Good old-fashioned activism went global long ago. Now it has gone virtual. CNET, the technology-focused online news provider, long under attack from activist investors, yesterday sold out to CBS. On the same day, Carl Icahn launched a proxy fight against Yahoo, the internet group. The veteran raider will certainly put on an entertaining show. Does he also have any chance of forcing the internet group into the hands of Microsoft?

Strangely, yes. Many Yahoo shareholders were rightly infuriated at the company's refusal to sell out to Microsoft at $33 a share (a 74 per cent premium to the price three months before). The software group itself balked at launching a hostile proxy fight. Mr Icahn, who has bought the equivalent of 4.3 per cent of the company, is trying to do Microsoft's dirty work instead by proposing 10 directors to replace the board.