Well, at least the French court system has decided to try and protect the Vivendi investors.  Things are looking more and more like Blizzard is going to be on Kmart Blue-Light special sale very shortly...

Here's the story as it appeared on Reuters:

A French court has ordered frozen a controversial multi-million euro severance payment for Jean-Marie Messier, the colorful former head of debt-ridden media and entertainment group Vivendi Universal.

The French stock market regulator announced the ruling Wednesday, saying it was determined to block the 20.6 million euro (23.3 million dollar) payment with every means at its disposal, both in France and the United States.

Messier was ousted a year ago after his attempts to transform the French water utility into a global entertainment empire collapsed, leaving the company with crippling debts.

The Commission des Operations de Bourse (COB) said it would drop its opposition to the payment awarded by an arbitration tribunal in New York, only if a general assembly of Vivendi Universal shareholders voted in favour of the deal.

The COB said it had challenged the award to Messier after having determined that a contract covering his departure dated July 1, 2002 had not been drawn up in accordance with legal procedures that call for authorization by Vivendi's board of directors.

An association of small French shareholders known as ADAM has also said it would challenge the New York tribunal's decision, which Vivendi Universal's present chief executive, Jean-Rene Fourtou, has labelled "scandalous" and "indecent".

Since the Vivendi board fired the 45-year-old Messier, Fourtou has sought to void his termination agreement. Shareholders also have filed several class-action lawsuits against both Messier and Vivendi Universal.

Fourtou has undertaken a vast program of asset disposals to slash group debt that stood at 35 billion euros on June 30, 2002, but which has since fallen to 14 billion euros as of May this year due primarily to asset sales.

The company is currently weighing potential buyers for Vivendi Universal's US entertainment interests, which include Universal Studios, theme parks and cable TV networks.

Fourtou has said it was "indecent that Mr Messier asked and could get 20 million euros for an American contract unapproved by the board of directors when one thinks about his responsibility in the very dire situation Vivendi Universal was confronted with last summer."

"It's simply scandalous for ruined shareholders (and) the employees who saw a large part of their savings disappear," Fourtou said.

The COB, its US equivalent the Securities and Exchange Commission, Paris prosecutors and the US Department of Justice are all investigating Vivendi Universal.

The US arbitration panel that made the award to Messier was affiliated with the American Arbitration Association, a body that provides a forum for out-of-court dispute settlement.