HP Spying More Elaborate Than Reported

theodp writes "The NY Times reports the secret investigation of news leaks at HP was more elaborate than previously reported. In addition to illicitly gathering private phone records almost from the start, detectives reportedly followed and videotaped some directors and journalists, were given photos of reporters to help identify them, and tried to plant surveillance software on a CNET reporter's computer. HP also fessed up to spying on its own spokesman, whose personal phone records were taken."

Comments

Will anyone care?

[TopShelf]

The interesting question is, will anyone care enough about this to stop doing business with HP? Will any major corporate clients reject these practices and refuse to deal with a company that engages in them?

I'm guessing not.

There will be a few people punished in a very public fashion, while behind the scenes this sort of behavior becomes commonplace.

Maybe it's just Monday Morning talking here, but I hope I'm wrong.

Re:Will anyone care?

[lucabrasi999]

With all that invested in a product, (not just the product but the support infrastructure), it would take years to change over to new hardware.

I am working on this type of migration right now. We are moving all applications to one vendor's hardware platform (and virtualizing it all). Our timeline on this project is 3 years. We could complete the task much more quickly, but we are being hamstrung by customer internal processes.

Re:Will anyone care?

[_damnit_]

If what you said were true, I'd be inclined to agree. The people involved have NOT been punished. The Chairwoman will keep her position until January at which point she will step down but KEEP HER DIRECTOR SEAT. The CEO Mr. Hurd, a director as well, was an informed and complicit participant in the decision as much as the Chairwoman. HE WILL BECOME CHAIRMAN. Another director resigned in protest of the investigation. His symbolic resignation intended to be an embarassing slight to the board and force them to reconsider their illegal actions was covered up and not reported to the SEC as required by law.

So, the roundup on punishments:
Chairwoman moves down one slot, keeps money, perks and most of her power.
CEO moves up to chairman
Director (read: good guy) who resigned out of sense of duty: still gone from boardroom
Number of directors on the board, reduced

What should happen? I'm not sure as I don't have all the facts and I don't claim to be a lawyer. As a layman, I would expect Chairwoman Dunn to lose her seat on the board and forfeit any unvested compensation. I would hope Mr Hurd would lose his position on the board as well. The board should bring back the resigned member. The fellow who was leaking info should be removed from the board and lose compensation same as Ms Dunn. HP and other companies need strong boards. HP once had a reputation for good governance. Let's hope that returns.

BTW - I don't work for HP or really care too much about them. No emotions or money invested.

How bad does it need to be?

[carpeweb]

Before this "even worse news" about the extent of the spying, HP's board should have forced Dunn to resign immediately from the board. Instead, they allowed her to continue as chairwoman until January and to continue as a director after that. I predict that the board will now force her immediate resignation, but will they also strip her of her directorship? What about severance? They should take it all, retroactively. IANAL, but I'll bet that's legal, somehow.