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HP Skates Away From SEC Charges
theodp writes "The SEC has dropping charges against HP, in return for some small concessions. The company was originally charged with improperly depriving investors of important information, violating the public reporting requirements of the Securities Exchange Act, and failing to disclose the full impact of an out-of-control press leak investigation. In return for the dropped charges, the computer maker simply agreed to cease and desist from doing similar acts in the future, without admitting or denying having done so in the past. 'HP acted in what it believed to be a proper manner,' said the company in a press release."
Never mind that. Do these editors speak English?
No they skated away on the remanents of the grease they paid these guys to let them get off.
Why don't we hold corporate america to high standards any more ? This countries reputation is being bought and sold by these companies everyday.
Nothing like greasing the goons to let you go.
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"The SEC has dropping charges against HP..."
Slashdot does have editors, right?
Right?
Yes my precious!
*** Beware. Disgust vent system engaged. ***
Chas - The one, the only.
THANK GOD!!!
Step 1: Become a Corporation. Step 2: Commit a crime. Step 3: Profit! Step 4: Dont go to jail. and maybe.. Step 5: Write a book about it. Step 6: Profit!
Libertarian Leaning Political Discussion Forum.
You know, it's disgusting how this country has become for a dollar....
Phillips, TRW, and Koch have more in common than a history of repeatedly violating workplace and environmental laws. They also rank among the nation's largest government contractors. Between 1995 and 2000, the three corporations received a combined total of $10.4 billion in federal business-at the same time that regulatory agencies and federal courts were citing the companies for jeopardizing the safety of their employees, polluting the nation's air and water, and even defrauding the government.
That's not supposed to happen. Federal contracting officers are charged with reviewing the record of companies that do business with the government and barring those that fail to demonstrate "a satisfactory record of integrity and business ethics." But officials are given no guidelines to follow in making such decisions, and there's no centralized system they can consult to inform them of corporate wrongdoing. As a result, a government report concluded in 2000, those responsible for awarding federal contracts are "extremely reluctant" to take action, even when they are aware of violations. And in the rare instances when the rule is enforced, it is almost always employed against small companies with little clout in Washington.
There is little incentive for any company to follow laws of the law. Why should they when they can get a slap on the wrist and a wink of the eye... "You don't go doing that again now you here... By the way, we really like those HP notebooks and I was thinking about my son's classmates". Jesus christ this country is a scam in itself
Infiltrated dot Net
You can hold down the "B" button for continuous firing.
Maybe they need to invest in some plastic bags to put those droppings in next time. Or I suppose they could flush it down the "tubes" where the rest of it is.
HP believes pretexting is "proper." HP believes that pretexting, something that if I were to do to HP would certainly NOT be considered "proper" is perfectly acceptable.
Keep in mind that it wasn't long ago that a bill legalizing pretexting was pushed by the RIAA.
Please stop buying HP stuff. Please stop buying stuff from companies that have a political axe to grind against their consumers. Please stop buying stuff from companies that consider consumers a silent, renewable, god given, right to exploit resource that simply keeps buying their dreck regardless of their political behavior.
Start voting (because you haven't been at the polls). Boycott HP.
Why don't we hold corporate america to high standards any more ?
Any more? When did we ever?
"It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education." -Albert Einstein
...Go ahead and break the law. We'll let you off if you promise not to do it again.
I hope they at least made them pinky-swear.
...and escape all punishment for having knowingly and egregiously broken the law before the promise. From the SEC press release: "Without admitting or denying the Commission's findings, HP consented to an order that it cease and desist from committing or causing violations of these provisions." Oh, wait I get it! Knowing something is illegal and doing it anyway is not grounds for punishment as long as you, once cuaght, just promise to cease and desist violating the law thereafter. Defendant: "Gosh Your Honor. If, despite the prosecution's proving I broke the law and robbed a bank, I neither admit nor deny doing it and further I promise to cease and desist robbing banks in the future, can I just go free now?" Judge: "Certainly. I think you've learned your lesson. Defendant dimissed. Son you are free to go" Corporations and the rich are held to far lower standards than the rest of us.
Appended to the end of comments you post. 120 chars.
Time to feed HP to Wu's pigs.
"You'll get nothing, and you'll like it!"
I'm running a pirated copy of Linux.
Because they are a corporate entity they should follow all the rules.
What would happen if I failed to file my taxes ! I get in deep trouble and would probably be hung from the state building by the IRS workers , via Lord of the Fly like hordes , but yet these guys just feel like they shouldn't have to report even the little things.
As an Hp stock holder this affects me. This is a major reason why most americans are starting to see investing in US companies a waste. They are not being "nice neighbors" any more.
"It stinks And I don't like it" - Surly Truck Driver from Spiderman movie.
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They withheld information that could have affected their stock price, and therefore their stockholders, in violation of federal law. They were allowed to escape punishment.
Sure, this particular incident doesn't affect me personally, but it is indicative of the general immunity that corporations seem to have from any consequences for their actions.
I wouldn't classify a regulation that requires a publicly traded company to reveal information that directly impacts their operations as "insane red-tape restrictions" either.
Hey, if you have money, feel free to break the law all you want, so long as you don't physically hurt someone. And if you do, I'm sure your prison sentence can get reduced for good behavior (ie. showing up to court on the correct date).
Yes. that's part of being in the club. Recent high-profile club members that will get off include:
4 7237
1 46051 No consequences on this one.
The major government IT vendors: http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/04/19/23
Jack Abramhoff and his pals: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Abramoff. A tiny number of people were perp-walked.
The Bush administration for, among other things, sodomizing the division that is used to exist between the Executive branch and the Attorneys General. http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=234873&cid=19
American history is full of corporate shenanigans that ended with no penalties. Why does it suck now?
Got Trader Joe's? friendwich.com RSS feeds work now!
They had a leak. they investigated the leak. They presented findings to the board. One board member objected to the investigation and presentation process and resigned. They didn't disclose the full details of the resignation to the SEC.
/. fanboy readership can inflict.
It's not like they poisoned Bhopal, killed a bunch of pets, or murdered everyone in Hama.
Ohhhhhhh. I get it. Big company. Definitely deserving of all the flea bites the
668: Neighbour of the Beast
HP said it was just a poor company from across the border, here to make profits Americans won't make.
The Feds decided it was too much hassle, made a speech, and let them go.
sigs, as if you care.
Microsoft's monopoly case was just as toothless. A relatively measly fine and promise to be good in the future. Exception, for corporate regulations to be effective, judgments have to be punitive and not regulatory. It simply takes too much of the state's resources and time to say "don't do it again." There's no deterrence when a CEO knows it'll be at least 4-5 years before a conviction (probably a wrist slap) comes down the pipe and that the state doesn't have the time or money to go after everyone. Hell, by then he'll be retired with a fat severance package from the fruits of his crime.
I swear to God...I swear to God! That is NOT how you treat your human!
I did not intend to classify what HP did as excusable or good; my only point was that the FUDspread caused by people with an agenda against corporate America and an utter lack of knowledge is virulent and obnoxious. Yes, if you are a publicly traded company, you have an obligation to be honest about your dealings to your investors. Although, sometimes I pine for a true "caveat emptor" system when it comes to privately traded companies, if only because less bureaucratic, thousand page red tape parades exchanged for a system just like one used between two private parties (think: you buy from me on eBay and I send you an empty box) might make the whole process more simple and fair.
Appended to the end of comments you post. 120 chars.
Jetted away for HP I think.
ccalam - acoustic versions of new songs.
HP just won a US$5.6Bn contract with NASA, too.
Is anyone else NOT shocked by this? It seems that if you're a big corporation and you are blatantly caught committing a felony, in the eyes of the new America, that's just fine. The only real criminals these days are regular people, not companies that steal, lie, and erode trust. Microsoft, Sony, HP, who else? It seems that these days if you are a popular and multi-billion dollar corporation you are free to interpret and obey the law whenever you so please or whenever you so displease. [If I had a huge THUMBS DOWN image, it would be attached right here.]
This countries reputation is being bought and sold by these companies everyday.
I'd like to point out that while power/influence/reputation may be bought by corporations every day, it is most certainly SOLD by your elected politicians. Instead of trying to hold a company to some ethical standard for which the very act of doing business often conflicts, we should instead remove from politicians the brokered power/influence/reputation of which being human often conflicts with being a good steward.
A modern day witchhunt.
Step 3.5 use that profit to give congress some bribes, err I mean campaign contributions.
If corporate America had half the morals of a rabid weasel, we wouldn't bitch so much. We're just tired of being bent over a barrel and told that what were getting is really an internal colon massage.
Care to name what FUD you are talking about, or is it really that ANY bad-mouthing of our Corporate Masters sticks in your craw? Do you secretly long for a society in which no one is allowed to criticize the status quo? Do you profit from supporting the status quo?
- None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
Was this a Freudian Slip
No. A "Freudian Slip" is when you say one thing and mean your mother.
"Do you profit from supporting the status quo?"
You really aught to put that in your sig. You add that snide personal attack to everything you post, it seems.
"Ask not what your country can do for you." --John F. Kennedy
How do you "cease" something that you don't admit to doing?
Thanks for the note.
/. postings is that the headline text usually reflects the /. bias, rather than the actual facts of the article. It's sometimes quite startling to compare the reality of the article with the headline text. I mean different planet startling.
One thing I've noticed about
668: Neighbour of the Beast
that's all you need to know.
if this is supposed to be a new economy, how come they still want my old fashioned money?
Fancy that, people who vehemently defend the status quo usually profit from it. How is asking someone to admit whether they profit from defending something a snide personal attack? You conservatives are such utter smirking hypocrites, you engage in personal attack all the time, and claim we are just being sensitive, or that you were just joking when we call you on it. But heaven forbid anyone should say something that offends you. Conservatives can dish it out, but they can't take it. I've read your site, it is neither brilliant nor common sense. It is a steaming pile of regurgitated sound bites and talking points with no original analysis whatsoever. You seem to have forgotten the most important point taught to you by your so-called savior, judge not lest ye be judged. You sir are a poor excuse for a Christian.
- None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
As we all know, rabies is also known as hydrophobia, hence the moral value that can be ascribed to rabidity is a fear of water.
So what you are saying, in essence, is if corporate America was only half-afraid of water -- maybe timid, or even just-a-bit-cautious, around it -- we wouldn't bitch so much.
Now, now, that's a little harsh. So what if the bendor derives a lot of pleasure from the act -- if the bendee truly has his colon massaged and his prostate stimulated by the act, isn't that all that really matters to the bendee? Does it really make on whit of difference that the bendor (corporate America in your analogy) is busting a nut at the same time?
Sorry to take the piss, but the overblown metaphors are ridiculous. It's just a fact that organizations as large as HP have a built-in mechanism to deaccentuate morality (the bureaucracy serves to separate decision-makers from the negative effects of their decisions) -- never mind the fact that businesses have always been in business to make money, not to make people feel good (unless, of course, they make money from making people feel good). If you want executives at large companies to exercise morality in their decision-making, you'd have to confront them face-to-face with the impacts of their decisions, a la Michael Moore. Otherwise, you're just bitching about the problem to no avail.
"Trolls they were, but filled with the evil will of their master: a fell race..." -- J.R.R. Tolkien on Olog-hai
I remember back in the 80's when people first noticed that the FCC was serving the interests of companies more than the populace. Everything else that has followed since from fighting for the rights of large media companies to merge to seeking to suppress internet content at the behest of AOL Time Warner started then with Regan's appointees. Now the FCC openly behaves as a tool of the conglomerates. Or in the case of the illegal wiretapping, a tool of the NSA.
A similar lack of complaint was heard when the food and drug administration reevaluated aspertame for the third time and declared it safe despite their own warnings to the contrary see here. Thanks again Donald Rumsfeld.
Then the Food and Drug administration recently was accused of stepping down enforcement of many complaints and 'streamlining' the process of approval for the drug companies.
Now this. Realistically speaking I would hope that sooner or later events like this, you know large companies committing fraud and spying on people for money, lying, etc. and being given only a slap on the wrist, would say piss people off so much that they would Write their Congressional Representative, and Their U.S. Senator, and even The President. A few e-mails saying, either this is a government of by and for the people or we'll vote for someone else. A few e-mails saying, I pay my taxes why are they being spent to harm me? A few e-mails just reminding them that we are paying attention. Lacking that they can do whatever they want and we're no longer the greatest nation on earth.
Some times I'm just in a bad mood, and the only thing that helps lift my funk is trolling conservatives and libertarians on Slashdot. I know its wrong, I just can't help myself. I'm a victim of our amoral, liberal, free-to-be you-n-me society, what can I say?
- None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
And people who vehemently attack the status quo are usually too stupid or lazy to do so themselves.
The status quo works for a lot of people who aren't super-rich. The fact that it doesn't work for you may be less an indication of how bad things are and more an indication of what a dolt you are.
What presumption. The status quo works perfectly well for me. I'm just not a weakling who needs every unfair advantage I can get. I did equally well for myself when I was abandoned in Greece at the age of sixteen as I do here in America as the white, male son of an upper-middle class family.
Of course the status quo works for a lot of people. That's why they never question its inherent unfairness. Usually, only people for whom it does not work would bother to question it. They aren't stupid or lazy, either. Me, I'm cursed with a highly developed sense of fairness, and taking unfair advantage causes me real pain, that's why I question it.
You could at least try to aim before taking a shot at me.
- None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
Wow, when did I bring my religious views into this? Are you simply painting everyone you perceive as "conservatives" with a very broad brush, and with paint made of assumptions and personal prejudices?
If you think you've offended me, you give yourself too much credit. I laugh at the fact that your supposed insight into me and my personal ideology is based on your own disdain and limited understanding of people with whom you disagree.
As for my site, that's just a hobby that I occasionally use to give words to my thoughts. I could care less if you disagree with me or not. And I bet that infuriates you too.
"Ask not what your country can do for you." --John F. Kennedy
What I really want to know is what is happening to the criminal charges, after all the offence commited was more in the domain of the police than the SEC.
The very fact that you feel the need to assure me that I have not offended you says that I have hit the mark. You paint yourself as a conservative Christian on your own site, so either that is what you are, or you are a liar.
- None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
corporations are a license to print money without any personal accountability. corporations have an ethic responsibility that has not been enforced....ever.
"You can kill the revolutionary, but you can't kill the revolution."-- Fred Hampton
An example of how I've portrayed myself as a Christian on my site. Please.
And try to do it without equating my defense of Christians' rights to personally identifying with their beliefs. Indeed, defending free speech and opposing censorship is sooo neocon.
I'm curious how you've come to these conclusions of yours.
"Ask not what your country can do for you." --John F. Kennedy
Hmm, maybe I jumped to conclusions. On closer examination, you seem to be defending their rights not identifying with their beliefs. I may be a humongous ass, but I'm an ass who can admit when he's made a mistake.
- None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
Or, I could laugh and walk away. I think I'll take that option.
That's always the smart options when someone makes you looks as bad as spun did you.
Heh. I feel the same way sometimes... but it also backfires occasionally, when an exceptionally gifted countertroll takes over the thread.
"Trolls they were, but filled with the evil will of their master: a fell race..." -- J.R.R. Tolkien on Olog-hai
I apologize for my cluelessness. Please explain.
668: Neighbour of the Beast
In other words, they paid off some people high up in the SEC. Great. Thank you very much.
If you can't stand the trolls, get outta the intertubes. That's my motto. About the best a troll can hope to get out of me is a few moments of seething rage, followed by a little chuckle and a salute.
- None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton