BRIEFS.

SCO Group Inc. SCOXQ; DELTA Air Lines Inc. DAL; MICROSOFT Corp. 081466849 MSFT; ICOS Corp. 613326719 ICOS

This section presents updates presents news briefs on the U.S. computer industry as of May 10, 2004. The SCO Group Inc. said it has laid off an unspecified number of workers in an effort to make its Unix software operations profitable by the end of its third quarter in July 2004. A spokesman said the cuts affected less than 10 percent of the vendor's 275 employees. But he added that the move involved workers in all departments, including engineering. Meanwhile, Delta Air Lines Inc. declined to comment about the cause of a systems glitch that forced it to cancel about 40 flights and delay an unspecified number of departures on May 1, 2004. The airline has resolved the situation, said a spokeswoman. But, as a matter of company policy, the airline will not provide additional information on the issue to ensure the protection of its information technology systems. In a separate news, the U.S. Department of Justice said Bill Gates, Microsoft Corp. chairman and chief software architect, has agreed to pay an $800,000 civil penalty to settle charges that he violated stock-buying requirements in 2002. The case involved a $50 million stock purchase that Gates made in ICOS Corp., a pharmaceutical maker, through his personal investment company.