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According to the WSJ, citing ppl familiar with the matter, the Dolan family, which controls Cablevision Systems (CVC), has offered to buy out the public shareholders of the co in a deal that values the co at about $7.9bn. The offer comes 16 months after the family, led by Cablevision Chmn Charles F. Dolan and his son, CEO James L. Dolan, made an offer to buy the co's cable unit and spin off its other assets. That offer was resisted by a special committee of Cablevision's board, which found the price and structure of the deal inadequate for Cablevision's public shareholders.

The WSJ reports thah a declaration in a lawsuit between SCO Group (SCOX) and IBM (IBM) raises new questions about whether Microsoft or some of its execs indirectly assisted SCO's legal front against the Linux OS. In the sworn statement, the founder of investment firm BayStar Capital Mgmt testified that he made the investment after several Microsoft execs had said their co would guarantee BayStar's investment in some way. The document raises questions of whether Microsoft indirectly helped SCO pay a law firm led by David Boies. The declaration of Lawrence Goldfarb, who describes himself as BayStar's "managing member," was prepared Sept. 13 and was later filed by IBM along with a motion in the case. Mr. Goldfarb testifies that Richard Emerson, a Microsoft SVP, approached him "sometime in ‘03" about investing in SCO. Mr. Emerson, who is no longer with Microsoft, "stated that Microsoft wished to promote SCO and its pending lawsuit against IBM and the Linux OS. But Microsoft did not want to be seen as attacking IBM or Linux," Mr. Goldfarb testified.