Ex-Charter exec testifies on accounting scheme

ST. LOUIS -- Charter chairman Paul Allen was aware of an accounting scandal at the nation's third-largest cable television provider, according to a former executive convicted in the scheme. Former Charter vice president James "Trey" Smith III has filed a counterclaim against the suburban St. Louis company in a dispute over legal fees related to the accounting scandal.

New York prosecutor sues over 'spyware'

ALBANY, N.Y. -- New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer sued a major Internet marketer, Intermix Media Inc., on Thursday, blaming it for secretly installing software that delivers nuisance pop-up advertisements and can slow and crash personal computers.

Layoff notices hitting Sears headquarters

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. -- Hundreds of employees at Sears Holdings Corp. headquarters are getting pink slips this week from layoffs it warned would result when the company was formed by the March acquisition of Sears, Roebuck and Co. by Kmart Holding Corp.