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Non-Tech : Auric Goldfinger's Short List -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: afrayem onigwecher who wrote (14608)	3/1/2005 6:24:05 PM
From: StockDung	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 19428

Golden-based Isonics announces probe by SEC. Firm fired its auditor, catching agency's eye By Roger Fillion, Rocky Mountain News March 1, 2005 Isonics Corp. said the Securities and Exchange Commission has opened a probe into the company's recent firing of its auditor. The Golden-based supplier of specialty chemicals and advanced materials - which also faces an inquiry from the Nasdaq stock market - ousted Grant Thornton at the end of 2004 over an auditing dispute. It hired Hein & Associates as its new auditor. In an SEC filing Friday, Isonics said it received "an informal request for information" from the SEC in December. The filing sheds added light on the dispute pitting Grant Thornton against Isonics, whose stock surged last October after it said it was creating a unit to focus on homeland security and defense products. The shares surged again after Isonics said it would test a product it was developing to detect explosives and chemical and biological weapons. At one point, trading in Isonics was 1,000 times normal levels. The heavy trading prompted the probe by the Nasdaq's listing investigation unit. The Grant Thornton-Isonics dispute involves a registration statement Isonics must file with the SEC before it can sell securities to investors. In particular, Grant Thornton won't allow Isonics to include in the registration document the auditor's previous opinions about the company's financial statements for the years ended April 30, 2004, and 2003. The auditor apparently wants to know whether the SEC probe ultimately could have a material impact on Isonics' finances - and thus its financial statements. Grant Thornton had raised similar concerns about the Nasdaq probe. According to Isonics' latest SEC filing, Grant Thornton said it must perform more auditing work related to the SEC probe. The auditor said it needed information from the agency about the inquiry. Isonics Chief Executive James Alexander declined to expand on the SEC filing. Spokesmen for Grant Thornton and Hein & Associates couldn't be reached. When Isonics disclosed in December it had fired Grant Thornton, the auditor had said it needed to do more auditing work in connection with the Nasdaq probe. The auditing firm, according to an Isonics' SEC filing made last Dec. 1, had suggested the Nasdaq inquiry could have a "material impact" on the "fairness or reliability" of Isonics' financial statements. Isonics had disagreed, saying it didn't believe the Nasdaq inquiry was "material" or that the probe "impacted the financial statements, disclosure, or auditing scope or procedures." Isonics, which employs about 50, has watched its stock go on a roller coaster ride. During the past year, the stock has ranged from a low of 87 cents a share last Aug. 12 to a high of $6.50 on Oct. 18. fillionr@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-892-2467. Staff writer David Milstead contributed to this report.

To: afrayem onigwecher who wrote (14608)	3/2/2005 9:51:10 PM
From: StockDung	Respond to of 19428

Microsoft suing Israeli spammer Dan Ilett ZDNet UK February 28, 2005, 15:30 GMT Tell us your opinion Israel's most prolific mass emailer has found himself on the end of a legal attack from Microsoft, which claims it wants to put a halt to high-profile spammers Microsoft has filed a lawsuit against an Israeli man suspected of sending spam. The software giant alleges that Amir Gans, head of marketing company New Approach, has sent 10 million junk emails and is responsible for half of the spam sent from Israel. "By filing this lawsuit, we want to deter individuals, especially high-profile spammers such as Mr Gans, and persuade them to discontinue their spam activities," said Horacio Gutierrez, associate general counsel for Microsoft in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, in a statement. Mr Gans could not be immediately contacted for comment. He is reported to have spoken openly in the past about how his firm sends emails advertising products and services to thousands of people, claiming to respect requests to remove people from his mailing list. Microsoft's lawsuit claims New Approach sent unsoliticed advertising messages to Hotmail users. Microsoft said it had filed complaints about 10 alleged spammers with European public authorities: "We have sent nearly 70 cease and desist letters to as many spammers, and our experience tells us that in Europe spammers do stop once they are sued or under the threat of being sued." Earlier this month, ZDNet UK contacted Microsoft over allegations made by anti-spam campaigner Spamhaus that US-based telecoms company MCI was helping to distribute a spamming tool dubbed Send-Safe. The tool can only affect Windows machines, but so far Microsoft has sidestepped this issue. "Microsoft is working with its customers, its partners, and across the industry to help protect email as an essential and valuable communications tool. Microsoft firmly believes that spam can be dramatically reduced by industry and government taking steps to prosecute spammers, by developing spam-blocking and filtering technologies, and by educating users on the steps they can take to reduce the delivery of junk email," said Microsoft, when asked for its position on Send-Safe. A source said last week that Microsoft is keen to resolve the issue of Send-Safe.