Intermix Media Inc

Former executives at Intermix Media Inc., the MySpace developer now owned by News Corp., must face claims they misled shareholders by allegedly selling the website for billions of dollars too little, a federal judge said. The ruling by U.S. District Judge George King in Los Angeles was lauded by MySpace founder Brad Greenspan, who said the social networking site was intentionally undervalued when it was sold in 2005 for $580 million. "I knew that the value of the company was billions of dollars.

Intermix Media Inc. founder Brad Greenspan sued the website operator, claiming that its $580-million sale to Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. didn't reflect the growth prospects of its main asset, MySpace.com. The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Los Angeles County Superior Court, accuses Intermix directors of breaching their fiduciary duties by failing to seek a higher price and acting "despite numerous conflicts of interest."

News Corp. said Monday that a Los Angeles judge had rejected legal challenges to the media company's 2005 acquisition of MySpace's parent, Intermix Media Inc., and ruled that the deal was lawful. News Corp. said Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Carolyn Kuhl on Friday "fully dismissed" the challenges spearheaded by Brad Greenspan, former chief executive of EUniverse Inc., which was renamed Intermix, and other former shareholders.

In the first effort by a state to curb spyware, New York Atty. Gen. Eliot Spitzer sued Intermix Media Inc. of Los Angeles on Thursday, accusing the company of hiding malevolent programs inside games and screen savers. The suit, filed in New York, alleges false advertising, deceptive business practices and trespassing.

New York Atty. Gen. Eliot Spitzer has reached an agreement in principle with Web marketer Intermix Media Inc. in which the company has agreed to pay $7.5 million over three years to settle accusations that Intermix surreptitiously installed software on computers. Spitzer spokesman Brad Maione said a final agreement was two to three weeks away and must be approved by the court. But under the tentative agreement, Intermix would agree to cease ad-related downloads.

MySpace.com, a website that's the flavor of the moment for teenagers and young hipsters, has attracted a new kind of fan: a 74-year-old billionaire. Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. agreed Monday to acquire Los Angeles-based Intermix Media Inc., the parent company of MySpace, for $580 million in cash. The deal continues the rush of old-media giants snapping up fast-growing Internet ventures in the pursuit of the advertising dollars flowing onto the Web.

A group of Intermix Media Inc. shareholders has offered to buy a "significant interest" in the Los Angeles-based company for $13.50 a share, as an alternative to a $12-a-share acquisition offer from Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. The shareholder group, led by former Chief Executive Brad Greenspan, said Intermix Media shareholders would be able to sell as many as half of their Intermix shares under the group's offer. The investor group is calling itself FreeMySpace, referring to MySpace.

Intermix Media Inc. directors Monday rejected an unsolicited takeover offer from an investor group led by former Chief Executive Brad Greenspan, backing instead a bid from Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. The offer of $13.50 a share from Greenspan's group, FreeMySpace, "does not compare favorably" with a pending bid from News Corp., Los Angeles-based Intermix said in a statement. News Corp. has offered $580 million, or $12 a share, in cash for the website operator.

In the first settlement of state charges involving spyware, News Corp.'s Intermix Media Inc. has agreed to pay $7.5 million, New York Atty. Gen. Eliot Spitzer said Thursday. In addition, the former chief executive of Los Angeles-based Intermix, Brad Greenspan, agreed to pay $750,000.

The first attempt by a California regulator to curb spyware has set off a contentious dispute between Los Angeles' chief legal watchdog and one of the world's largest media giants. Los Angeles City Atty. Rocky Delgadillo filed a lawsuit late Thursday against Intermix Media Inc., accusing the company -- which owns MySpace.