HP Scandal

[trolleygirl]

I might be late at this or maybe I'm just missing a thread already posted somewhere, but I've been wondering what was so wrong with what Patricia Dunn did at Hewlett Packard? Now today I read in the paper that there are to be indictments.

I mean, a board member leaked confidential information and she investigated it. She found the person (or persons) responsible. Sounds like she was doing her job. What was she supposed to do? If she did nothing, they would have called for her head.

Is it the Texan in me that doesn't find her ethically or criminally culpable? I mean, are Californians a bunch of wussies when it comes to taping people and surreptitiously ganing access to phone records? Isn't all that legal in Texas?

I'm sorry, I just don't get the outrage, especially by members of Congress.

What am I missing here?

[brb1081]

Is it the Texan in me that doesn't find her ethically or criminally culpable? I mean, are Californians a bunch of wussies when it comes to taping people and surreptitiously ganing access to phone records? Isn't all that legal in Texas?

No. Wiretapping is illegal under federal wiretap laws (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiretapping). However, I don't believe that wiretapping is an issue in this case.

The method used by the investigators working for H-P was pretexting. With this method, the investigators gather personal information about a target and then call the phone company pretending to be that person. This is illegal under common law (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pretexting).

[trolleygirl]

But isn't that issue, whether pretextimg legal or not? From everything that I'vew read, it's fuzzy at best. But then I get my news from the DMN....

The thing is, if she hired a licensed PI firm to investigate the source of the leaks, then why it she criminally culpuble? She did say that she had no knowledge of the pretexting. That's plausible deniability. So, why are they out for head? I still don't get what she did wrong.

[Tnekster]

I might be late at this or maybe I'm just missing a thread already posted somewhere, but I've been wondering what was so wrong with what Patricia Dunn did at Hewlett Packard? Now today I read in the paper that there are to be indictments.

Maybe it has more to do with pinning it on her before they find out who the real criminal minds here are. But then again I really don't have any idea, just a shot in the dark.