Subject: [ntpwg] Weak Enforcement of Corporate Governance and Lax Technical Controls Have Enabled the Illegal Backdating of Stock Options

From: jaredmorrisen at gmail.com (Jared Morrisen)
Date: Wed, 21 Feb 2007 17:42:58 -0500

Interesting piece...

*Weak Enforcement of Corporate Governance and Lax Technical Controls Have
Enabled the Illegal Backdating of Stock Options*

Feb 21, 2007
URL: http://www.wallstreetandtech.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=197007836<http://www.wallstreetandtech.com/showArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=EFGZH0BSWEZYAQSNDLRSKHSCJUNN2JVN?articleID=197007836>

In 2006 hundreds of companies were implicated in stock-option timing
scandals, and a number of executives were indicted for illegally backdating
stock options. While greed is the primary reason for backdating, it is
abetted by weak enforcement of corporate governance that should prevent the
practice in the first place. Often, there also is a lack of technical
controls on corporate networks to deter such activities.

Options backdating is the dating of employee stock options with an earlier
date than the actual date of the grant. The objective is to choose a date on
which the price of the underlying stock is lower than the current price,
resulting in an instant profit to the grantee. When dealing with tens or
hundreds of thousands of shares, and price differentials in the range of $50
a share, the amount of illicit gain can be immense.

This time distortion results not only in the value of the option being much
greater to the employee receiving it, but in a correlative detriment to
shareholders by way of stock price dilution. While backdating of stock
options is not necessarily illegal if the grantor of the stock options
properly discloses the backdating, it remains to be seen whether some other
fiduciary duty has been breached.

Most of the legal issues arising from backdating are a result of the grantor
falsifying documents to conceal the backdating. According to attorney Louis
Brilleman, counsel at Sichenzia Ross Friedman Ference in New York, a law
firm specializing in securities matters, backdating is illegal under most
circumstances. The practice usually leads to the creation of fraudulent
documents through the disclosure of misleading corporate earnings and the
improper reporting of the option grant under applicable tax rules, Brilleman
explains.

Options backdating has been going on for many years. The rules changed in
2002 with the passage of Sarbanes-Oxley, but even that did not stop some
companies from continuing backdating practices. Accurate timing of
transactions ? stock or otherwise ? is fundamental to any SOX report.
Further, beginning in August 2002, and pursuant to SOX and other securities
laws, the SEC started requiring companies to disclose their stock-option
awards within two days of options grants.

With new regulations in place, backdating now is a regulatory issue, and, as
such, companies can no longer bury their heads in the sand and hope no one
notices. It has become clear that the element of time is now an internal
control. Any weaknesses in tracking the time of stock-option grants must be
investigated, reported and corrected.

Companies now must take the necessary steps to ensure that any backdating
will be detected. Besides the development of policies, procedures and
standards around backdating, there are technical solutions that can be
implemented to support such an endeavor.

*Time Synchronization Is Imperative*

These technical solutions center on time synchronization. Companies must
proactively create a time-synchronization mandate and ensure that it is
correctly deployed throughout their IT environments. Fortunately, creating
such a time synchronization infrastructure is relatively easy, and the ROI
on such an undertaking can be significant.

As time-synchronization hardware is a needed investment, properly
communicating the need to management is crucial to getting funding for the
technology. Synchronizing time is a fundamental business and technology
decision that should be an integral part of an effective network and
security architecture.

The need for this is evident in that an enterprise information network and
security infrastructure is highly dependent on synchronized time. In
addition, there also are regulatory issues that require correct synchronized
time ? from NASD OATS, FFIEC and GLBA, to Visa CISP and many more. All of
these regulations recognize that correct time is critical for transactions
across a network. Many events on the network need the correct time to
initiate jobs, complete transactions, etc. Correct time is critical for
billing systems, authentication systems, manufacturing, forensics and more.

Common to all of these regulations is the requirement that financial
transactions and changes to electronic records be accurately time-stamped.
To provide accurate time stamps, all network devices must be synchronized
relative to national and international time standards.

At the application and operating system level, most applications and
networking protocols require correct synchronized time. Vendors such as
Microsoft, Cisco, Oracle, Red Hat, Novell and Baan all state that their
systems must be configured to an authoritative time server for proper and
secure use.

Time servers cost from $2,000 to $10,000, depending on the level of accuracy
and redundancy required. Time servers, which take but a few hours to
install, provide additional benefits, such as reduced downtime and the
ability to mitigate legal exposure.

Options backdating is the problem, and time synchronization is the solution.
But getting from solution to implementation takes proper planning and
project management. With that, the following five steps can be used as a
high-level framework for implementing synchronized time in your
organization.

*Step 1: Risks and Requirements*
The first step is to formally determine the risk to your company if you do
not have synchronized time. Don't underestimate the risks; if you don't
practice due care pertaining to the time on your network system, you can be
legally liable for negligence and held accountable for the ramifications of
that negligence.

Next, determine how accurate your clocks need to be. This can be anywhere
from milliseconds to a few seconds. Finally, advise management of the risks
of nonsynchronized time and get their approval for the purchase of
time-synchronization equipment and the initiation of a time-synchronization
project.

*Step 2: Hardware and Software*
Start meeting with vendors of time-synchronization equipment to determine
the solution that best fits your organization and specific needs. Some of
the leading vendors in this space include
Spectracom<http://www.spectracomcorp.com/>,
Symmetricom <http://www.symmetricom.com/> and EndRun Technologies.
<http://www.endruntechnologies.com/>

*Step 3: Policy*
If policies for time synchronization are not in place already, work with the
information security department to ensure that time synchronization becomes
part of the global enterprise information technology policy. Time
synchronization must be made part of the corporate IT systems and security
policies. Without a policy, there will be no impetus for staff to achieve
accurate, synchronized time. Often, a simple policy, such as, "Time
synchronization to an accurate time source is required on all enterprise
network devices," is a sufficient first step.

*Step 4: Architecture*
The first step to architecting an accurate time-synchronization solution is
to establish a network time source, known as a reference clock, for
tracability to national and international standards. A typical reference
clock would use GPS (Global Positioning System) to receive time from
satellites. Second, create a downstream topology for all network components
to use the reference clock as the network's master source of time.

*Step 5: Auditability*
Steps 1 through 4 are important from a technical perspective. But even with
the most sophisticated timing device, you still need to have independent and
auditable time controls in place. As part of this, you must be able to prove
to auditors and regulators that the time on any monitored system was
correctly synchronized with a specified time source.

Also, it is important to note that time synchronization will not magically
cure a regulatory material weakness leading to an internal controls problem.
Those in control of time synchronization still can manipulate time and/or
data. It becomes an issue, at least in part, of taking control over this
material weakness away from insiders. With that, it is imperative to ensure
that insiders are not engaging in any time-based data manipulation.

Also, if something goes to court, you need to prove that all your devices on
your network are synchronized and that all transactions that took place are
able to provide an accurate, authenticated time source. This requires that
all logs are handled within the context of digital forensics and staff
members are following the appropriate rules of evidence.

*Conclusion*
The backdating fiasco demonstrates that the need for synchronized time is a
crucial business and technology requirement. As such, it is an integral part
of an effective network and security architecture. Ensuring accurate time is
relatively inexpensive and offers a significant ROI. And it is a great way
to stop your company from getting negative press ? not to mention to keep
your management team from being indicted.
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From: tglassey at earthlink.net (todd glassey)
Date: Wed, 21 Feb 2007 17:42:34 -0800

Totally off topic - and my apologies for that,  but Jared ...if you are interested this is more about Governance Processes failures for reporting and registering stock transactions and what it forced, that being a 48 hour reporting window for documenting the issuance of an option or stock grant - check out PCAOB...  (http://www.pcaobus.com/) which is now responsible for auditing those public company's and they are where the fire happens in this type of thing.

PCAOB has created a set of key documents called AS#, and AS-2 and AS-4 are the current key operating documents for the audit process. Likewise, www.coso.org (*the Treadway Commission) also has more info on this.

Todd
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Jared Morrisen 
  To: ntpwg at ntp.isc.org ; mills at udel.edu 
  Sent: Wednesday, February 21, 2007 2:42 PM
  Subject: [ntpwg] Weak Enforcement of Corporate Governance and Lax TechnicalControls Have Enabled the Illegal Backdating of Stock Options

  Interesting piece...

  Weak Enforcement of Corporate Governance and Lax Technical Controls Have Enabled the Illegal Backdating of Stock Options

  Feb 21, 2007
  URL: http://www.wallstreetandtech.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=197007836 

  In 2006 hundreds of companies were implicated in stock-option timing scandals, and a number of executives were indicted for illegally backdating stock options. While greed is the primary reason for backdating, it is abetted by weak enforcement of corporate governance that should prevent the practice in the first place. Often, there also is a lack of technical controls on corporate networks to deter such activities. 

  Options backdating is the dating of employee stock options with an earlier date than the actual date of the grant. The objective is to choose a date on which the price of the underlying stock is lower than the current price, resulting in an instant profit to the grantee. When dealing with tens or hundreds of thousands of shares, and price differentials in the range of $50 a share, the amount of illicit gain can be immense. 

  This time distortion results not only in the value of the option being much greater to the employee receiving it, but in a correlative detriment to shareholders by way of stock price dilution. While backdating of stock options is not necessarily illegal if the grantor of the stock options properly discloses the backdating, it remains to be seen whether some other fiduciary duty has been breached. 

  Most of the legal issues arising from backdating are a result of the grantor falsifying documents to conceal the backdating. According to attorney Louis Brilleman, counsel at Sichenzia Ross Friedman Ference in New York, a law firm specializing in securities matters, backdating is illegal under most circumstances. The practice usually leads to the creation of fraudulent documents through the disclosure of misleading corporate earnings and the improper reporting of the option grant under applicable tax rules, Brilleman explains. 

  Options backdating has been going on for many years. The rules changed in 2002 with the passage of Sarbanes-Oxley, but even that did not stop some companies from continuing backdating practices. Accurate timing of transactions ? stock or otherwise ? is fundamental to any SOX report. Further, beginning in August 2002, and pursuant to SOX and other securities laws, the SEC started requiring companies to disclose their stock-option awards within two days of options grants. 

  With new regulations in place, backdating now is a regulatory issue, and, as such, companies can no longer bury their heads in the sand and hope no one notices. It has become clear that the element of time is now an internal control. Any weaknesses in tracking the time of stock-option grants must be investigated, reported and corrected. 

  Companies now must take the necessary steps to ensure that any backdating will be detected. Besides the development of policies, procedures and standards around backdating, there are technical solutions that can be implemented to support such an endeavor. 

  Time Synchronization Is Imperative

  These technical solutions center on time synchronization. Companies must proactively create a time-synchronization mandate and ensure that it is correctly deployed throughout their IT environments. Fortunately, creating such a time synchronization infrastructure is relatively easy, and the ROI on such an undertaking can be significant. 

  As time-synchronization hardware is a needed investment, properly communicating the need to management is crucial to getting funding for the technology. Synchronizing time is a fundamental business and technology decision that should be an integral part of an effective network and security architecture. 

  The need for this is evident in that an enterprise information network and security infrastructure is highly dependent on synchronized time. In addition, there also are regulatory issues that require correct synchronized time ? from NASD OATS, FFIEC and GLBA, to Visa CISP and many more. All of these regulations recognize that correct time is critical for transactions across a network. Many events on the network need the correct time to initiate jobs, complete transactions, etc. Correct time is critical for billing systems, authentication systems, manufacturing, forensics and more. 

  Common to all of these regulations is the requirement that financial transactions and changes to electronic records be accurately time-stamped. To provide accurate time stamps, all network devices must be synchronized relative to national and international time standards. 

  At the application and operating system level, most applications and networking protocols require correct synchronized time. Vendors such as Microsoft, Cisco, Oracle, Red Hat, Novell and Baan all state that their systems must be configured to an authoritative time server for proper and secure use. 

  Time servers cost from $2,000 to $10,000, depending on the level of accuracy and redundancy required. Time servers, which take but a few hours to install, provide additional benefits, such as reduced downtime and the ability to mitigate legal exposure. 

  Options backdating is the problem, and time synchronization is the solution. But getting from solution to implementation takes proper planning and project management. With that, the following five steps can be used as a high-level framework for implementing synchronized time in your organization. 

  Step 1: Risks and Requirements
  The first step is to formally determine the risk to your company if you do not have synchronized time. Don't underestimate the risks; if you don't practice due care pertaining to the time on your network system, you can be legally liable for negligence and held accountable for the ramifications of that negligence. 

  Next, determine how accurate your clocks need to be. This can be anywhere from milliseconds to a few seconds. Finally, advise management of the risks of nonsynchronized time and get their approval for the purchase of time-synchronization equipment and the initiation of a time-synchronization project. 

  Step 2: Hardware and Software
  Start meeting with vendors of time-synchronization equipment to determine the solution that best fits your organization and specific needs. Some of the leading vendors in this space include Spectracom, Symmetricom and EndRun Technologies. 

  Step 3: Policy
  If policies for time synchronization are not in place already, work with the information security department to ensure that time synchronization becomes part of the global enterprise information technology policy. Time synchronization must be made part of the corporate IT systems and security policies. Without a policy, there will be no impetus for staff to achieve accurate, synchronized time. Often, a simple policy, such as, "Time synchronization to an accurate time source is required on all enterprise network devices," is a sufficient first step. 

  Step 4: Architecture
  The first step to architecting an accurate time-synchronization solution is to establish a network time source, known as a reference clock, for tracability to national and international standards. A typical reference clock would use GPS (Global Positioning System) to receive time from satellites. Second, create a downstream topology for all network components to use the reference clock as the network's master source of time. 

  Step 5: Auditability
  Steps 1 through 4 are important from a technical perspective. But even with the most sophisticated timing device, you still need to have independent and auditable time controls in place. As part of this, you must be able to prove to auditors and regulators that the time on any monitored system was correctly synchronized with a specified time source. 

  Also, it is important to note that time synchronization will not magically cure a regulatory material weakness leading to an internal controls problem. Those in control of time synchronization still can manipulate time and/or data. It becomes an issue, at least in part, of taking control over this material weakness away from insiders. With that, it is imperative to ensure that insiders are not engaging in any time-based data manipulation. 

  Also, if something goes to court, you need to prove that all your devices on your network are synchronized and that all transactions that took place are able to provide an accurate, authenticated time source. This requires that all logs are handled within the context of digital forensics and staff members are following the appropriate rules of evidence. 

  Conclusion
  The backdating fiasco demonstrates that the need for synchronized time is a crucial business and technology requirement. As such, it is an integral part of an effective network and security architecture. Ensuring accurate time is relatively inexpensive and offers a significant ROI. And it is a great way to stop your company from getting negative press ? not to mention to keep your management team from being indicted. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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  ntpwg mailing list
  ntpwg at lists.ntp.isc.org
  https://lists.ntp.isc.org/mailman/listinfo/ntpwg
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From: brian.utterback at sun.com (Brian Utterback)
Date: Thu, 22 Feb 2007 08:48:05 -0500

I don't buy this at all. I think we all agree that time sync has
the benfits listed at the end, i.e. "integral part of an effective 
network and security architecture". But I fail to see how synchronized
clocks on the network would prevent the backdating of stock options. I
guarantee that none of the options in question got the date filled in
by reading the system clock.

Jared Morrisen wrote:
> Interesting piece...
>  
> *Weak Enforcement of Corporate Governance and Lax Technical Controls 
> Have Enabled the Illegal Backdating of Stock Options*
> 
> Feb 21, 2007
> URL: 
> http://www.wallstreetandtech.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=197007836 
> <http://www.wallstreetandtech.com/showArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=EFGZH0BSWEZYAQSNDLRSKHSCJUNN2JVN?articleID=197007836> 
> 
> 
> scandals, and a number of executives were indicted for illegally 
> backdating stock options. While greed is the primary reason for 
> backdating, it is abetted by weak enforcement of corporate governance 
> that should prevent the practice in the first place. Often, there also 
> is a lack of technical controls on corporate networks to deter such 
> activities.
> 
> Options backdating is the dating of employee stock options with an 
> earlier date than the actual date of the grant. The objective is to 
> choose a date on which the price of the underlying stock is lower than 
> the current price, resulting in an instant profit to the grantee. When 
> dealing with tens or hundreds of thousands of shares, and price 
> differentials in the range of $50 a share, the amount of illicit gain 
> can be immense.
> 
> This time distortion results not only in the value of the option being 
> much greater to the employee receiving it, but in a correlative 
> detriment to shareholders by way of stock price dilution. While 
> backdating of stock options is not necessarily illegal if the grantor of 
> the stock options properly discloses the backdating, it remains to be 
> seen whether some other fiduciary duty has been breached.
> 
> Most of the legal issues arising from backdating are a result of the 
> grantor falsifying documents to conceal the backdating. According to 
> attorney Louis Brilleman, counsel at Sichenzia Ross Friedman Ference in 
> New York, a law firm specializing in securities matters, backdating is 
> illegal under most circumstances. The practice usually leads to the 
> creation of fraudulent documents through the disclosure of misleading 
> corporate earnings and the improper reporting of the option grant under 
> applicable tax rules, Brilleman explains.
> 
> Options backdating has been going on for many years. The rules changed 
> in 2002 with the passage of Sarbanes-Oxley, but even that did not stop 
> some companies from continuing backdating practices. Accurate timing of 
> Further, beginning in August 2002, and pursuant to SOX and other 
> securities laws, the SEC started requiring companies to disclose their 
> stock-option awards within two days of options grants.
> 
> With new regulations in place, backdating now is a regulatory issue, 
> and, as such, companies can no longer bury their heads in the sand and 
> hope no one notices. It has become clear that the element of time is now 
> an internal control. Any weaknesses in tracking the time of stock-option 
> grants must be investigated, reported and corrected.
> 
> Companies now must take the necessary steps to ensure that any 
> backdating will be detected. Besides the development of policies, 
> procedures and standards around backdating, there are technical 
> solutions that can be implemented to support such an endeavor.
> 
> correctly deployed throughout their IT environments. Fortunately, 
> creating such a time synchronization infrastructure is relatively easy, 
> and the ROI on such an undertaking can be significant.
> 
> communicating the need to management is crucial to getting funding for 
> the technology. Synchronizing time is a fundamental business and 
> technology decision that should be an integral part of an effective 
> network and security architecture.
> 
> The need for this is evident in that an enterprise information network 
> and security infrastructure is highly dependent on synchronized time. In 
> addition, there also are regulatory issues that require correct 
> synchronized time ? from NASD OATS, FFIEC and GLBA, to Visa CISP and 
> many more. All of these regulations recognize that correct time is 
> critical for transactions across a network. Many events on the network 
> need the correct time to initiate jobs, complete transactions, etc. 
> Correct time is critical for billing systems, authentication systems, 
> manufacturing, forensics and more.
> 
> transactions and changes to electronic records be accurately 
> time-stamped. To provide accurate time stamps, all network devices must 
> be synchronized relative to national and international time standards.
> 
> systems must be configured to an authoritative time server for proper 
> and secure use.
> 
> Time servers cost from $2,000 to $10,000, depending on the level of 
> accuracy and redundancy required. Time servers, which take but a few 
> hours to install, provide additional benefits, such as reduced downtime 
> and the ability to mitigate legal exposure.
> 
> Options backdating is the problem, and time synchronization is the 
> solution. But getting from solution to implementation takes proper 
> planning and project management. With that, the following five steps can 
> be used as a high-level framework for implementing synchronized time in 
> your organization.
> 
> The first step is to formally determine the risk to your company if you 
> do not have synchronized time. Don't underestimate the risks; if you 
> don't practice due care pertaining to the time on your network system, 
> you can be legally liable for negligence and held accountable for the 
> ramifications of that negligence.
> 
> Next, determine how accurate your clocks need to be. This can be 
> anywhere from milliseconds to a few seconds. Finally, advise management 
> of the risks of nonsynchronized time and get their approval for the 
> purchase of time-synchronization equipment and the initiation of a 
> time-synchronization project.
> 
> Start meeting with vendors of time-synchronization equipment to 
> determine the solution that best fits your organization and specific 
> needs. Some of the leading vendors in this space include Spectracom 
> <http://www.spectracomcorp.com/>, Symmetricom 
> <http://www.symmetricom.com/> and EndRun Technologies. 
> If policies for time synchronization are not in place already, work with 
> the information security department to ensure that time synchronization 
> becomes part of the global enterprise information technology policy. 
> Time synchronization must be made part of the corporate IT systems and 
> security policies. Without a policy, there will be no impetus for staff 
> to achieve accurate, synchronized time. Often, a simple policy, such as, 
> "Time synchronization to an accurate time source is required on all 
> enterprise network devices," is a sufficient first step.
> 
> *Step 4: Architecture*
> The first step to architecting an accurate time-synchronization solution 
> is to establish a network time source, known as a reference clock, for 
> satellites. Second, create a downstream topology for all network 
> components to use the reference clock as the network's master source of 
> time.
> 
> *Step 5: Auditability*
> Steps 1 through 4 are important from a technical perspective. But even 
> with the most sophisticated timing device, you still need to have 
> independent and auditable time controls in place. As part of this, you 
> must be able to prove to auditors and regulators that the time on any 
> monitored system was correctly synchronized with a specified time source.
> 
> Also, it is important to note that time synchronization will not 
> magically cure a regulatory material weakness leading to an internal 
> controls problem. Those in control of time synchronization still can 
> manipulate time and/or data. It becomes an issue, at least in part, of 
> taking control over this material weakness away from insiders. With 
> that, it is imperative to ensure that insiders are not engaging in any 
> time-based data manipulation.
> 
> Also, if something goes to court, you need to prove that all your 
> devices on your network are synchronized and that all transactions that 
> took place are able to provide an accurate, authenticated time source. 
> This requires that all logs are handled within the context of digital 
> forensics and staff members are following the appropriate rules of 
> evidence.
> 
> *Conclusion*
> The backdating fiasco demonstrates that the need for synchronized time 
> is a crucial business and technology requirement. As such, it is an 
> integral part of an effective network and security architecture. 
> Ensuring accurate time is relatively inexpensive and offers a 
> significant ROI. And it is a great way to stop your company from getting 
> negative press ? not to mention to keep your management team from being 
> indicted.
> 
> 
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 

-- 
blu

"Remember 'A Thousand Points of Light'? With a network, we now have
a thousand points of failure."
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Brian Utterback - Solaris RPE, Sun Microsystems, Inc.
Ph:877-259-7345, Em:brian.utterback-at-ess-you-enn-dot-kom

---

From: jaredmorrisen at gmail.com (Jared Morrisen)
Date: Thu, 22 Feb 2007 10:29:35 -0500

>>>>But I fail to see how synchronized clocks on the network would prevent
the backdating of stock options. I guarantee that none of the options in
question got the date filled in by reading the system clock.

i think that it is based on the assumption that since the timestamp is from
a trusted and audited source, then it is the accurate one.

/jared

On 2/22/07, Brian Utterback <brian.utterback at sun.com> wrote:
> > <
> http://www.wallstreetandtech.com/showArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=EFGZH0BSWEZYAQSNDLRSKHSCJUNN2JVN?articleID=197007836
> >
> >
> >
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From: brian.utterback at sun.com (Brian Utterback)
Date: Thu, 22 Feb 2007 11:07:51 -0500

So, all timestamps will henceforth be only from audit-able sources? As
almost all articles on option backdating have stated, it is not the
backdating that is illegal, it is doing it without disclosure. The value
of the start date has to be arbitrary, although it could default to
the current date. Are we saying that the programs that handle this data
flag any date field whose default is "now" that has its default 
overridden? It just doesn't seem to make any sense.

Jared Morrisen wrote:
>  >>>>But I fail to see how synchronized clocks on the network would 
> prevent the backdating of stock options. I guarantee that none of the 
> options in question got the date filled in by reading the system clock.
>  
> i think that it is based on the assumption that since the timestamp is 
> from a trusted and audited source, then it is the accurate one.
>  
> /jared
> 
> 
>  
> On 2/22/07, *Brian Utterback* <brian.utterback at sun.com 
> <mailto:brian.utterback at sun.com>> wrote:
> 
>     the benfits listed at the end, i.e . "integral part of an effective
>     http://www.wallstreetandtech.com/showArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=EFGZH0BSWEZYAQSNDLRSKHSCJUNN2JVN?articleID=197007836>
>      >
>      >
>      > <http://www.spectracomcorp.com/
>     <http://www.spectracomcorp.com/>>, Symmetricom
>      > <http://www.endruntechnologies.com/
>     <http://www.endruntechnologies.com/>>
>      >
>      > *Step 3: Policy*
>      > ntpwg at lists.ntp.isc.org <mailto:ntpwg at lists.ntp.isc.org>

-- 
blu

---

From: mayer at ntp.isc.org (Danny Mayer)
Date: Thu, 22 Feb 2007 23:48:37 -0500

> Have Enabled the Illegal Backdating of Stock Options*

Please take this elsewhere. This has nothing to do with NTP which deals
with technical issues involving millisecond accuracy while you are
foisting stories on social/governance issues involving days and weeks.

Danny

---

From: brian.utterback at sun.com (Brian Utterback)
Date: Fri, 23 Feb 2007 09:06:40 -0500

Well, the article is pretty explicitly talking about NTP, so it does
have to do with NTP. However, I agree that it doesn't have anything to
do with the technical issues involved with NTP implementation.

-- 
blu