SiliconBeat

In their fight to gain control of CNET Networks’ board, a group of investors led by JANA Partners has set up their own Web site dedicated to the effort.

No need to wade through numbingly long SEC filings to get to the meat of the latest
developments in the struggle for the hearts and minds, OK votes, of CNET shareholders,
although the site includes access to those filings.

Instead, the Web site offers a one-stop, albeit selective, shop for information, including a
“white paper” discussing CNET’s “destruction of shareholder value” and the company’s
“ongoing underperformance” and “failure to adapt to changing industry environment.”

In a press release Tuesday morning, CNET said that, “after a preliminary review, the white paper contains numerous misstatements and is misleading in many respects. The Company will respond in due course”

It also has a “Setting the Record Straight” page with responses to four allegations it says
are false, including the view that “derivative contracts enabled JANA to acquire voting stock or its equivalent without required regulatory disclosures and/or more quickly than JANA could have otherwise,” which may have led CNET to adopt a “poison pill” defense “late on a Friday night.”

Oh, and the site does present what it labels as “CNET’s response,” somewhat edited, shall we say. For example:

CEO Neil Ashe has referred to this contest as a “chess game,” which we believe perfectly encapsulates CNET’s misunderstanding of the situation. This should not be a game of legal tactics but a debate about the future of CNET and who is best qualified to guide the strategic direction of the Company and create maximum shareholder value.