digital Officer at New Jersey-based companies Cegedim and IQVIA.

"Pre-seed funding" of $5.5 million was raised from angel investors. The company says it intends to skip the seed round and will re-engage the investor community for a Series-A round in September 2018.




New Company Hu-manity.co Uses Blockchain to Declare a 31st Human Right, Empowering All Humans to Claim Legal Ownership of Inherent Human Data
The world’s first and only decentralized human rights App built on blockchain, the technology behind Bitcoin, will enable humans globally to claim a new human right, establishing legal ownership of our inherent human data as our property

June 05, 2018 08:06 AM Eastern Daylight Time
PRINCETON, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Hu-manity.co, a new company designed to create decentralized human rights using proprietary technology and legal innovations on blockchains, has declared the 31st human right: “Everyone has the right to legal ownership of their inherent human data as property.” #31 is the first decentralized human right, and an addition to the existing 30 rights adopted by the United Nations in 1948 and bestowed to every human at birth. Starting August 2018, humans globally will be able to download a blockchain App onto iPhone and Android mobile phones, claim the 31st human right, and communally exercise the new decentralized right to legal ownership of their inherent human data as property.

“Everyone has the right to legal ownership of their inherent human data as property.”
Tweet this
Ongoing research from Hu-manity.co estimates the size of the global human data marketplace to be between $150B and $200B annually. Without human right #31 classifying our data as our property, organizations currently buy, sell and use inherent human data leaving humans no choice or control as to where, how, when or by whom their data is used. Richie Etwaru, Founder and CEO of Hu-manity.co describes a “global misdirected focus on privacy,” stating that “our privacy has already been violated and is near impossible to salvage because our current technology systems were not built with privacy in mind.” The new global focus, he asserts, “should be a recognition of our inherent human data as our legal property,” indicating that data classified legally as property will give us higher levels of privacy and security control, and will qualify us to receive consideration when our inherent human data is bought, sold or used.

Hu-manity.co has developed proprietary technology that identifies existing legal corridors in privacy regulations, and has designed new intelligent contracts on blockchains which humans can use to negotiate new terms of consent and authorization with corporations. Hu-manity.co’s global inherent Human Data Consent and Authorization Blockchain (HD-CAB) is built on a “chain of chains” strategy combining Ethereum and other fabrics. Consent and authorization to use inherent human datasets - geospatial data, driver and vehicle history, consumer spending habits, medical history, and recreational habits - can now be managed transparently as legal property on a blockchain. Humans who claim and exercise the new decentralized human right #31 will enjoy the legal characteristics of property ownership for inherent human data, such as involvement in sale, fair market value negotiations, sharing, security, and protection from theft.

All organizations currently involved in the human data marketplace will be able to transition to new trusted and transparent industry designs with minimal investments and disruption by installing the Hu-manity.co global consent and authorization blockchain. This will enable humans, corporations, and the monetization of inherent human data to co-exist. Corporations will enjoy blockchain-backed explicit consent and authorization to use inherent human data, and humans will enjoy greater levels of security, privacy, and control while qualifying to receive consideration via multiple forms of currency. According to Elizabeth Litten, Partner and HIPAA Privacy & Security Officer at Fox Rothschild LLP, “the ability for inherent human data to be decentrally classified as legal property represents the beginning of the next generation of interpretation and application of data privacy regulations such as GDPR, HIPAA and DPPA, enabling individuals to assert data privacy rights via technology.” Hu-manity.co will be engaging on social media via the #My31 call to action, facilitating an in-depth discussion on who should be the first human to claim the world’s first decentralized human right.

> PLEASE CLICK HERE TO WATCH HU-MANITY.CO VIDEO <

About Hu-manity.co

Hu-manity.co is the world’s first and only organization developing human rights and corollary sovereign laws in a decentralized manner on blockchains. The company has headquarters in New Jersey, USA and operates in multiple countries. The leadership team includes over two dozen senior executives from Fortune 500 companies, academic scholars, and senior policy advisors from North America, Europe, Australia and Africa. The vision of Hu-manity.co is a world where the next generation of human rights and policies emerge from a balance of centralized power and decentralized technologically empowered communities. The mission is to create the 31st human right in a decentralized manner as an example for other organizations and visionaries to follow.

For more information please visit www.hu-manity.co

Contacts
Hu-manity.co
Glenn Zimmerman, +1-800-946-9152
Chief Communications Officer
glenn@hu-manity.co


PhillyTechNews Daily Page 6/8: Verizon steps out of ranks for next CEO; Epicor, now with "kinetic design", trusts Azure



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Enterprise software: SAP's SAPPHIRE NOW opens tomorrow in Orlando; Rising Vertex competitor Avalara ups IPO target

Tom Paine




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SAP's annual SAPPHIRE NOW user conference kicks off in Orlando tomorrow and runs through Thursday. CEO Bill McDermott starts Tuesday morning with his keynote, and co-founder & Chairman of the Supervisory Board Hasso Plattner, SAP's tech guru, follows with his on Wednesday morning. Although SAPPHIRE NOW is less focused on celebrities and social causes than Salesforce's Dreamforce, there are some, and Jon Bon Jovi opens Thursday morning. Justin Timberlake will headline the concert on Thursday night.

Is there a unifying theme? SAP does not appear to have as much of a crisis on its hands as last year with the indirect access issue, since somewhat resolved or calmed. Integration (of data, apps) may be one, though that's a sometimes amorphous topic. The SAP HANA platform will be on center stage. Expect emphasis on McDermott's promise to shake up the CRM market (vs. Salesforce primarily), Machine Learning and AI, Open Source, and vertical market solutions, according to Diginomica .

Jennifer Morgan, SAP's highest ranking exec in Newtown Square (Member of the Executive Board of SAP SE, President, Americas and Asia Pacific Japan, Global Customer Operations) also speaks on Thursday morning.


More than I thought:










Vertex' (tax software, King of Prussia) Seattle-based competitor Avalara aims to raise up to $181M in IPO at $19 to $21 per share, an updated filing shows. Speculation is that a successful IPO would result in a valuation of over $1 billion.
Founded in 2004, Avalara has been growing rapidly but is still racking up large losses .

This is enterprise-class tax software for large businesses. Vertex is a close partner to SAP; Avatar just hired an Oracle exec as its CTO. It leads one to wonder how much Vertex, founded in 1978, would be worth if it went public.


PhillyTechNews Daily Page 6/3



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PhillyTechNews Daily Page: Friday Night bits