HOW BACKDATING WORKS A stock option allows the option holder to buy shares at some point in the future for a fixed price. The option price is almost always based on the stock's price the day the option is granted. Backdating involves manipulating the issue date, often after a run-up in the price of the stock, so the option becomes more valuable for the holder. In some cases, executives have been awarded options backdated to the day the stock hit a low for the quarter. From wire reports

CNet, which reviews electronics and other products on the Web, named Neil Ashe CEO. Jarl Mohn, previously president and chief executive of Liberty Digital, has been named non-executive chairman.

CNetT said a special committee established to investigate the company's past granting of stock options found instances of backdating, a practice that can inflate the potential windfall to recipients when options are exercised. The company said a number of executives, including Bonnie, "bear varying degrees of responsibility" for deficiencies in CNet's past options-granting process.

Bonnie, a co-founder of the San Francisco-based company, will remain a member of CNet's board. He apologized for the options-related problems in a statement released by the company.

Ashe joined CNet Networks in 2002 and was most recently senior vide president of strategy and development.

CNet shares fell in morning trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market. The company also said it would delay filing financial reports and cut its earnings guidance.

It is one of many companies to run into problems by backdating options to days when the company's stock price was lower, thus boosting executive payouts. At least 130 companies have disclosed SEC, Department of Justice or internal investigations into options practices, according to a review by The Associated Press.

Other top executives also have been ousted or left their jobs as a result of the probes. On Wednesday, anti-virus and security software provider McAfee fired President Kevin Weiss, and announced that CEO and Chairman George Samenuk will retire after a stock options investigation found accounting problems that will require financial restatements.

Software maker Mercury Interactive, one of the first companies to disclose problems with backdated options, last year dumped CEO Amnon Landan, as well as its chief financial officer and general counsel.

Perhaps the most famous executive caught up in the options scandal is Jacob "Kobi" Alexander, the fugitive former CEO of software company Comverse Technology. He's in the southern African nation of Namibia, awaiting extradition to the United States to face charges of manipulating options.