HP estimates FY07 revenue will be $100 billion

"While we still have considerable work ahead of us, I am confident we can continue to execute with discipline and deliver strong financial returns."

Mark Hurd

Journalists sue over HP spying scandal

journalists targeted in the HP phone tapping scandal are to sue the company for invasion of privacy. Dawn Kawamoto, Stephen Shankland and Tom Krazit have hired Los Angeles law firm Panish, Shea & Boyle which is currently preparing the suit. The three journalists, who all work for CNET's News.com, make up a third of the nine journalists targeted by private investigators.

Lawyer Kevin Boyle said that the trio are not seeking financial restoration, but are asking for punitive measures to be taken against HP. HP began the investigation to try and locate the source of a boardroom leak last year. However, investigators used illegal methods such as obtaining phone records for the journalists and their relatives by deception, otherwise known as pretexting. CNET Networks said that it was not part of the lawsuit but could launch its own action separately.

HP had hoped to settle the case by making a $250,000 donation on behalf of each journalist to a charity of their choice. Felony charges filed in the case against former HP chief executive Patricia Dunn were dismissed. Out of four other defendants facing felony charges, three were eventually charged with misdemeanours. HP has already settled a civil lawsuit filed by California's attorney general for $14.5m (£7.3m).

Federal government joins lawsuits against HP, Sun, Accenture

The U.S. Department of Justice threw its weight behind a whistleblower lawsuit against HP, Sun and Accenture, alleging that the companies violated federal claims laws by improperly charging government agencies for several years' worth of technology contracts.

In documents filed on April 12 and unsealed Thursday, the DOJ alleges that H-P, Sun and Accenture each "solicited and provided improper payments and other things of value," on technology contracts with several U.S. government departments and agencies from the late 1990s to the present.

H-P, Sun and Accenture are charged with making false claims to the U.S. government for work done involving information technology hardware and services contracts. In a statement, the DOJ said it believes that the tech giants engaged in kickbacks and undisclosed conflict-of-interest relationships with other companies with whom they worked on the government contracts. "The defendants have systematically solicited and/or made payments of money and other things of value, known as 'alliance benefits,' to a number of companies with whom they had global 'alliance relationships' or an agreement to work together," the DOJ said, in a statement.

The suit was originally filed in U.S. District Court in Little Rock, Ark., by plaintiffs Norman Rille and Neal Roberts, and under the whistleblower provisions of the U.S. False Claims Act. That act says that a private party can file an action on behalf of the U.S. and receive a portion of any fees recovered in the case. The act also said the U.S. may recover three times the amount of its losses, plus civil penalties, in the case.

H-P released a statement denying the charges and saying it is confident it engaged in appropriate business practices with the government. "We plan to vigorously defend this action and look forward to demonstrating that HP has done nothing wrong," H-P said.

Hewlett-Packard plans further $8 bln share buyback

HP said its board of directors approved an additional $8 billion to buy back company shares.

During its fiscal first quarter ended Jan. 31, the company already bought back some $2.3 billion worth of its shares and had an additional $3.3 billion of authorized funds remaining for future buybacks.

HP said the buyback would help offset dilution created by shares from employee stock option plans and return cash to stockholders, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission...

HP Shareholder Meeting

Shareholders rejected a proposal that would have made it easier for shareholders to field their own candidates during board elections

Another shareholder proposal to separate the roles of the board chairman and the CEO was also defeated.

However, stockholders approved a proposal to require the board to hold a shareholder vote for any future poison pill. Also known as a stockholder rights plan, a poison pill gives a board the right to sell new shares at lower prices as a way to prevent a competing party from acquiring majority interest in the company.

Shareholders also approved a proposal linking senior executive pay to performance. HP had urged shareholders to reject both nonbinding proposals. The company said it is disappointed with the vote but vowed to "review its current policy."

HP-gate : The End ?

What you will find in the comments part :

- Sept 7 : HP said to have spied on reporters
- Sept 8 : California Attorney General says HP tactics violate State laws, but unclear who to prosecute
- Sept 8 : HP's says Dunn will resign if asked by board
- Sept 8 : New York Times, CNET consider options over HP
- Sept 9 : Dunn is done ?
- Sept 11 : Feds and Congress ask for info !
- Sept 12 : HP's Board split over Dunn
- Sept 12 : Patricia Dunn to remain HP Chairman through January 2007 Board meeting and then demoted ! Board appoints Mark Hurd as successor
- Sept 12 : Keyworth says HP approved leaks !!!
- Sept 12 : HP insiders likely to face charges
- Sept 14 : HP spy scandal extends to employees !
- Sept 14 : Reporters 'outraged' over HP tactics
- Sept 15 : HP Execs asked to testify in Washington
- Sept 18 : Shareholder files suit
- Sept 18 : House committee awaits HP documents related to scandal
- Sept 18 : What HP Should Have Done
- Sept 19 : H-P security expert warned on leak probe
- Sept 19 : House committee receives H-P documents
- Sept 20 : House seeks more testimony in H-P case
- Sept 20: H-P considered spying on newsrooms !
- Sept 20: HP Scandal Reaches New Weirdness Level
- Sept 20: Did Mark Hurd approve a "sting" operation on a journalist ?
- Sept 21: H-P's Hurd to hold press conference on scandal sept 22
- Sept 21: HP shares down 5 percent as scandal deepens
- Sept 21: Democrat wants HP CEO to testify on leak scandal
- Sept 21: HP sponsors a privacy award...
- Sept 21: Hurd will testify before House committee sept 28
- Sept 22: Calif AG says no evidence to link HP CEO to crime
- Sept 22 : US Senate nears vote on HP-linked phone data issue
- Sept 22 : Mark Hurd named HP Chairman : Patricia Dunn is leaving Board.
- Sept 23 : HP Chair Resigns Amid Probe Fallout
- Sept 23 : Why Hurd needs to take some questions
- Sept 25 : HP Clears the Air, but Not the Cloud
- Sept 26 : HP Under Increasing Pressure to Overhaul Board
- Sept 26 : HP's most truthworthy man
- Sept 26 : The Men Who Conducted the HP Probe
- Sept 27 : Mark Hurd on the HP scandal
- Sept 28 : House panel releases HP testimony
- Sept 28 : Hypocrisy at Hewlett-Packard(fictional)
- Sept 28 : HP General Counsel Resigns Amid Scandal
- Sept 28 : Lawmakers Grill HP Over Spying Scandal, Making Comparisons to Enron and Watergate
- Sept 29 : HP Whistleblower Tried to Avert Scandal
- Sept 29 : 3 Execs Testify About HP's Spying Probe
- Sept 29 : Hurd: I'm not resigning
- Sept 29 : HP counsel leaves with millions in options, benefits
- Sept 29 : HP Goes to Washington (a tragi-comedy...)
- Sept 29 : Controlling The Damage At HP (everything you wanted to know about Mark Hurd).
- Sept 30 : As H-P scandal reaches peak, Hurd and HPQ are still solid
- Sept 31 : Internal Memo Details Hewlett-Packard Leak Hunt
- Oct 1 : Why Hurd needs to take some questions
- Oct 1 : 4 things HP's Hurd needs to do now
- Oct 2 : HP's costly scandal
- Oct 3 : HP CEO appears secure, but risks remain analysts say.
- Oct 3 : Hurd may have known about phone records in 2005
- Oct 4 : Reporters Reassigned in HP Spy Scandal
- Oct 4 : Indictments in HP case. But not for Mark Hurd.
- Oct 4 : HP's Hurd is contrite, but indictable ?
- Oct 5 : Investigations continue at HP
- Oct 5 : The Silver Lining in HP's Scandal
- Oct 6 : More Charges Possible in HP Spying Probe
- Oct 6 : Is Dunn Really A Felon ?
- Oct 7 : Fiorina could attract interest in HP leak probe
- Oct 8 : HP not alone with "rogue" investigations
- Oct 9 : Dunn calls allegations in HP scandal a 'myth'
- Oct 9 : Dunn said Perkins launched a disinformation campaign against her
- Oct 10 : Fiorina blames divisive HP board
- Oct 11 : Three in HP Scandal Plead Not Guilty
- Oct 14 : Calif. AG presses ahead with HP leak investigation
- Oct 21 : HP tells reporter security firm searched her trash
- Nov 2 : HP CEO responds to Congressional letter : he thought phone records were public...
- Nov 10 : Ex-HP Ethics Chief Pleads Not Guilty
- Nov 15 : Dunn pleads not guilty
- Nov 19 : H-P appoints first new board member since scandal
- Feb 12 : The New Yorker looks into HPGate
- Feb 27 : Ex-HP director laments corporate board trend
- March 1 : Dunn's lawyer blasts Perkins
- March 14 : Judge Drops Charges Against HP's Dunn
- April 24 : HP Ethics Chief Tackles Spying Scandal Aftermath : "the chances are "almost nil" for a repeat of last year's debacle".
- May 24 : Hewlett-Packard probe by SEC is settled

Once upon a time...

HP revealed in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it had used "an outside consulting firm" to obtain evidence that showed board member George Keyworth had disclosed information from board meetings to the media. Keyworth admitted he had spoken to the media about confidential board information and was asked to resign.

According the company filing, Keyworth refused to quit, saying that only shareholders could remove him from the board. Venture capitalist and H-P director Tom Perkins then quit in protest over how the Keyworth situation was handled.

The brouhaha grew out an investigation into press leaks that was launched by H-P's nonemployee director, Patricia Dunn, and covered information from meetings that took place both before and after the H-P board fired Fiorina in February 2005 and replaced her with former NCR chief Mark Hurd.

The latest upheaval at the Silicon Valley icon reads like a script from a soap opera...

HP vs. IBM