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Boardroom Spying Debacle at HP

theodp writes "As word spread that HP was dumping Board member George Keyworth for press leaks, Newsweek broke the bigger story: HP Chairwoman Patricia Dunn was so obsessed with finding the leaker that she authorized a team of independent electronic-security experts to spy on the phone records of calls made from HP Directors' home and private cell phones. Not only that, phone records were obtained via pretexting, the controversial practice of obtaining information under false pretenses. After Dunn laid out the surveillance scheme for the Board last May, HP Director Tom Perkins quit on the spot, characterizing Dunn's actions as illegal and unethical. HP is also coming under fire for playing dumb to the SEC about the reasons behind Perkins' resignation. Perkins, who helped launch HP's computer division in the 60's, has asked the FTC, FCC and the Justice Department to investigate."

10 of 505 comments (clear)

  1. 'Pretext'? by displaced80 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Funny. I'd call it 'lying'.

    If you have to think up a euphemism for what you're doing, it's probably wrong.

    Unless it's funny, like 'bumping uglies' or 'dropping the kids off at the pool'

    --
    What's the frequency, Kenneth?
  2. Re:Trust in the boardroom by wiml · · Score: 4, Funny

    I like how the board "[upheld] the standards of confidentiality" by ... violating the confidentiality of the board members' personal lives. Yay for double standards!

  3. Re:And this is why by Quiet_Desperation · · Score: 5, Funny

    having women in power won't necessarily make for a kinder, gentler world.

    That's because it's a certain personality type that goes after power, and that type is gender neutral.

    Also, if women ran the world, the Earth would be a bombed out nuclear ruin after the first full moon.

    Oh, I'm gonna get modded down...

  4. Re:First stock advice post! by Prof.Phreak · · Score: 3, Funny

    Short sell! Short sell!!! ...if only you packaged it up in an animated gif, and flashed it every 17 seconds...

    --

    "If anything can go wrong, it will." - Murphy

  5. OK, obvious question by Intron · · Score: 3, Funny

    "Keyworth was asked to resign but has refused to do so. HP said it will not renominate him to its xxx-member board."

    Just where are HP getting their board members?

    --
    Intron: the portion of DNA which expresses nothing useful.
  6. Re:And this is why by tutori · · Score: 5, Funny
    Oh, I'm gonna get modded down...
    Well, maybe if there were women on /.
  7. Re:An example by 0xdeadbeef · · Score: 5, Funny

    You will probably hear a knock at your door any minute now...

    You sent him a pizza? I want one!

  8. Re:An example by aplusjimages · · Score: 3, Funny

    It's amazing to me that people seek to blame everything on George W Bush.

    It's only fair because Clinton gets blamed for all of Bush's mistakes and he's not even in office anymore.

    --
    Can I bum a sig?
  9. Re:Used to work for Pattie Dunn - what a change by DragonWriter · · Score: 4, Funny
    As a former employee of Pattie Dunn when she worked at Wells Fargo Nikko Investment Advisors which became Barclays Global Investors, I always found Pattie to be a person who really cared about her employees and their personal lives.
    Apparently, she still cares very much about their personal lives.
  10. Re:An example by OakDragon · · Score: 4, Funny

    Wow. I know that eventally, all Slashdot threads wind up in a Bush-bash. But this is the first case I've seen that goes straight there! (That is, without Bush or the government being the subject of the story.)