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Calif. AG Files Felony Charges In HP Probe
PreacherTom writes, "Former Hewlett-Packard Chair Patricia Dunn, along with 'ethics chief' Kevin Hunsaker and others, was indicted yesterday on four felony counts by the California Attorney General. The charges, including wire fraud and conspiracy, carry a maximum penalty of 12 years in prison and $30,000 in fines. The indictments follow on the heels of an HP investigation of internal leaks that conducted "bugged" emails to C-Net reporter Dawn Kawamoto, illicitly obtained hundreds of phone numbers, and spied on HP board members." One of the indictments was for a private investigator retained by HP. The article has links to the complaints and warrants.
She deserved it as much as them.
So, if they are convicted...does that mean that pretexting is no longer "possibly" illegal, but is now a felony?
Insisting on "correct" English is like saying that there is only one, definitive recipe for chili.
Excellent. For many corporate executive types such as Dunn and her ilk, the consequences for illegal acts are very abstract - at the very worst a resignation, cushioned by a golden parachute of stock options, pensions and benefits. It needs to be forcefully demonstrated to these people that if you commit a crime, you are by definition a criminal, and will be treated as such.
Frankly, if I had to choose between being punched in the face by a crackhead who wants my wallet, or watching a few thousand people lose everything they had to corporate crime, I'll take the punch. Both scenarios can be traced to the actions of one or two people deciding to do something naughty. Which is "worse?"
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A CEO authorizes spying and she gets charged with a felony and a full blown investigation.
A CEO President is spying on innocent Americans as long as he says he thinks they're terrorists, and what happens? His sheep in congress pass a law to make it legal for him.
I love the smell of hypocrisy in the morning as much as anyone. But come on, congress, senate, show some damn backbone like your colleagues did when they stood up to Nixon.
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Let me get this straight: pretexting is currently a legal "gray area," and you're talking about people getting raped.
I'm confused. Apparently, you've taken your time to rail against government regulation by attempting to make a highly strained analogy between two entirely unrelated subjects, and the second idea you offer to prove your point - ie, that hate crime laws are only in place so that the ebil gubmint can circumvent the Constitution and place people in double jeopardy - isn't even widely held or supported.
Look. What Dunn did was either 1) illegal, or 2) should be. This isn't a question of Congressional pandering. Let me remind you that the current administration and congress hold the belief that big business = better economy. Nothing wrong with that, but it's of worth to note since you seem to additionally imply that Congress is ready to beat up on any corporation it sees, which isn't true.
Pretexting, the main legal question here, should be illegal if it's not. From what I can make of your rather bizarre argument, you seem to claim otherwise. You're wrong.
ACs are modded -6. I don't read you, I don't mod you, I don't see you. Don't like it? Don't be a coward.
She's Dunn.
It never gets old, does it?
I am not your blowing wind, I am the lightning.
Jail should be a last resort. It makes no use of the person or their time, and does nothing to "rehabilitate" anyone.
Those enron executives still have vast knowledge on a variety of subjects, useful skills, and other things. It would have been significantly better use of their time to, say, have them go on speaking circuits at business ethics meetings, or universities, and send the vast majority of money they get from these events to the victims of their actions.
I'm not trying to argue the severity of their crimes relative to others. I'm saying using jail for anything but violent criminals is an absolute waste of resources.
The term pretexting is really, really ridiculous.
When a pimply faced cracker does the same thing (call up people in order to gain illegal access to a system) it's called social engineering and fuck-as-hell illegal. When BigCorp does the same thing it's called "pretexting" and is considered a grey area.
Somehow this has a rancid stench of the application of newspeak in order to justify double standards.
Fucking hypocrites!
(I don't specifically mean your post, with which I disagree. I just wanted to get this off my system)
ich bin der musikant
mit taschenrechner in der hand
kraftwerk
I'm drifting off topic a bit, but your average mugger isn't a murderer, they just want to rob you and split. Any weapons are for intimidation, to force you into quickly giving up what's in your pockets. At worst you just lose your cash and cards, but even the most savvy mugger won't have much of a shot at your 401K or your kids' college funds. At best, you can possibly defend yourself, or get away. So, I feel you generally have more of a fighting chance in an encounter with a violent criminal on the street than you do against a board of directors pushing a few buttons in an illegal manner.
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How about if drugs were legal and could be purchased at normal prices (cocaine, $35 oz) and the only people injured were the users, as it should be.
That person shot in the head was killed by the war on drugs.
Exactly. Legalize them, regulate them, and tax the hell out of them.
1. Decreased costs to the justice system [many fewer prosecutions of illegal drugs]
2. Decreased crime [ancillary crimes related to the obtaining of illegal drugs]
3. Decreased costs for the penal system [much smaller jail population]
4. Increased government revenue [taxes on drugs]
5. Decreased tax burden on the rest of us as a result of 1-4 [OK, I give. Like that would ever happen]
Fascism starts when the efficiency of the government becomes more important than the rights of the people.