Officials of the company, based in Irvine, Calif., were unavailable for comment.

Officials of Borden, based in New York, did not return phone calls seeking comment.

Officials at Morton Thiokol, based in Utah, said they had no comment on the settlement.

Officials of Reed Elsevier, based in London, could not be reached last night.

Officials at National Education, based in Irvine, Calif., did not return calls seeking comment.

Officials at Novell, based in Provo, Utah, said today that they had no comment.

Officials from toysmart.com, based in Waltham, Mass., could not be reached for comment.

Officials of Delgado's Reynolds team based in Spain were said to have called attention to the difference in the two lists.

Officials of Argyle, based in San Antonio, did not return phone calls seeking comment.

Officials at Cray Research, based in Minneapolis, said that they were ambivalent about the delays.