Seattle, Sept 30: Computer security software and services provider Network Associates Inc. said on Monday it has agreed to pay shareholders $70 million to settle a class-action lawsuit charging that it had inflated its stock price. The settlement is subject to approval by the federal court in San Francisco.

Network Associates shares barely moved in after-hours trade, where they stood at $13.90, after closing 13 cents lower at $13.88 on the New York Stock Exchange.
Shareholders had sued Network Associates and some of its former executives in late 2000 and early 2001, charging that an effort was made to inflate the Santa Clara, California-based company's stock price by improperly booking revenue.
The lawsuit claimed that Network Associates had misled investors by recognizing software revenue when it was shipped to distributors, rather than when end-user paid for its products, a practice called "channel stuffing."
Network Associates had revealed in late 2000, after an audit by PricewaterhouseCoopers, that it would change its accounting practices after posting declining sales and losses. Bureau Report