VeriSign Shareholder Alert: Briscoe Law Firm and Powers Taylor, LLP Announce Investigation of Possible Breaches of Fiduciary Duty

DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Former United States Securities and Exchange Commission attorney Willie Briscoe, founder of The Briscoe Law Firm, PLLC, and the securities litigation firm of Powers Taylor, LLP announce that the firms are investigating legal claims against the officers and Board of Directors of VeriSign, Inc. (“VeriSign” or “Company”) VRSN related to potential securities violations between June 25, 2012 and October 25, 2012 (the “Class Period”).

If you are an affected investor and you want to learn more about the lawsuit or join the action, contact Willie Briscoe at The Briscoe Law Firm, PLLC, (214) 706-9314, or via email at WBriscoe@TheBriscoeLawFirm.com, or Zachary Groover at Powers Taylor, LLP, toll free (877) 728-9607, via e-mail at zach@powerstaylor.com. There is no cost or fee to you.

In a recently filed federal class action complaint, VeriSign and certain of its officers and directors were charged with violating certain provisions of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Specifically, the complaint alleges that defendants' misrepresented and/or failed to disclose that: (a) challenges to the Company's registry pricing scheme that defendants knew about but concealed from the market made it more likely than not that the U.S. DOJ and Department of Commerce would demand price concessions in exchange for leaving VeriSign in charge of operating the .com and .net networks; (b) VeriSign's growth in domain name registrations was in decline; (c) VeriSign was relying heavily on revenues from “parking” websites and other dubious websites focused on drawing in and monetizing traffic, rather than in providing cogent business leads; (d) Defendants knew that Google and other Internet search engines had been tweaking their algorithms to improve the quality of their search results by ranking lower subpar quality websites, such as those which are not updated often or provided little or no content; (e) Subpar domain name owners had stopped renewing their agreements with VeriSign as a result of the Internet search engine's efforts to discourage them by demonetizing their practices; and (f) as a result, Defendants knew VeriSign's fiscal year 2012 earnings guidance was not attainable. According to the complaint, when VeriSign finally reported this news and the financial results for its third fiscal quarter of 2012, VRSN shares dropped dramatically.

“Recent revelations about alleged improper business practices and procedures regarding key aspects of VeriSign's business and other misleading financial statements have prompted the firms to investigate possible breaches of fiduciary duties and other violations of state law by VeriSign's officers and directors. Based on our investigation, we are prepared to pursue litigation to preserve the company and the value of VeriSign/VRSN stock for all shareholders,” said shareholder rights attorney Willie Briscoe.

The Briscoe Law Firm, PLLC is a full service business litigation, commercial transaction, and public advocacy firm with more than 20 years of experience in complex litigation and transactional matters.

Powers Taylor, LLP is a boutique litigation law firm that handles a variety of complex business litigation matters, including claims of investor and stockholder fraud, shareholder oppression, shareholder derivative suits, and security class actions.