Ex-Broadcom boss indicted

Broadcom co-founder and former CEO Henry Nicholas has been indicted on charges unsealed today of illegal stock-option backdating, which resulted in the largest financial restatement (a write down of $2.2 billion in profits) related to the crime in US history, reports The Register.

A second indictment unsealed this morning charges Nicholas with maintaining and distributing drugs from his various homes, supplying hired prostitutes with controlled substances, spiking customer and employee drinks with ecstasy, and other drug-related charges.

One incident alleges Nicholas and others smoked so much marijuana during a flight on his private plane between Orange County and Las Vegas that the pilot had to put on an oxygen mask.

Senior UK IT leaders have hit out at government tax policies, claiming they do not support IT sector growth, reports Computing.co.uk.

IT is the second-largest sector in the UK economy, responsible for 6.4% of gross domestic product and trailing only financial services at 7.5%.

But an independent survey found 54% of senior IT professionals felt the government's support for the IT sector was poor, and specifically criticised policy, not global economic conditions, for the current position.

Yahoo chairman Roy Bostock rejected charges by shareholder Carl Icahn that an employee retention package was designed to discourage a Microsoft takeover, in a response to Icahn released on Wednesday night, says ITWorld.

"To set the record straight, the employee retention programme is designed to protect the company's assets and value during a time of uncertainty. The claim that the plan gives each of Yahoo's employees 'the right to quit his or her job and pocket generous termination benefits at any time during the two years following a takeover...' is just plain wrong," Bostock wrote.

Yahoo adopted a new employee severance package after Microsoft announced its $44.6 billion hostile takeover bid on 1 February.

In the two years since becoming the major cable provider in the Los Angeles area, Time Warner Cable has drawn sometimes colourful criticism from its subscribers, says New York Times.

On Wednesday, the Los Angeles City attorney, Rocky Delgadillo, sued the company in the Los Angeles County Superior Court accusing it of engaging in "unlawful, unfair and fraudulent business acts and practices and deceptive advertising".

The suit says the company has subjected subscribers to delayed repair appointments, deceptive pricing and Internet outages.