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HP CEO Goes On the Lam As Oracle Hunts Him Down
theodp writes "Oracle said HP has refused to accept a subpoena requiring new CEO Leo Apotheker to testify in a trial against his former employer SAP, which will determine how much SAP owes Oracle for copyright infringement by its discontinued TomorrowNow unit. 'Mr. Apotheker started work for HP on Monday, but it now appears that the HP board of directors has decided to keep him away from HP's headquarters and outside the court's jurisdiction,' an Oracle spokeswoman said. 'We will continue to try to serve him,' she added. An HP spokeswoman countered: 'Given Leo's limited knowledge of and role in the matter, Oracle's last-minute effort to require him to appear live at trial is no more than an effort to harass him and interfere with his duties and responsibilities as HP's CEO.' The spokeswoman declined to discuss the whereabouts of Mr. Apotheker, who was featured in a 2006 SAP/TomorrowNow press release attacking the 'uncertainty' of Oracle. Coincidentally, among the charges leveled at SAP/TomorrowNow was 'pretextual customer log-in,' an area in which HP has some subject matter expertise."
Why would a CEO be at work? That is just a silly assumption.
http://blindscribblings.com - Tasty pop-culture in conceptual fashion.
He's a ninja.
Or, at least, he can afford to hire a bunch of them.
...change your passwords often and restrict access?
He who knows best knows how little he knows. - Thomas Jefferson
Seems a little silly, the proper approach is to file a motion to quash the trial subpoena. It's a pretty simple motion and would be a lot easier than hiding your CEO.
Did anyone check the dumpster out back? That's where I'd hide the body, I mean, hide a CEO from the law.
Don't worry, they'll find him when he checks his Facebook page!
There's a spot in User Info for World of Warcraft account names? Really?
Why not just file a motion to quash? Interesting.
has HP become less than reputable, Sun's continued existence become questionable, Oracle's motives become dubious, all while Linux continues to gain market share.
Ok, the Linux bit was just for fun, but really what in the heck is the Tech world smoking. It is getting strange!
He's traveling right now. I saw him in Plano last week, and he's been to many HP sites worldwide in the last 3 weeks, in a bid to calm employees and reassure HP's biggest customers. I don't know what this BS is about the board keeping him away. He's doing his job, meeting people and reaching out.
And after hearing him speak and meeting with him last week, I have to say I'm impressed. He's not the used car salesman that Mark was, nor the fiery bitch that Carli was. He's kind of a geek, and a definite software nerd. Not only that, he genuinely impressed me. He's sharp and capable without being slimy. And unlike most Germans, he appears to have had his sense of humor reinstalled.
Moreover, he's SMART about the tech HP sells, and why people buy it in a way that Mark never was.
And I'll take that.
Lets see how this goes.
Before when a small UK company didn't turn up to court, they were ruled against by default, under the assumption that whatever the prosecution said about them was uncontested.
Here will the CEO of a big company be likewise assumed guilty?
How is HP not guilty of obstruction of justice?
Like I really need to say it, but here it is anyway: IANAL.
Nostalgia isn't what it used to be.
I think you're right; the tech world is full of weirdness right now. Everyone was familiar with the whole "windows on the desktop, unix on server, mac for graphics" paradigms, but with the rise of the smart phones, cloud, social-media-everything, it really is a new world, but not new enough that you can't read the billboards.
Awesome times if you embrace the weirdness; people who hold fast to the way it used to be will ....HEY GET OFF MY LAWN!
As someone who is a customer of both of these companies, I kinda wish they'd spend less time throwing lawsuits at each other and more time providing value to their customers. I'm just sayin'...
And staying away from the office, hiding somewhere out of jurisdiction isn't interfering with his duties and responsibilities? Just fucking show up, testify, and be done with it. What's that going to take, a day, a week tops?
You see? You see? Your stupid minds! Stupid! Stupid!
He's been travelling to HP sites across the globe to get face to face employee input and hopefully boost morale. I'd much rather he do that and get a handle on the company than submit to Oracle's harassment in a suit where he's already given sworn, taped testimony. The last thing HP needs is another lame-ass distraction for the CEO.
Honestly: if Oracle is after him, the guy must be inocent.
The corporate asshole clown circus must be in town.
All I'd have to do is stake out the next pro-am golf tourney, the most expensive ski resort, the biggest VIP box at his favorite sports team's next game, the most expensive rental in Martha's Vineyard, or the biggest sloop at the next luxury yacht regatta. Looking for a CEO at work is just stupid.
and I think that making PR people cringe is a good thing... Wow, he is human after all. It's nice to have someone who's down to earth and has a real sense of humor leading for once. Now just to see if it trickles down through the many layers of management....
That's why 24" racks (instead of the 19" standard "relay" rack) are becoming much more common.
where's my 42 million dollar bonus?!!!
Do you know how many staplers I have to steal to make that kind of dosh?!!!
ooops, that was CEO n-1, nevermind...
and Ellison really needs to get back on his meds.
if this is supposed to be a new economy, how come they still want my old fashioned money?
"Oracle had ample opportunity to question Leo during his sworn deposition in October 2008 and chose not to include him as a live trial witness until he was named CEO of HP," an HP spokesperson said in a statement. "Given Leo's limited knowledge of and role in the matter, Oracle's last-minute effort to require him to appear live at trial is no more than an effort to harass him and interfere with his duties and responsibilities as HP's CEO."
Of course, HP may be pulling the wool over our eyes. But if it was not obvious in 2008 and 2009 that live testimony would be likely necessary, then it is difficult to believe that he is so important to the suit here in late 2010.
Software is treated like a commodity...
There is a great deal of software that IS a commodity from the perspective of the people who purchase/use software. Commodities are fungible which means there are easy substitutes available. The commodity is undifferentiated from the view of the person/entity who purchases or uses it. As an example, the software on my cell phone that allows me to make calls is from my perspective undifferentiated. I have 3 phones in my house, all from different manufacturers, and from my perspective there is no meaningful difference between them for purposes of calling. It is a commodity and I would not pay any of the makers a premium over any of the others for that feature. The code is undoubtedly different in many respects but as the actual user, I either can't tell or don't care about the differences. Products do not actually have to be identical to be a commodity or to be treated as one. Computers from Dell and HP are not identical but it is reasonable for consumers to treat them as commodities because either will serve my needs equally well.
There is plenty of software that is NOT a commodity but we shouldn't pretend for a moment that all software is differentiated. Much software is (by design) completely interchangeable for a given purpose. This does not mean it is less important or less worthy of respect. Gold is a commodity, but no one will argue it isn't valuable.
there corporate paper and don't allow any trading with their stock.
They'll drop him off anywhere they want, probably hod tied.
Yeah, it would hurt the company, possible destroying them. To bad. OTOH, I suspect it would ever need to be done only once. Maybe just the threat would be enough.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
seriously? it's a completely valid point. he will get served inevitably so why generate negative press? too many fools have mod points :(
Oracle a bag of capitalist scumbags involved in 'sue you' or SAP that provide staff with great facilities, child care and most importantly heaps and heaps of M&Ms.