Last week's conviction of former Brocade chief executive officer Gregory Reyes of stock option backdating continues to send shivers through Silicon Valley.

More indictments are likely to follow, reports the ISS corporate governance blog.

In the White Collar Crime blog , Professor Peter Henning makes the point that the other cases are different but the players at companies like KLA-Tencor, Mercury Interactive and Apple must be worried.

"A conviction in one case does not mean others will turn out the same, but federal prosecutors have to like their chances if they choose to bring new cases," Henning writes.

Meanwhile TheStreet.com reports that shareholder anger over executive compensation and backdating is growing at Apple with three shareholder proposals stirring the pot. Sure they failed to get up but that's not the point. With the proposals getting 40 per cent of the vote, it sends a very clear signal to Apple directors.