Great initiative ...

Given Tim Bray's stewardship of the Atom protocol and his recent announcement (http://www.tbray.org/ongoing/When/200x/2007/07/24/Atom-is-Finished), it would be nice to see the same info available via Atom ... ;-)

Craig

Posted by Craig Morgan on July 25, 2007 at 06:25 AM PDT #

This is exactly the direction we need to keep businesses heading in. Remove the barriers to an audience being able to choose how to get their information, provide it free and unfettered. I wonder how the legions of PR people will react to their middleman status being eroded? Set up an agency to redirect people to corporate RSS feeds, or simply say that they 'add value'.

Posted by Lex on July 25, 2007 at 07:37 AM PDT #

This week the sun.com Webservers were unavailable due to a PGE power outage in San Francisco. Let's hope this does not happen again on the 30th of July! :)

Posted by Jonathan on July 25, 2007 at 10:28 AM PDT #

I know this goes off topic a bit, but to Jonathan's comment about the power outage yesterday, I remember thinking to myself, "wow, we have all this wonderful technology, but all it takes is one event to domino everything." Then I thought about Katrina. How truly prepared are we all for the system to go completely down, not for just minutes, but potentially for days? Most of the work I perform relies on the network -- the most advanced systems in the world can't compensate for loss of electricity, and the interrelated services necessary to keep the network up (Utilities, ISPs, Cables, et al.). In a real emergency I guess checking for earnings postings is somewhat trivial, but it makes you think about how fragile the network is as it becomes so ubiquitous.

Posted by Brandon Carson on July 25, 2007 at 02:21 PM PDT #

I don't think that postings on websites in combination with RSS feeds will take away the need for knowledgeable PR people that DO indeed add value. Posting news on your website is only great for people that actually want to take the effort to go there and collect their information instead of getting it delivered to them. RSS feeds won't do that trick either. For one thing, you can easily get swamped again in RSS feeds and tweaking them in such a way that I can have certain press releases by Sun but not others, is still rather difficult. A good PR agency knows what to send to whom. It's a service, it's convenient. More convenient than having to pick it up. Also, on a more commercial note, for companies like Sun, it might be nice that your press releases end up on desks of people who can't be bothered to register for RSS or to visit all different websites, but still like it when they get it in their mail. You will actually reach more people. So why not AND post it on your site, AND release it through mail?

Posted by Ward on July 25, 2007 at 02:52 PM PDT #

Love the photo of the Glass Wing Butterfly. It also symbolic meaning, at least to me. The butterfly's wings are transparent, like the tranparency of information this announcement represents and it's flight is the disemination of that info. Deep, very deep!

Posted by green investor on July 25, 2007 at 05:16 PM PDT #

Using RealPlayer.... really?

Posted by Houman on July 26, 2007 at 06:53 AM PDT #

Hair is rising on my back. I have a feeling that you are poised to make a blockbuster announcement on July 30. I feel that the stock will jump 50% or more... So I just threw in another wad of cash for more shares yesterday. My fingers are crossing...

Posted by Gumby on July 26, 2007 at 09:04 AM PDT #

SUN’S SOLAR ECLIPSE: A Return to the Dark Age of Disclosure The concept of full, fair and simultaneous disclosure will be taking a giant step backwards on Monday. In case you missed it, Sun Microsystems CEO Jonathan Schwartz has announced that Sun will post its fourth quarter and full 2007 fiscal year earnings announcement on its web site, submit an 8-K filing and will make it available to its RSS subscribers. Ten minutes later, the release will be broadly disseminated via a commercial news service. Sounds great in theory, and Sun's approach is in compliance with Regulation FD. The problem is that while Sun is living up to the letter of Reg FD, its actions run counter to its spirit and intent, and threatens to do investors a tremendous disservice by setting a bad precedent. Schwartz has adroitly positioned himself as a modern day champion of the people, proclaiming that Sun is making market-moving information available to the masses for the first time. The reality, however, which Schwartz either doesn't understand or chooses to ignore, is that price-sensitive information is universally available--simultaneously, in real-time, and at no charge-- right now, and has been since the dawning of the Internet age. Schwartz writes on his blog that Sun's decision "will place, for the first time, the general investing public--those with a web browser or a cell phone--on the same footing as those with access to private subscription services." Very noble, certainly great PR, but flat out wrong. Anyone, anywhere, can access Business Wire and its competitors at no charge on dozens of free financial portals and websites, in addition to many other traditional and online platforms. With Business Wire's patented NX delivery platform, time-sensitive news is available at the same split second to investors worldwide. Sun's decision to disclose via the web and RSS feeds, followed by broad wire delivery, is disclosure deja vu--a return to the bad old days before Reg FD made an earnest attempt to level the playing field. Prior to Reg FD there was a 15-minute delay that, for all intents and purposes, enabled those with privileged access to corporate information to make market decisions before the same information was disseminated to the general public. In September 2000, Business Wire made a bold and unilateral decision to end the 15-minute delay, and to make market news universally accessible to everyone without reservation. We remain strong proponents of Regulation FD, and the principles of full, fair, and simultaneous disclosure. That's why we are speaking up, as others seek to erode it. Schwartz' grandstanding masks several important substantive issues that Business Wire has addressed previously.  RSS feeds are not simultaneous given the Internet's architecture. Steve Messick, our chief information officer, recently blogged on the subject, explaining in layman's terms why RSS feeds fail to meet the disclosure litmus test. Steve attempted to arrange a meeting with Jonathan to discuss the issue, but his invite has thus far gone unanswered.  Given Sun's core business, server capacity is unlikely to be an issue when Sun posts its earnings Monday. After all, Sun is the world's fourth largest maker of server computers. For thousands of other listed companies, server capacity is likely to be a real issue, especially given the anticipated spikes in volume that usually accompany material news announcements. Sun's potential to derive commercial benefit from companies ramping up their server capacity begs the obvious question: does Jonathan Schwartz have a hidden agenda in promoting Internet disclosure?  Others have been quick to jump on Schwartz' bandwagon, including Dominic Jones, who writes IR Web Report. We think that people who preach disclosure should practice it to the extent that they clearly spell out how they conceivably could benefit from a major policy shift. Jones is an IR web consultant; he, too, potentially stands to reap financial rewards should Internet disclosure take root, and demand for his services increase. It is worth noting that the European Commission rolled out its Transparency Obligations Directive [TOD] this past January in an attempt to introduce harmonized, pan-European disclosure standards across its 27 Member States. The EC, the Committee of European Securities Regulators, and others literally spent years studying various disclosure models. After all, they were starting from scratch, and they were anxious to do it right. At the end of the day, they decided upon what is often called the "North American Disclosure Model," which is based on a push delivery, multi-channel platform that serves as the backbone of the U.S. and Canadian financial markets. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, whose commitment to protecting the interests of individual investors has recently come under attack, should take a stand and unequivocally declare its firm support for a disclosure model that guarantees simultaneous, real-time, and unrestricted access for all investors. Sun should live up to its name and illuminate the path to greater transparency, instead of promoting a return to the dark days of disclosure. Neil Hershberg, Senior Vice President, Business Wire

Posted by Neil Hershberg on July 26, 2007 at 10:18 AM PDT #

Jonathan - Wow. From a PI prospective, this is great news. Now let's talk about the KKR PIPE deal and how it's helped beat SUNW down to $5 from $6.70. Can you be a bit more transparent here? Let me guess what's going on. The KKR deal is to provide the money to buy-back shares, and then once control is in place we're going to see a huge buy-out deal. I just saw something similar with CMLS and amazingly the market forces dragged the price down on a Friday to a new 52wk low of $8 only to announce the CEO and Merrill Lynch buying it to take private at $11.70/sh. We know where it opened on Monday... All of the things going on with SUNW from the buy-back to KKR is about taking control of SUNW. I told you the stock was going down and hard the last time we, ah, communicated. Well, here we are. $5. Anyway, we'll be under $5 again in no time, just please don't blame the stock's performance on the economy or SUNW employees. The markets have plans for this stock...it's just you may or may not be aware of them. Feel free to email anytime, I'm 100% transparent with SUNW... Rs -SUNW Private Investor

Posted by SUNW Private Investor on July 26, 2007 at 10:40 AM PDT #

The system of nonexclusive arrangements with PR Newswire may be new for Sun, but not other tech companies. I.e. yesterday Yahoo notes that for Apple, the 8K was filed at 4:29 P.M. EST, simultaneously with the PR at their IR section at apple.com, and thence to points beyond. As it turns out, some wag will chat up anything disseminated to private services (e.g. via Murdoch, er, Dow Jones) within seconds on a chat board anyway. Although AAPL doesn't do blogs, it didn't take long to see how they passed the market cap of HPQ in afterhours trading.

Posted by retiarius on July 26, 2007 at 02:13 PM PDT #

Wow. Forrest Gump is running Sun.

Posted by 69.15.83.18 on July 26, 2007 at 04:43 PM PDT #

Jonathan, this statement -- "this will place, for the first time, the general investing public - those with a web browser or a cell phone - on the same footing as those with access to private subscription services" -- is pure nonsense. The general investing public is on an even footing NOW with those with access to private subscription services. As soon as one of the third-party wires published an earnings news release, individuals can get it from Yahoo! or Marketwatch or at any of dozens of other free outlets -- including the wires' own homepages -- at the exact same moment as someone sitting in front of a Bloomberg terminal or at a buy-side investment house. If nothing else they can get it via the SEC's own EDGAR page, which is also free. It's been that way for nearly a decade now. Why are you implying otherwise? Also, is Sun going to be publishing its results in XBRL going forward? That's the real next step in transparency, not RSS feeds.

Posted by Phil on July 28, 2007 at 10:18 AM PDT #

Think strategically. His blog post creates a lot of hubbub in the investing, trading, and tech communities (because, as most of you say, parts of what he says is nonsense, and that creates conversations). That way he uses communication dynamics to create higher awareness of the new policy, maintains the image of a staunch, fervent advocat of technological advancement while at the same time demonstrating clear entrepreneurial thinking in terms of company financials. That means the new earnings numbers will be great, and having been in the stock trading business for over a dozen years I know that the analysts look at the earnings very closely, be that sensible or not. Jonathan would be stupid to create the stir and then show bad earnings numbers. I have bought plenty of SUNW today (admittedly, at 4.80 SUNW became attractive again).

Posted by Chewbacca on July 30, 2007 at 09:33 AM PDT #

What I find interesting is the URL of the butterfly image : http://www.37signals.com/svn/images/glasswing01.jpg Congrats to Sun (and 37signals)

Posted by John Mettraux on July 30, 2007 at 08:58 PM PDT #