Private investigators Ronald DeLia, left, Matthew DePante, center, and Bryan Wagner pleaded not guilty Tuesday to identity theft and other felony charges in the Hewlett-Packard scandal. Each was later booked and released on personal recognizance.

Paul Sakuma / the associated press

Related articles:

Business in Brief Business in Brief Business in Brief Business in Brief Business in Brief Business in Brief Business in brief Business in Brief Business in Brief Business in Brief

Health Care
Sierra Tucson
Eating Disorders Program Coordinator General
A1 Communications
Cable Techs Dental
Southern Arizona Endodontics
Dental Assistant Trades/Construction
RANCHO RESORT
MAINTANANCE POSITION

3 plead not guilty in HP scandal

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Three private investigators who allegedly obtained confidential telephone records as part of Hewlett-Packard Co.'s boardroom spying probe pleaded not guilty Tuesday to identity theft and other felony charges.

Ronald DeLia of Massachusetts-based Security Outsourcing Solutions Inc., Matthew DePante of Florida-based Action Research Group Inc., and Bryan Wagner of Colorado were arraigned in Santa Clara County Superior Court. Each was later booked and released on personal recognizance.

DeLia, DePante and Wagner are among five people criminally charged last week for their roles in the spying scandal at the computer and printer giant.

Former HP Chairwoman Patricia Dunn surrendered and appeared in court late last week. The company's ousted ethics chief, Kevin Hunsaker, turned himself in and was released.

The three investigators are accused of impersonating HP board members, employees and journalists to trick telephone companies into divulging their private phone logs.

Bad weather shuts Alaska oil pipeline

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The nation's largest oil field and the trans-Alaska pipeline were shut down Tuesday after poor weather at both ends of the 800-mile pipeline caused havoc.

Analysts said any impact on oil prices would depend on how long it takes to restore production and distribution.

BP PLC said high winds were to blame for a power outage that shut down Prudhoe Bay in northern Alaska. Production fell to about 20,000 barrels Tuesday; about 350,000 barrels were produced Monday.

Separately, Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. shut down the trans-Alaska pipeline as a safety precaution after fiber-optic communication lines that allow operators to remotely control valves were knocked out of service, presumably by flooding.

Investor: Microsoft aided Linux case

SALT LAKE CITY — Microsoft Corp. helped a Utah company raise money for its legal challenge to the open-source Linux operating system, an investor said in a court filing.

Lawrence R. Goldfarb, a founder of BayStar Capital Management of Larkspur, Calif., said he invested $50 million in the SCO Group Inc. at the urging of Microsoft executives who promised to guarantee BayStar's investment against any losses.

Goldfarb says Microsoft reneged on the promise. In a statement to The Associated Press, Microsoft denied making any such assurance.

Goldfarb's statement was filed in federal court last week by IBM Corp. as the tech company asked a judge to throw out what remains of a long legal battle. SCO sued IBM for $5 billion in 2003, accusing it of donating SCO's proprietary Unix code to Linux developers.

A magistrate, however, has dismissed 182 of SCO's 294 claims against IBM. U.S. District Judge Dale Kimball has scheduled an Oct. 24 hearing to hear SCO's appeal.

ImClone chairman, board member quit

NEW YORK — ImClone Systems Inc. said Tuesday that its chairman and another board member resigned, following weeks of squabbles between the company and billionaire financier Carl Icahn, who was seeking their ouster as part of a plan to shake up the biotech drug maker. ImClone shares rose more than 3 percent.

ImClone said Chairman David M. Kies and board member William W. Crouse resigned effective immediately.

Northwest feeder seeking pay cuts

MINNEAPOLIS — Mesaba Aviation Inc. said its unions must agree to pay cuts by Sunday or it will begin dipping into the cash reserve it would need for an orderly liquidation.

The feeder airline for Northwest Airlines Corp. didn't say how much cash is left. But Vice President of Finance Tom Schmidt testified in bankruptcy court on Tuesday that it is reaching a critical level.

Mesaba has said it needs concessions from pilots, flight attendants and mechanics so it can make a competitive bid to keep flying regional routes for Northwest, its only customer, which supplies all its planes and passengers.

Schmidt said Northwest was now asking Mesaba to propose flying just 30 jets, down from a 100-jet proposal earlier this year. Northwest, which is also operating under bankruptcy protection, has halved Mesaba's fleet to just 49 turboprop planes and one regional jet.

Mesaba has tried to find other business, bidding for up to 90 regional jets now flown by Comair, a subsidiary of bankrupt Delta Air Lines Inc.