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St. Paul vs. Minneapolis, just like in the good old days....

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by Rosie, Apr 12, 2007.

  1. Rosie

    Rosie Active Member

  2. The Commish

    The Commish Guest

    Par's move still has generations of Ridders are still spinning in their graves.
     
  3. slappy4428

    slappy4428 Active Member

    I'm not signing up.. what's the skinny?
     
  4. Rosie

    Rosie Active Member

  5. FileNotFound

    FileNotFound Well-Known Member

    I love this story. This is only going to get better as more info comes out.
     
  6. MU_was_not_so_hard

    MU_was_not_so_hard Active Member

    Fun times up there. Fun times.
     
  7. Rosie

    Rosie Active Member

    "The St. Paul Pioneer Press is seeking a temporary restraining order to retrieve at least a dozen computers and servers from the rival Star Tribune newspaper, equipment that the Pioneer Press claims contains allegedly stolen confidential information." -- from the story

    Pi Press seeks Strib computers
     
  8. slappy4428

    slappy4428 Active Member

    day-um

    Pi Press seeks Strib computers
    Court hearing set for this morning
    BY JENNIFER BJORHUS
    Pioneer Press
    Article Last Updated: 04/17/2007 10:24:40 PM CDT

    The St. Paul Pioneer Press is seeking a temporary restraining order to retrieve at least a dozen computers and servers from the rival Star Tribune newspaper, equipment that the Pioneer Press claims contains allegedly stolen confidential information.

    The Pioneer Press filed the motion late Tuesday in Ramsey County District Court in St. Paul, and the two newspapers were scheduled to be in court this morning before Judge David Higgs. It is the first court date since the Pioneer Press sued former publisher Par Ridder last week, accusing Ridder and two others of stealing sensitive information as they left for new jobs at the Minneapolis newspaper.

    The motion also seeks to delay former Pioneer Press employee Jennifer Parratt from starting work at the Star Tribune, and asks for a May 16 hearing for a temporary injunction to bar Ridder, Parratt and a former Pioneer Press employee Kevin Desmond from working at the Star Tribune for a year. The Pioneer Press and the company operating it, Denver-based MediaNews Group Inc., have accused Ridder of decamping with a file containing several non-compete agreements, including his own.

    Typically, a non-compete agreement precludes a worker from taking a job with a competitor for a set period of time after leaving an employer.

    Star Tribune spokesman Ben Taylor declined to comment. "We'll comment tomorrow in court," Taylor said Tuesday night.

    Specifically, the Pioneer Press wants the judge to order the Star Tribune to
    turn over within 24 hours:

    # Ridder's Pioneer Press external hard drive as well as his three Star Tribune computers and his home computer.

    # The home computers of Parratt and Desmond.

    # The office computers of three Star Tribune executives.

    # An unidentified home computer from which certain e-mails containing sensitive information were sent.

    # One or more Star Tribune servers (large data-storage devices) containing the information.

    In one of several affidavits filed with the motion, Ridder's former assistant Barb Cartalucca said that prior to his departure Ridder instructed that his non-compete agreement, as well as those of others on the company's operating committee, be pulled from their personnel files.

    Cartalucca said the non-compete agreements were placed in a manila folder, and that when Ridder told her he wanted the agreements off the premises, she offered to take the folder home. According to her statement, as she walked to her car Ridder ran toward her, said he wasn't comfortable with her taking the agreements home, and took the manila folder.

    In an affidavit by Karen Clary, Pioneer Press vice president of human resources, Ridder is quoted as telling Pioneer Press officials that an executive at Knight Ridder, the previous owner of Pioneer Press, had authorized their removal.

    In another affidavit, Sharon Ryan, chief financial officer of the Pioneer Press, states that the computers contain detailed financial records identifying the purchasing trends of specific advertisers, among other things.

    Central to the lawsuit is the issue of just how sensitive and potentially damaging that information is to the Pioneer Press.

    "By comparing the revenues the Pioneer Press generated from these advertisers with the number, size and location of advertisements in the Pioneer Press, the Star Tribune can determine with a high degree of accuracy the price the Pioneer Press is charging literally thousands of advertisers, almost all of whom have negotiated custom advertising rates," Ryan said in her affidavit.

    In a third affidavit, Mark Lanterman, chief technology officer for Computer Forensic Services in Minnetonka, said that the information on the computers is critical to the investigation and may be "overwritten or otherwise destroyed" if they remain in use at the Star Tribune.

    Separately Tuesday, the Associated Press said the union that represents newsroom workers at the Star Tribune called for an independent inquiry of the matter, based on allegations in the Pioneer Press lawsuit.
     
  9. leo1

    leo1 Active Member

    this is fun! i hope ridder gets his ass handed to him although legally it sounds like the pipress is basically asking for the whole enchilada and will be satisfied with just a few morsels (they won't get an injunction seeking everything they want).

    i know nothing about par ridder personally or professionally and i don't hold him responsible for the demise of knight-ridder. but the arrogance of thinking he can get away with this shit deserves a strict punishment.

    i wonder if there is any possibility of bringing criminal charges for theft of trade secrets?
     
  10. slappy4428

    slappy4428 Active Member

    I liked the part about him running across the parking lot to get his paperwork... what a tool
     
  11. Rosie

    Rosie Active Member

  12. tyler durden 71351

    tyler durden 71351 Active Member

    Fuck the whole motherfucking Ridder family.
     
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