HP Settles Civil Lawsuit Over Spying
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Agrees to pay $13.5 million to a state fund to enforce privacy laws.
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Hewlett-Packard Co. agreed to pay California $14.5 million to settle state civil claims over its eavesdropping scandal.
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By Therese Poletti, San Jose Mercury News, Calif.  SJ-0523-Hewlett-Packard-settles-with-SEC   Hewlett-Packard settles with SEC   Therese Poletti  San Jose  Mercury News, Calif.
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You'd have pretexted it HP - which faces US federal and state investigations for spying on board members and journalists - is co-sponsoring an award for "privacy innovation".â¦
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Verizon Wireless sued 20 unnamed data brokers for fraudulently obtaining private telephone records belonging to Hewlett-Packard Co. board members and journalists as part of an HP investigation into boardroom leaks
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(InfoWorld) - The U.S. Congress has wrapped up its work for the year by passing a bill that would make it illegal to obtain a person's phone records without permission. The Senate late Friday passed the Law Enforcement and Phone Privacy Protection Act, spurred in part by revelations in September that Hewlett-Packard Co. (HP) investigators had used deceptive means to gain access to phone records of reporters and company board members. The bill, sponsored by Representative Lamar Smith, a Texas Republican, would make illegal the act of pretexting -- tricking phone companies into giving up private records by pretending to be a customer. The bill, which passed by voice vote in the Senate, allows prison sentences of up to 10 years and fines of up to US$500,000 for deceiving phone companies into handing over records such as phone logs. The bill, which now awaits President George Bush's signature before it becomes law, also outlaws the sale of phone records and adds penalties for people who obtain phone records as a way to help commit a violent crime. Privacy advocates have worried that criminals are using phone records obtained through pretexting to stalk potential victims. Smith praised the Senate for passing the legislation. "This data fraud can adversely affect Americans' lives," he said in a statement. "A careful study of these records may reveal details of our medical or financial life. It may even identify our occupation or physical location â a serious concern for undercover police officers and victims of stalking or domestic violence." Members of Congress began raising concerns about the sale of phone records a year ago, after the Electronic Privacy Information Center in mid-2005 filed a federal complaint about dozens of Internet-based companies selling phone records for less than $100. The issue gained traction late this year after HP officials revealed that investigators there had used pretexting to gain access to board members' and reporters' phone records in an effort to find which board members were leaking details of meetings. After members of Congress lectured HP officials about the use of pretexting in a September hearing, California Attorney General Bill Lockyer in October filed felony charges against former HP Chairman Patricia Dunn, a former HP legal counsel and three private investigators. Last week,Â HP agreed to a $14.5 million settlement in the California civil lawsuit related to the company's spying scandal. The civil suit made the same allegations that the state made in its criminal filing in October against the HP executives and investigators. Trade group USTelecom, representing large telecom carriers, praised the Senate for passing the pretexting bill. The legislation will "reinforce the efforts of telecom carriers to ensure that customer records remain secure," Walter McCormick Jr., president and chief executive of USTelecom, said in a statement. Â
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The operator of two computer privacy services agrees to pay up to $1 million to settle charges of using deceptive marketing techniques and selling personal information.
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On the heels of a similarÂ suit filed Thursday by Verizon Wireless Inc., Cingular Wireless LLC on Friday suedÂ private investigators used by Hewlett-Packard Co. to obtain phone records of a CNET News.com journalist.
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(InfoWorld) - Washington's attorney general has settled the first case prosecuted under the state's 2005 Computer Spyware Act. The settlement announced Monday is with antispyware vendor Secure Computer. The White Plains, New York, software company wasÂ accused of marketing its product via deceptive spam and pop-up ads, which offered free spyware scans that always detected a problem with the computer that was scanned. The company and its president, Paul Burke, will pay $725,000 in legal fees and $200,000 in penalties, and will reimburse Washington state customers $75,000, said Paula Selis, senior council with the attorney general's office. "Given the scope of the defendants' practices and the amount of consumer harm out there, we feel this is a very fair settlement." More than 1,100 state residents purchased the company's Spyware Cleaner software since it went on the market in 2004, Selis said. Those customers will now be e-mailed by Secure Computer and offered a refund for the $49.95 product, under terms of the settlement. Secure Computer, which admits no wrongdoing in the matter, is also prohibited fromÂ using deceptive marketing techniquesÂ to promote its software, and the company must now review the advertising of its marketing affiliates to make sure they comply with the settlement. That seems like an unlikely possibility, however, because Spyware Cleaner was pulled from the market shortly after the lawsuits were filed in late January, and Secure ComputerÂ is now out of business,Â according to the company's Web site. Representatives from Secure Computer could not be reached for comment. Burke, who was Secure Computer's president, has formed a new company called Safe App Software, which is now selling a registry cleaner product, Selis said. That product is not being sold in the U.S. she added. Secure Computer and four of its business partners were sued by Microsoft and the Washington attorney general in January, but charges against three of the men have already been settled. A fourth man, Manoj Kumar of Maharashtra, India, could not be located, the attorney general's office said. Burke and Secure Computer settled the Microsoft lawsuit about two months ago, said Spencer Freeman, an attorney with Freeman Law Firm Inc. who represented the defendants in the case. Freeman declined to comment on Monday's settlement.ADVERTISEMENTNEW IT SERVICES FROM IBM: EASIER TO BUY AND IMPLEMENTDiscover a simpler, more cost-effective way to get the solutions your company needs to grow more flexible and efficient.
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Hewlett-Packard Co. agreed Thursday to pay $14.5 million to settle the case brought by California Attorney General Bill Lockyer, who accused the computer maker of unfair business practices in its efforts to root out the source of boardroom leaks to the media.
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Hewlett-Packard Co.  said  on Thursday it would pay California $14.5 million to settle a  civil case related to board-leak investigations that led to the  resignation of Chairman Patricia Dunn.
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Hewlett-Packard Co  settled  claims on Wednesday with four reporters at the heart of a  scandal involving claims that the world's biggest PC maker  engaged in corporate espionage to plug a boardroom leak.
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By Ross Kerber and Sacha Pfeiffer, The Boston Globe  Sep. 14--California officials investigating the corporate spying issues  at Hewlett-Packard Co.
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HP to pay 14.5 million dollars to settle charges in pretexting scandal    WASHINGTON, Dec. 8 (Xinhua) -- Computer giant Hewlett-Packard Co. has agreed to pay 14.5 million dollars to settle civil charges stemming from a board-leak probe, The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.
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Microsoft, Yahoo and Google agreed to pay a combined $31.5 million to settle federal civil allegations that they had accepted ads for illegal gambling.
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IN a bid to put an embarrassing leaks probe behind it, Hewlett- Packard has agreed to pay California $14.5 million (Pounds 7.4 million) to settle a civil case brought by Attorney General Bill Lockyer.
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(InfoWorld) - A U.S. government panel has asked a corporate ethics lawyer from Hewlett-Packard (HP) to testify in its Sept. 28 hearing onÂ the company's use of "pretexting"Â to spy on journalists, board members and other employees. The investigative unit of the U.S. House Energy and Commerce CommitteeÂ said Wednesday that it has asked HP Senior Counsel Kevin Hunsaker and Fred Adler, a company computer security investigator, to join a growing list of witnesses. The subcommittee had also previously requested testimony from outgoing HP Chairman Patricia Dunn, HP General Counsel Ann Baskins, HP Global Security Manager Anthony Gentilucci, outside attorney Larry Sonsini as well as outside investigators. The practice of "pretexting" usually involves pretending to be a person, in order to obtain that person's personal information. An HP spokesman declined to comment. Up until now, Dunn has insisted she merely initiated the probe of boardroom leaks, and was ignorant of specific techniques used by investigators. "Unfortunately, the investigation, which was conducted with third parties, included certain inappropriate techniques. These went beyond what we understood them to be, and I apologize that they were employed," Dunn said in a recent statement. ButÂ e-mail correspondence examined by newspapersÂ including The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times indicates that top HP officials solicited Dunn's opinion and questioned investigation techniques throughout the course of the leak probe. As early as Aug. 6, 2005, HP's Gentilucci asked for Dunn's advice about using "internal and external sources" to gather intelligence on "interested parties," according to company e-mail seen by The Wall Street Journal. Gentilucci offered to brief HP management on more details of "Project Kona" in a proposed meeting on Aug. 31. It is still unknown if that meeting took place, but Dunn replied to the e-mail, promising to respond. By Jan. 28, 2006, e-mail from Hunsaker to Adler shows that HP's own lawyers were closely questioning investigation techniques, The Wall Street Journal reports. Asked whether HP could legally spy on board members' cell-phone text messages, Adler replied: "Even if we could legally obtain the records, which we can't unless we pay the bill or get consent, I would highly suspect text-messaging records are not kept due to volume and expense." It is unclear if HP obtained text messages. But in an April 28 e-mail to Gentilucci and an outside investigator, Ron DeLia of Security Outsourcing Solutions Inc., in Boston, Hunsaker said he was writing at General Counsel Baskins' request to confirm the details of how the investigation team obtained phone records, The Wall Street Journal reports. In the e-mail, Hunsaker described how investigators were making "pretext calls." Hunsaker also said in the e-mail that his legal research confirmed that pretexting is legal. However, California Attorney General Bill Lockyer has said that using fraudulent means to obtain personal information is not legal in the state. Lockyer has said he has evidence to charge people outside and inside HP. House investigators have also asked for testimony from DeLia and private investigator Joe Depante, owner of Action Research Group, which was reportedly hired by HP to help in the investigation. Dunn agreed on Sept. 12 to resign her own position, and will be replaced in January by current chief executive Mark Hurd. Â