Yahoo's board of directors could be starting to fragment, if a report in today's New York Post is to be believed. A faction, including new Chairman Roy Bostock and billionaire Ron Burkle, is emerging in opposition to another group sympathetic to co-founder and CEO Jerry Yang's desire to fight off the Microsoft bid, the Post reported this morning, quoting "one source close to the situation."

"The emotional part of Yang would rather do anything but sell to Microsoft, but he doesn't have the cards to come up with a value-creating, competitive alternative for shareholders," the source said.

The Post writes that the Bostock contingent "is worried that the Yang group might act out of emotion rather than their fiduciary duty, thereby exposing the board to shareholder lawsuits."

I discussed Microsoft's options for pressing ahead, after the Yahoo board rejected the initial $44.6 billion offer on Monday, with Richard Rafferty, a corporate and securities lawyer with Dallas-based Strasburger & Price. Here's a relevant part of our talk that didn't make the print story:

Among other widely reported options, Rafferty suggested Microsoft could try to persuade Yahoo board members individually.

"I hate to say this, but Microsoft could take a divide and conquer-type approach," he said, adding at the time that this was not a likely approach. "There's nothing that keeps them from contacting individual directors. They don't have to talk to the whole board."

He added that if those board members are well advised, they will refuse to talk individually and channel all communications through Yang. "Now, that won't stop the phone calls," he said.

It's also interesting that the Post's tipster references concern about "exposing the board to shareholder lawsuits," some of which have already emerged.