GM announced sweeping changes in its sales and marketing operations on Tuesday, splitting the two functions after CEO Ed Whitacre combined them in December, and shuffling executives across the company’s operations. Susan Docherty, formerly vice president of U.S. sales and marketing, will now head only marketing, and Steve Carlisle, who ran GM’s Southeast Asia operations, was named vice president of U.S. sales. Both will report to North American President Mark Reuss, who said the move cuts a layer of management.
Senate forges ahead with Wall Street rules
More than a year after Lehman Brothers’ collapse set off a financial panic, Senate negotiators are laboring to seal a deal over a consumer protection dispute holding up broad legislation to establish new rules for Wall Street. At issue is whether a government consumer watchdog should be free from bank regulators to write rules that govern everything from credit card and overdraft fees to payday loans and mortgages. Key negotiators in the Senate Banking Committee are closing in on an agreement that would house a government consumer entity inside the Federal Reserve but give it autonomous power to write regulations.
Microsoft says Google has a secret, unfair advantage
Microsoft Corp. CEO Steve Ballmer intends to keep the regulatory heat on Google as his company strives to lessen its rival’s dominance of Internet search. In an appearance Tuesday at a search engine conference, Ballmer said Microsoft believes Google Inc. has done a number of things to gain an unfair advantage in the Internet’s lucrative search advertising market. He didn’t specify the alleged misconduct. “We are expressing some of the issues and frustrations we see” with antitrust regulators, Ballmer said. Google, which didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday, has said its actions are aimed at providing better experiences for Web surfers and advertisers. Microsoft already has helped convince U.S. regulators that Google would break antitrust laws in two proposed deals: a search advertising partnership with Yahoo Inc. that was scrapped in 2008 and a digital books settlement that still needs federal court approval.
Apple claims iPhone rival violates its patents
Apple Inc., increasingly facing tougher competition in the lucrative market for smart phones, sued Taiwanese phone maker HTC Corp. on Tuesday, accusing the rival of violating patents related to the popular iPhone. HTC was the first company to manufacture a cell phone based on Google Inc.’s Android operating system, which has emerged as a significant competitor to the iPhone. It is also making the Nexus One phone, which Google is selling directly to consumers. Apple said HTC has infringed on 20 of its patents covering aspects of the iPhone’s user interface and hardware.
From Herald news services
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
