Revenge is a dish best served cold–except, of course, when one decides to serve it piping hot.

And that’s just what part of one of the losing sides of the $2 billion deal to buy Skype from eBay (EBAY) is doing in an unusual attack on Michelangelo Volpi, a well-known tech exec in Silicon Valley.

You see, until recently, Volpi was CEO of Joost, arriving at the much-hyped online video start-up to great fanfare in mid-2007.

But the London-based Joost never quite caught fire and began layoffs and contraction this summer.

As part of that development, Volpi then went to Index Ventures, a venture firm also based in London.

And, in one of Volpi’s first deals, Index was one of the smaller players on the winning side of the deal to buy Skype, putting up $75 million.

But also vying for the prize were the Internet telephony service’s founders, Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis, who had hooked up with a group of private equity investors.

To complicate things further, the innovative and entrepreneurial pair also own a company called Joltid, which has licensed key technology for Skype to eBay.

It gets better! Joltid and eBay have been fighting in court over that agreement, bickering back and forth about whether eBay violated the terms of that deal or not.

Finally, in the past few days, in what is obviously a related move, Joost said that it had dumped Volpi as a director and as chairman, a job he had retained when he left for Index in July.

Said the company in a statement:

“Mr. Volpi was removed from the board of directors and from his position as chairman of Joost by shareholder vote. The company and its board of directors is conducting an investigation into Mr. Volpi’s actions during his tenure as CEO and as chairman.”

Volpi had no comment.

BoomTown does: It looks like a lame attempt at kneecapping him to me, as part of a larger rumble!

But, for many, this comes as a surprise, since it had been thought that Volpi–a former dealmaker with Cisco (CSCO)–would play the role of a peacemaker in the eBay-Joltid fighting.

Actually, according to numerous sources, Volpi had also struggled with Zennström and Friis when he ran Joost, and there is no love lost among them.

In fact, here’s a glimpse of that tension in a video interview BoomTown did with Volpi a year ago in London, when I visited its office there.

It took place just after Joost was forced to rejigger itself to gain momentum (which never happened).

“Restarting a start-up is definitely not easy,” said Volpi in the interview.

As it turned out, that was the least of his worries.

Here’s the video:

Oh, it’s the middle of August, so why not report this little tidbit: Former Google exec Sukhinder Singh Cassidy has been appointed to the board of the J. Crew Group, the well-known New York-based specialty retailer.

She is now a CEO-in-Residence at Accel Partners in Palo Alto, Calif., after leaving her longtime job at Google (GOOG), where she was president of its Asia-Pacific and Latin American operations.

Previous to her stint at the search giant, Singh Cassidy was at Yodlee, an online banking start-up, which was backed by Accel–along with stints at Amazon (AMZN) and OpenTV (OPTV).

She was also one of Google’s more visible execs and highest-ranking women leaders.

So, of course, BoomTown is more interested in where the 39-year-old Singh Cassidy will land next as a top exec at a Silicon Valley Web operation.

But, until then, here’s the official press release about her new director job at J. Crew (JCG):

NEW YORK, Aug. 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/–J. Crew Group, Inc. (the “Company”) (NYSE: JCG) today announced that Sukhinder Singh Cassidy had been appointed to its Board of Directors, effective August 14, 2009. In addition, Jonathan Coslet, has advised the Company of his intention to resign from the Board of Directors, effective August 14, 2009 in order to focus on his responsibilities at TPG Capital L.P.

Ms. Singh Cassidy, 39, is CEO-in-residence at Accel Partners, a global venture and growth equity firm, since April 2009. Prior to that, Ms. Singh Cassidy was a global Vice-President of Sales and Operations for Google, Inc., and from 2005 to 2009 she was Google’s President for Asia-Pacific & Latin America Operations. From 2003 to 2005, she was Google’s General Manager of Local Search, Video and Print Partnerships.

Millard Drexler, J.Crew’s Chairman and CEO said, “We are pleased to welcome Sukhinder to our Board. Her experience with new media and internet strategy make her a great fit for our Board of Directors and for J.Crew. We also want to thank Jonathan for his many contributions and support over the years.”

Please see this disclosure related to me and Google.

While John Hughes has almost nothing to do with the Internet, BoomTown–who is of a certain age–was saddened to hear about the premature passing of this director supreme of suburban teen angst movies of the 1980s.

He died yesterday of a heart attack at 59 years old.

His hit films included “The Breakfast Club,” “Sixteen Candles” and “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.” He wrote “The Breakfast Club” and “Sixteen Candles,” as well as “Pretty in Pink,” “Home Alone,” “Some Kind of Wonderful” (I heart Watts) and tons of others.

In other words, the creator of the infamous “Brat Pack.”

Here are two movie clips to enjoy on this slooooow Friday in August, from Hulu, and a terrific montage video from YouTube, which make me feel–almost–young again.

And here is a link to a fascinating blog post about someone who, oddly enough, was Hughes’s pen pal.

The Breakfast Club:

Sixteen Candles:

Hughes Montage:

It’s not often these days that you get any kind of public offering in the market for tech companies–so a lot of people in Silicon Valley and elsewhere are looking at the fall spinoff of AOL very carefully.

That’s because, even though AOL is widely considered to be an also-ran by Silicon Valley (same as it ever was, actually, even at the height of its power in the late 1990s), many are very interested in serving on its board.

According to many sources, exactly who will be on what will likely be a 10-12 member board of directors for the company is up for grabs, once it decouples from owner Time Warner (TWX).

Thus, AOL, with Time Warner’s top execs’ involvement, sources said, has compiled a list of about 70 possible candidates–picked, suggested and self-nominated–and is now proceeding to vet them and begin the process of asking people to serve.

It should not be a tough sell. After all, despite its recent struggles, AOL remains one of the major Internet sites, with massive traffic, several well-known products and a large advertising business.

In addition, people seem inclined to see what kind of overhaul new CEO and Chairman Tim Armstrong can pull off and whether the former Google (GOOG) exec can work some magic.

He’s been formulating plans for what stays and what goes in the company as he tries to shine up the apple–or put lipstick on the pig, depending on your perspective–for investor consumption.

That includes keeping the access business, which many thought would be sold off, and putting many of the companies it has recently acquired–including its pricey Bebo social networking site–in a separate ventures unit, which will try to attract outside investment or sell off assets.

The strategy will focus AOL on several key areas, including media, local, “scaled” advertising and communications.

The jury is out on how successful Armstrong will be at innovating at AOL. But with almost zero IPO action and little prospect of any in the near future, it’s about the only such game in town as it moves to what is likely to be an October spinoff.

To help Armstrong sort through the choices, BoomTown is now compiling a suggestion list of fancy names I would recommend, and will do another post on that next, along with a general idea of what stays and what goes.

Until then, here are the broad outlines of what AOL needs to look for in a board:

One media mogul, one consumer electronics exec, one entrepreneur, one publishing exec, one Time Warner exec, one social networking exec, one advertising exec, one entertainment/Hollywood exec, one telecom/mobile exec, one consumer brand exec, one Internet mogul, and, of course, Armstrong.

And, as a definite requirement, given that there are way too many on way too many Internet company boards: No venture capitalists need apply.

Let’s be honest–even with the sassy stylings of CEO Carol Bartz, who will be appearing at her first Yahoo annual meeting this morning, there are few of these affairs that are even remotely exciting.

Last year’s Yahoo meeting did have a frisson of possibility, since billionaire investor Carl Icahn and Microsoft (MSFT) CEO Steve Ballmer were fixing to put the double squeeze on the board and, especially, its then-CEO and co-founder, Jerry Yang. Also, major Yahoo (YHOO) shareholders threatened a revolt.

But, no. In the end, Carl gave in and took a Yahoo directorship, Microsoft wandered off in a corporate huff and Yang and the board managed to get dinged by angry investors, but not donged.

This year, the stock has improved, hovering in the $15 a share range, although it is still pretty moribund.

“I am too tired of Yahoo stock to be angry any more,” said one major shareholder. “It is just wait-and-see what Bartz will do now for a lot of us.”

This year, most of the same 12-member board, now including Bartz, is up for reelection and it is unlikely they will get even a bad grade. Yahoo will also ask for approval of its accounting firm (yaaaaawn).

As to other stuff going on in the ballroom of the Santa Clara Marriott–yes, it is that boring!–in Silicon Valley, there are several important votes before the shareholders tomorrow.

One is a standard proposal regarding executive compensation or a “say on pay” proposal, which will be introduced by an outside stockholder.

Yahoo’s board is recommending against it, natch, because it would apparently be a horror show if actual owners of a company got to weigh in on what execs are paid in a significant way.

Another proposal, put forward by the company and thought of internally as an uphill battle, regards changes to be made to a 1995 stock plan and to a 1996 employee stock purchase plan.

The latter is most important, a request to authorize more shares for future employee options grants, which will be a large addition to the pool–30 million more shares–if authorized. The stock will be used to keep valuable Yahoo talent in place.

Frankly, with departures continuing, Yahoo could use the share ammo.

Lastly, you can read all the good stuff–like about salaries and bonuses, deserved or, more typically, otherwise–in Yahoo’s proxy statements here.

BoomTown will begin liveblogging the annual meeting at 10 am PDT, after doubtlessly enjoying a lovely Yahoo-sanctioned breakfast pastry.

Maria Klawe, the president of Harvey Mudd College, has just been named as the 10th member of the Microsoft board.

The company also announced “that the board of directors declared a quarterly dividend of $0.13 per share. The dividend is payable June 18, 2009, to shareholders of record on May 21, 2009.”

Klawe’s appointment is interesting. She is rather sharp–what a shock–according to her bio, which lists impressive credits as a computer scientist.

Said a Microsoft (MSFT) spokesperson:

“Klawe has made significant research contributions in several areas of mathematics and computer science including functional analysis, discrete mathematics, theoretical computer science, and the design and use of interactive multimedia for mathematics education.”

Klawe is the second woman on the board, after Dina Dublon, former chief financial officer of JPMorgan Chase (JPM).

In a statement, Klawe said she would make sure Microsoft would pay more attention to gender issues.

Said Klawe:

“The underrepresentation of women in the fields of science and engineering is one of the critical issues facing the computing industry….I’m looking forward to helping the company continue to make progress on this important issue.”

BoomTown is with you on that, Maria.

Here’s the full press release, after the jump:

Microsoft Adds New Board Member and Declares Quarterly Dividend
Maria Klawe, Ph.D., leading computer scientist and educator, to join board; dividend of $0.13 per share payable in June.

In addition to Klawe, Microsoft’s board of directors consists of Bill Gates, Microsoft chairman; Steve Ballmer, Microsoft CEO; James I. Cash Jr., Ph.D., James E. Robison professor and senior associate dean emeritus of Harvard Business School; Dina Dublon, former chief financial officer of JPMorgan Chase; Raymond V. Gilmartin, former chairman, president and CEO of Merck & Co. Inc.; Reed Hastings, founder, chairman and CEO of Netflix Inc.; David F. Marquardt, general partner at August Capital; Charles H. Noski, former vice chairman of AT&T Corp.; and Dr. Helmut Panke, former chairman of the board of management at BMW AG.

But it took a lot of guts for Yahoo President Sue Decker (pictured here) to resign immediately yesterday and without the usual polite waiting period that happens in most major corporate management shifts.

I am guessing Decker clearly knew that investor ire over her leadership and that of her boss, Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang, had made the duo radioactive. Yang had already said goodbye in November and now it was her turn.

It was an important move for Yahoo (YHOO), since questions of Decker’s continued presence would have definitely dragged down any excitement to be had about the announcement of new Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz.

So, Decker–who has always been a clear-thinking analytical type more than a gut executive–made both the logical and emotional decision to leave the company she has worked at for nine years.

And, more importantly, to leave Bartz with the cleanest slate she possibly could.

Whatever you think of Decker’s leadership, it was a class move on her part and one that BoomTown admires, especially since it was probably very hard for such a rigorous person to walk away without leaving behind a success.

It would be nice, then, if the man who was also just as–if not much more–responsible for the disaster that has been Yahoo for too long would take a clue from Decker and Yang and head out too.

That would be Yahoo Chairman Roy Bostock (pictured here), the leader who has largely escaped blame that has been massively heaped on both Yang and Decker.

But it was Bostock who was part of the supposed revival of Yahoo, who was a key player in the disastrous negotiations with Microsoft (MSFT) over its takeover attempt and who was has been pulling many of the key strings the entire time.

Thus, he needs to go too, because at this point, Yahoo has to declare that accountability matters and that it starts at the tippy-top.

Major investors certainly would not mind. “Everything he has promised has gone the other way,” said one about his encounters with Bostock. “I just don’t believe him anymore.”

Said a former Yahoo exec, echoing the sentiment of many I have talked to over the past weeks: “Jerry and Sue should be the ones to take responsibility for Yahoo’s decline, but Roy was right next to them all the way.”

So, while many could aim at Yang and Decker (or perhaps even former CEO Terry Semel) or the distraction of the Microsoft bid earlier in 2008 or now, the weakness in the economy for Yahoo’s woes, since he has been chairman, Bostock is just as responsible as anyone at at the top of Yahoo.

Yahoo shares have been cut in half since he took over as chairman a year ago, back to where they were when he joined the board in 2003.

You could also point to Yahoo’s morale crisis or the exodus of key talent or the declines in its key businesses or the company’s general lack of momentum as very solid reasons for kicking Bostock to the curb for taking so long to do anything about it.

BoomTown will not even bring up the $31 per share offer from Microsoft that Yahoo spurned, although Bostock never seems to tire of highhandedly laying all the blame for the mess at Microsoft’s feet alone.

While the departure of Bostock would probably be enough, I would say a lot of the longtime members of the board should also probably contemplate moving on, to make way for some fresh eyes on the board and to free Bartz to do what she wants without their meddling.

Given that several directors also wanted the CEO job, according to sources, the board will likely continue to be more bothersome than helpful.

While not the boldest pick by this largely ineffectual and slow-moving board, it has finally made a definitive move by picking Bartz and should now get well out of the way.

Because, unlike the Yahoo directors, Bartz cannot really be judged yet, and one must give her the benefit of the doubt and let her try to fix Yahoo in her own way.

She certainly has the experience as a seasoned tech veteran, from 14 years at Autodesk (ADSK), and she also has the goodwill of Silicon Valley.

Left to hire her own team and take advantage of the massive amount of talent that still miraculously exists at Yahoo, Bartz has every chance of reviving a company ripe with great assets.

That is, if Bostock–who led the search to hire her–would give her a truly great gift of the cleanest slate possible for Yahoo, by bidding her farewell and godspeed as he heads out the door.

BoomTown’s got nothing, which is not something I like to say very much.

I am talking about the Yahoo CEO search, which is either being done by the Internet giant’s board in such elegant secrecy and with such amazing stealth that it is getting by everyone.

That or it’s business as usual for the Yahoo (YHOO) board, which so far has never met a challenge for the company it could not drag out painfully and with great public dithering.

I am hoping, of course, it is the former–that my crack sleuthing skills have been frozen solid here in Buffalo–and the choice will be announced to great fanfare by year’s end (which is, er, tomorrow).

But from reporting I have done over the last several days, the latter seems to be the case and Yahoo might not have a new leader in place for a few weeks at least.

Still, I vote for tomorrow!

But, if I had to make a prediction, Yahoo will pick an external candidate among the several candidates it is vetting now, given the time this has taken and also the need to show Wall Street, investors, their employees and the rest of us it intends to change.

In any case, if Yahoo cannot land someone by the end of January, many sources I spoke to expect the board to pick one of its own–most likely, former Nextel head John Chapple, a new director.

I have also heard that longtime Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) exec, Vyomesh (VJ) Joshi, who runs its massive imaging and printing group, is also a possibility, as well as others on the board.

When Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang announced he was stepping down in mid-November, sources I spoke to said the board was ready to act with urgency and boldness to get a leader in place to drag the company out of the doldrums.

It even made a little list, as I wrote in a post:

The board, though, has apparently made a list of six–I have no idea why that is the number chosen–clear criteria for the new leader of Yahoo.

The first is that the candidate have ‘extensive’ experience as the CEO of a public company. Another calls for media and advertising expertise. And mergers and acquisitions experience. Also strategic skills.”

While sources inside and outside the company say several candidates were considered and contacted, thus far there is no clear front-runner, as some–such as News Corp. (NWS) COO Peter Chernin and former Vodafone (VOD) CEO Arun Sarin–have discounted their interest so far. (News Corp. is the owner of this Web site.)

One response to my progress of the Yahoo CEO search from an insider was typical: “Not a peep. Oddly quiet.”

A major reason for the lack of swiftness might be Yang, who is very involved in the search along with Yahoo Chairman Roy Bostock (who might think twice about parking his chauffeured car with his name splashed on it somewhere else than in front of Yahoo, for all the emails I get about sightings of it).

Many sources said Yang is intent on getting the CEO choice just right, given so many other missteps made under his management.

“This is his last act and he is really serious about not making a bad choice,” said one exec who has talked to Yang.

That kind of consideration takes time, of course, even though many think that a bit of decisive speed might be a good thing to see from Yahoo right about now.

Still, with the holidays, as well as the weak economy, Yahoo is no Shangri-La for potential candidates.

In addition, Yahoo will wrap up a quarter this week that is sure to be especially weak, given all the internal and external turmoil.

“It is a very tough job and anyone worthwhile has to think long and hard before taking it,” said one person who has been contacted by Yahoo’s headhunter, Heidrick & Struggles, about interest in the No. 2 job at Yahoo, once a CEO is found.

This concept being bandied about is to put a new top team in place to replace Yang, and possibly President Sue Decker, who is the leading internal candidate for CEO.

Interestingly, a COO/President choice is perhaps the more interesting choice for Yahoo, since the field of candidates here widens considerably and has a lot more digital experience.

But first, of course, the CEO needs to be picked, and that’s still to come, delaying everything from doing a deal with Microsoft (MSFT) over search to buying Time Warner (TWX) online unit AOL, all of which are being pushed into 2009.

Well, only the Yahoo board knows for sure who that will be, although I am still digging away like a rabid gopher to find out more.

But here is a great music video of Val Emmich singing “(C’mon), Get On With It,” to spur the Yahoo board on: