Hey Robert, just curious, you are going to attend the breakfast with Carly Fiorna in a couple weeks, right?
I think it'll be interesting to get her perspective on a few things!
brem
· 3 years ago
HP has had ethical issues since their very beginning, stealing patent ideas from inventors.
Robert Scoble
· 3 years ago
Ajay: I'm going to try to get there.
Mark Brown
· 3 years ago
Robert, thank you for continuing to keep the spotlight on this story along with the MSM. The arrogance of Ms. Dunn is so complete that I'm hoping that the employees of HP simply march into her office, pick her up, and toss her into the parking lot.
Brian Sullivan
· 3 years ago
Don't the shareholders control who is on the board?
When you say "the good people of HP", I assume you are referring to some group of shareholders?
Gobble Gobble
· 3 years ago
Over Reuters: Dunn says she didn't know pre-texting was used and is appalled. This is crap. How on earth did she expect to get phone records without doing something illegal. This will come back to bite her.
Venkat
· 3 years ago
Robert - Just out of curiosity, why is there a mismatch between the number of comments indicated on the main page and the actual number of comments I see on the comments page?
Venkat
· 3 years ago
Nevermind. Mea culpa.
Christopher Coulter
· 3 years ago
This really ain't gonna go away, "HP spied on journalists", spying on journalists? In terms of press coverage that is like killing a cop, the whole pack will descend on you forever and ever.
Board Members are one thing, but extend that to the journos, well they aren't going to forgive, nor let this go. Six months of coverage, easy.
Ricky
· 3 years ago
Robert,
I really don't like this way of talking.
Sure, you are describing unacceptable behaviour.
Her behaviour seems almost like violence, which is something we must discourage at all costs.
But using the language of personal abuse, like referring to people's attitude as cancer and talking about surgery and using a knife, this is just not the kind of language we want people to use about each other.
It is the language of hatred and brutality.
You are better than this old fashioned macho stuff.
Hate the sin and love the sinner is the way you will get people who do bad stuff to change.
Hating the sinner, telling people to hate the sinner, this may motivate others to do worse things to her than you wouln ever contemplate, things which, if they did them, would be something you wouldn't want on your consience.
Unless you believe she could never change.
Believing people cannot change is a recipe for treating them as being things like cancer.
There was a war fought against people who saw certain types of people as BEING an incurable disease, and the treatment started with long knives and got worse.
The best thing you could be doing with this woman is having a CONVERSATION with her, finding out why she did what she did and whether she would do things differently in the light of the repercussions.
Now that you have used such bitter language about her, she would probably think you were the last person she could ever have a conversation with.
Why did you think that conversation-killing language would help the rest of us learn the most we could about what went on in her head?
We need to learn how to have the thoughts the she had, the perceived opportunities and threats she saw, and see alternative ways of dealing with them, alternatives to treating people in a way that we wouldn't want to be treated.
Only real conversations are going to deliver those kinds of insights.
We really need your conversations, they always produce unexpected gems.
Don't shut them down or prevent them from happening, even when righteous indignation seems to be absolutely the right response.
bigmove
· 3 years ago
There's got to be a way to stand up to one person no matter how powerful she is. Companies get pulled down all the time by high up people who make bad decisions and the lower people who let the ones being stupid rule the company. The people underneath have a responsibility to stand up to people like that.
Guy Pelletier
· 3 years ago
Off the subject,
Robert, I noticed you linked to you bio on wkipedia, looks good.
As far as HP goes, with all of the corporate corruption that has been uncovered, this too will pass and hopefully the watchdogs will be meaner
Zoli Erdos
· 3 years ago
I've seen this Golden Line in a newsgroup:
"I'm a writer. If you work for HP, don't call me."
"Hewlett-Packard Co. Chairman Patricia Dunn said she was "appalled" to belatedly learn that "pretext calls" were made to obtain phone records as part of the company's boardroom-leak investigation."
Sounds a little bit like hiring a hit-man to "eliminate the competition" and then saying "but I didn't know they were going to KILL anyone!"
She is either stupid, or lying. In either case, the big bucks that go with these jobs should carry big responsibilities with them. Should a high flying exec have to establish a pattern of mistakes before being terminated? No, no, and absolutely no. The experience that (theoretically) qualified them for such a high position should have rendered them immune from the sort of mistakes us "ordinary" folk might make.
(Of course I would have fired Ballmer a long time ago too, I really have no patience with these prima donnas)
gene
· 3 years ago
Thank you Robert for the good words about HP's people. We're all getting tarred by the big brush right now, and I appreciate what you said here. In fact you and John's post started me thinking about how we could get to HP Way 2.0. Thanks.
Robert Scoble
· 3 years ago
>referring to people’s attitude as cancer and talking about surgery and using a knife, this is just not the kind of language we want people to use about each other.
Normally I'd agree with you but we're not talking about someone's "attitude."
We're talking about someone who broke the freaking law and who spied on people around her.
That's a cancer and needs to be removed.
Sorry, there's no other way to say it. It's THAT clear!
Robert Scoble
· 3 years ago
Mac Beach: let's see if I got this right. She handed over other people's social security and phone numbers and didn't have a clue what would be done with them?
And then after she learned the information she didn't ask "how did you get these phone records?"
Yeah, right. If that's true she's even worse than criminal. She takes us for idiots too.
Omar
· 3 years ago
Ricky:
Ah??
"The best thing you could be doing with this woman is having a CONVERSATION with her, finding out why she did what she did and whether she would do things differently in the light of the repercussions."
Yes, I believe she would have tried harder not to get caught if she had known about the repercussions.
It is silly, but the best indicator that they feel they've done nothing wrong (regardless of "pretexting") is that they have not said they're sorry.
..."the rest of us learn the most we could about what went on in her head?"
Learn what went on in her head? She is not a child, we do not need to know "what went on in her head", she needs to take responsibility, apologize and/or quit. She is the chairwoman of HP, not a teenager who took a car for a joyride or spent the night away without permission.
Omar
Ajay
· 3 years ago
Dinh, a former U.S. assistant attorney general, said HP could face criminal liability even if outside entities acted on its behalf.
"You don't escape criminal liability under the law doing an ostrich dance by sticking your head in the sand and say 'I want to see no evil, hear no evil, or speak no evil'," he said. "You bear responsibility for the actions of your agent, especially if you had implicitly or explicitly authorized that agent to employ that illegal means."
Breakfast with Carly Fiorna? Ain't that sorta like a March 15th Senate floor meeting with Caius Julius Caesar.
Carlyius Fiorna Caesar, nice ring eh?
porkchop
· 3 years ago
Robert -- it's interesting how this ties to MSFT too.
I used to work at HP when the founders were still there. HP had a soul that was created by the founders through the HP Way, the Garage, Management by Walking Around, and the Bench Test (if an Engineer next to you on the bench thought your invest was cool, it could turn into a product). But that soul started fading when Bill and Dave retired -- and a lot of talent left HP. The soul died when they both died (and soon after Carly joined HP - when the rest of the talent left HP). Since then, it felt like just another soul-less corporate machine.
Now jump to MSFT -- I left HP to join MSFT. I see MSFT as about 5 to 10 years behind HP in corporate maturity and I see MSFT going in a lot of similar directions that HP did. MSFT still has a soul today, and is an interesting place to work. However, as Billg starts retiring, and other departures (Brianv) - how much longer will the soul remain?
Michael
· 3 years ago
It gets better and better:
"I am not happy that the way this investigation has been conducted has led to this major embarrassment," Dunn said in an interview with CNET News.com.
She is obviously not happy that it investigation led to the embarrassment, but she is still quite happy with the investigation itself (if it did not go public).
Robert Scoble
· 3 years ago
Michael, yeah. Last night I was talking with a few high-powered Silicon Valley types and they said stuff like this goes on all the time but we never hear about it. Well, that's exactly why a message must be sent now. And a harsh one.
She is still doing the "ends justify the means" thing. She still doesn't get it. And who handed over the board member's social security numbers and phone numbers to this "private investigator firm?" Some low-level area associate? Give me a break.
If I tried to pull this crap I'd be out on the street without a severance package.
Shocking
· 3 years ago
News on MSNBC is that the board called an emergency meeting probably for tomorrow. That should be interesting. If you really care about this, go to the HP BOD web page and "Mail the Board" and tell them what you think before their meeting.
Dave Goodman
· 3 years ago
I agree with your stance on HP. I've never really liked their products (great quality and support, but too intrusive an installation and a sense of NIH syndrome). Nonetheless, I thought of them as a good company.
My question is, why do you seem to be treating this differently than you did Sony? To recap, Sony has faked movie reviews, installed malware and spyware, and treats consumers of its music and movies like criminals. I don't remember you calling for the ouster of the Sony CEO for their behavior. Why is HP worse? Isn't Sony worse for its treatment of thousands of customers, where HP just spied on itself and a few journalists?
Robert Scoble
· 3 years ago
Dave: I probably should have gone after Sony too, but I can't do every case like this. This hit home cause HP is such a big part of my childhood and belief system.
Dominic Jones
· 3 years ago
Dunn says, "I didn't know." She ordered the probe and didn't bother to ask? What kind of chairman of a Fortune 500 company is that? Doesn't ask how? My foot.
Media need to be much more aggressive on this. Worries me that they haven't filed suit against HP already. Sends the wrong signal. Why would I ever talk frankly off-the-record to a reporter again if there's a chance some company is going to set its goons on me?
The ramifications of this story seem to be lost on so many people it astounds me. Maybe you have to be a journalist to get it.
This is about freedom. Without a free, unfettered press what is America? Not even the FBI is allowed to do what HP did without first going before a judge with evidence.
And why is HP trying to gag its directors? They don't work for the company. They are representatives of the shareholders, period. They are grown up, high capable people.
They owe a duty to protect the company, and if you read the article that got Dunn upset, it's actually a really positive piece about a HP directors retreat where they thrashed out issues on the company's strategy.
The only negative thing I saw in it was that Dunn made the directors work from early morning to 10 at night with only breaks for meals. What, she didn't like being made out to be a bitch in the press so she ordered a probe that turned into the most damaging PR fiasco in history?
Ho John Lee
· 3 years ago
Part of what makes this so jarring is the incongruity of HP's history of high corporate values and integrity with with the behavior we see at present.
Many years ago back at HP, I participated in an immersive / role-playing workshop as part of their internal executive training process, in which you were presented with an opportunity to lie/cheat/steal in support of your business objective. At the time, it was considered a grave error if you went down that path, and would probably get you bounced off the executive track.
This sort of thing has and undoubtedly still does continue among companies here in the valley. It's sad and bizarre seeing it at HP, though.
Digger Griffin
· 3 years ago
Bottom Line for me - Are Directors employees in a legal and privacy sense? I just want to understand the issue in this context. That is, if Dunn was using private assets, isn't the issue confidentially agreement related? Were these violated?
Thanks - I'd appreciate any coments.
Dominic Jones
· 3 years ago
Digger,
Directors aren't employees. They are elected by the company's owners or shareholders. That's often not recognized, even by boards.
Dunn used the company's security department to carry out the investigation. The company -- or management -- was investigating its owners' representatives, who are supposed to be watching management on their shareholders' behalf.
LayZ
· 3 years ago
@31 You have a belief system based on a company????? Scary.
Christopher Coulter
· 3 years ago
She's still on the punish the leakers bit, something doesn't smell right, a long-term board vet suddenly leaking? More sounds like some of the Directors were unhappy with the plan, and expressing discontent, that became "leaking". Healthy companies don't play up conspiracy theories, or target short-sellers or go paranoia city.
With "leaking", it's all relative, just like Scoble and others could get away with breaking NDAs left and right at Microsoft, but some front-line trooper that did nothing, yet wasn't a "team player", was always falsely saddled with breaking NDAs and leaking. It's common practice to besmirch enemies with 'leaking'...come guys, doncha know basic Wash DC-styled Political Warfare games? A leaker is not always a real leaker, sometimes (and more than you would think) he/she is just not on the program.
And extreme paranoia over leakers is crippling at best, and Stalinist at worst. But so much for her skills, tons of ways of filtering out and giving the suspected source tainted info and seeing where the blood shows up, or marking certain docs, no laws broken. Freshman CIA spy craft 101.
And this has long since been apart of Corporate Culture, once you join a Board, you are basically surrendering any shed of privacy, the price you pay. This stuff goes on daily. HP's arrogance and overreach killed them here.
Christopher Coulter
· 3 years ago
"Power always thinks it has a great soul and vast views beyond the comprehension of the weak; and that it is doing God's service when it is violating all his laws." - John Adams
Hey
· 3 years ago
Sorry, but the government is already doing stuff like this due to the Patriot Act. AT&T giving the Bush Administration information on their customers without a search warrant.
Christopher Coulter
· 3 years ago
Media need to be much more aggressive on this. Worries me that they haven’t filed suit against HP already.
Ever worked in the journo biz? Ummm, pot calling kettle black. Media ain't gonna sue, if they do, they are stupid, companies will just fight back libel-style. Besides journalists make misrepresentational-styled pretexting and other iffy private-eyeish methods a daily newsroom practice. The fact some got burnt, all parta the job. Too risky suing, opens up a can of uncontrollable worms. The aggression will come in the form of non-stop wall to wall coverage for weeks and constant revisits and snarky ironic jokes forever. Besides they are already gathering dirt a mile high...
Wesley Parish
· 3 years ago
@40, I'm worried that the rot has started already.
Groklaw - an independent FOSS-friendly law-focused blog - posted a couple of articles on this HP case yesterday. I go to Groklaw today and can't get to it.
Chilling effect?
TAG
· 3 years ago
You don't get entire picture folks.
The original person who has leaked information to public put entire company at risk. There was reason why information was made confidential.
Sure - information on somebody phone calls is also private - so both sides did wrong. But one side did this for his own benefit, while another did for company one (or at least believed so).
Christopher Coulter
· 3 years ago
The original person who has leaked information to public put entire company at risk. There was reason why information was made confidential.
Ends justifies the means, eh? And who is to say any leaking actually happened? I have seen lots of companies spread public domain info, only to later call it 'confidential' when the spin doesn't go their way. Maybe this 'leak' was a 'gotcha'. Ex post facto?
The arrogance of Patricia Dunn is amazing, truly amazing, any non-tech company that deals with real PR, would of asked for her head, nearly second of, emergency vote, no dilly-dallying for days. I don't know why HP is letting itself get dragged through the mud.
orcmid
· 3 years ago
Robert, I am more inclined to Rickey's council than your ad hominem stuff about HP leadership.
For one thing, you have no skin in this game (any more than does Steve Gilmor when he rants for the firing of specific Microsoft executives). Secondly, this is not an election and you are not on a jury. Commenting on their lack of transparency, and on the comparison with Ford Motor Company (FMC to its friends and family) are useful.
Calling for the guillotine is not very appropriate. It doesn't leave much room for redemption. It doesn't cultivate much mutual understanding and room for cleaning things up and putting in corrections for future conduct. We are all in the peanut gallery here, and that makes our posturing ridiculous.
Robert Scoble
· 3 years ago
orcmid: I do have SOME skin in this game. We all do. If we allow corporations to run amok over our privacy then we all lose. And, how can we punish someone with hundreds of millions of dollars in their bank account? One way I can? To be merciless with my words.
LayZ
· 3 years ago
@48 I thought you said you weren't going to be taking credit for any of this?
Robert Scoble
· 3 years ago
Credit? Who was taking credit? I said I had skin in the game and that I was using my words. Which is pretty obvious. But, who'll be the one who really keeps the heat on? Me, or CNNMoney? http://money.cnn.com/2006/09/08/commentary/wast...
I vote for CNNMoney.
orcmid
· 3 years ago
I get that we are all stakeholders in how our society works, and having it work well. But I don't think voting in newspaper surveys on whether or not we think XYZ (the popular XYZ was O.J when the papers really got stupid about this) was guilty or not is a contribution to civil participation.
I understand this situation isn't exactly like that, but it is a bit like the spectator's calling for a gladiator's execution.
Maybe worse. We don't have all of the facts, and we're not in a position to have them. And we shouldn't rush to judgment. However the HP board's leak-stoppage fiasco plays out, we won't know much until it is over. This is not one of those situations that gets handled by a blog response.
Ted Matsumura
· 3 years ago
Be sure to check out Karel Baloun’s book (and related blogsite): Inside Facebook at
All Comments
I think it'll be interesting to get her perspective on a few things!
When you say "the good people of HP", I assume you are referring to some group of shareholders?
Board Members are one thing, but extend that to the journos, well they aren't going to forgive, nor let this go. Six months of coverage, easy.
I really don't like this way of talking.
Sure, you are describing unacceptable behaviour.
Her behaviour seems almost like violence, which is something we must discourage at all costs.
But using the language of personal abuse, like referring to people's attitude as cancer and talking about surgery and using a knife, this is just not the kind of language we want people to use about each other.
It is the language of hatred and brutality.
You are better than this old fashioned macho stuff.
Hate the sin and love the sinner is the way you will get people who do bad stuff to change.
Hating the sinner, telling people to hate the sinner, this may motivate others to do worse things to her than you wouln ever contemplate, things which, if they did them, would be something you wouldn't want on your consience.
Unless you believe she could never change.
Believing people cannot change is a recipe for treating them as being things like cancer.
There was a war fought against people who saw certain types of people as BEING an incurable disease, and the treatment started with long knives and got worse.
The best thing you could be doing with this woman is having a CONVERSATION with her, finding out why she did what she did and whether she would do things differently in the light of the repercussions.
Now that you have used such bitter language about her, she would probably think you were the last person she could ever have a conversation with.
Why did you think that conversation-killing language would help the rest of us learn the most we could about what went on in her head?
We need to learn how to have the thoughts the she had, the perceived opportunities and threats she saw, and see alternative ways of dealing with them, alternatives to treating people in a way that we wouldn't want to be treated.
Only real conversations are going to deliver those kinds of insights.
We really need your conversations, they always produce unexpected gems.
Don't shut them down or prevent them from happening, even when righteous indignation seems to be absolutely the right response.
Robert,
I noticed you linked to you bio on wkipedia, looks good.
As far as HP goes, with all of the corporate corruption that has been uncovered, this too will pass and hopefully the watchdogs will be meaner
"I'm a writer. If you work for HP, don't call me."
Classic:-)
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB115773006173257...
"Hewlett-Packard Co. Chairman Patricia Dunn said she was "appalled" to belatedly learn that "pretext calls" were made to obtain phone records as part of the company's boardroom-leak investigation."
Sounds a little bit like hiring a hit-man to "eliminate the competition" and then saying "but I didn't know they were going to KILL anyone!"
She is either stupid, or lying. In either case, the big bucks that go with these jobs should carry big responsibilities with them. Should a high flying exec have to establish a pattern of mistakes before being terminated? No, no, and absolutely no. The experience that (theoretically) qualified them for such a high position should have rendered them immune from the sort of mistakes us "ordinary" folk might make.
(Of course I would have fired Ballmer a long time ago too, I really have no patience with these prima donnas)
Normally I'd agree with you but we're not talking about someone's "attitude."
We're talking about someone who broke the freaking law and who spied on people around her.
That's a cancer and needs to be removed.
Sorry, there's no other way to say it. It's THAT clear!
And then after she learned the information she didn't ask "how did you get these phone records?"
Yeah, right. If that's true she's even worse than criminal. She takes us for idiots too.
Ah??
"The best thing you could be doing with this woman is having a CONVERSATION with her, finding out why she did what she did and whether she would do things differently in the light of the repercussions."
Yes, I believe she would have tried harder not to get caught if she had known about the repercussions.
It is silly, but the best indicator that they feel they've done nothing wrong (regardless of "pretexting") is that they have not said they're sorry.
..."the rest of us learn the most we could about what went on in her head?"
Learn what went on in her head? She is not a child, we do not need to know "what went on in her head", she needs to take responsibility, apologize and/or quit. She is the chairwoman of HP, not a teenager who took a car for a joyride or spent the night away without permission.
Omar
"You don't escape criminal liability under the law doing an ostrich dance by sticking your head in the sand and say 'I want to see no evil, hear no evil, or speak no evil'," he said. "You bear responsibility for the actions of your agent, especially if you had implicitly or explicitly authorized that agent to employ that illegal means."
Best. Quote. Of the Day.
from:
http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/provider/provi...
http://today.reuters.com/news/articleinvesting....
Carlyius Fiorna Caesar, nice ring eh?
I used to work at HP when the founders were still there. HP had a soul that was created by the founders through the HP Way, the Garage, Management by Walking Around, and the Bench Test (if an Engineer next to you on the bench thought your invest was cool, it could turn into a product). But that soul started fading when Bill and Dave retired -- and a lot of talent left HP. The soul died when they both died (and soon after Carly joined HP - when the rest of the talent left HP). Since then, it felt like just another soul-less corporate machine.
Now jump to MSFT -- I left HP to join MSFT. I see MSFT as about 5 to 10 years behind HP in corporate maturity and I see MSFT going in a lot of similar directions that HP did. MSFT still has a soul today, and is an interesting place to work. However, as Billg starts retiring, and other departures (Brianv) - how much longer will the soul remain?
"I am not happy that the way this investigation has been conducted has led to this major embarrassment," Dunn said in an interview with CNET News.com.
She is obviously not happy that it investigation led to the embarrassment, but she is still quite happy with the investigation itself (if it did not go public).
I totally agree with TechDirt and with you. No moral compass, just embarrassment at getting caught: http://techdirt.com/articles/20060908/145105.shtml
http://brainwagon.org/archives/2006/09/08/2149/
It gets just worse and worse. Look at Dunn's latest: http://news.com.com/2100-1014_3-6113715.html
She is still doing the "ends justify the means" thing. She still doesn't get it. And who handed over the board member's social security numbers and phone numbers to this "private investigator firm?" Some low-level area associate? Give me a break.
If I tried to pull this crap I'd be out on the street without a severance package.
My question is, why do you seem to be treating this differently than you did Sony? To recap, Sony has faked movie reviews, installed malware and spyware, and treats consumers of its music and movies like criminals. I don't remember you calling for the ouster of the Sony CEO for their behavior. Why is HP worse? Isn't Sony worse for its treatment of thousands of customers, where HP just spied on itself and a few journalists?
Media need to be much more aggressive on this. Worries me that they haven't filed suit against HP already. Sends the wrong signal. Why would I ever talk frankly off-the-record to a reporter again if there's a chance some company is going to set its goons on me?
The ramifications of this story seem to be lost on so many people it astounds me. Maybe you have to be a journalist to get it.
This is about freedom. Without a free, unfettered press what is America? Not even the FBI is allowed to do what HP did without first going before a judge with evidence.
And why is HP trying to gag its directors? They don't work for the company. They are representatives of the shareholders, period. They are grown up, high capable people.
They owe a duty to protect the company, and if you read the article that got Dunn upset, it's actually a really positive piece about a HP directors retreat where they thrashed out issues on the company's strategy.
The only negative thing I saw in it was that Dunn made the directors work from early morning to 10 at night with only breaks for meals. What, she didn't like being made out to be a bitch in the press so she ordered a probe that turned into the most damaging PR fiasco in history?
Many years ago back at HP, I participated in an immersive / role-playing workshop as part of their internal executive training process, in which you were presented with an opportunity to lie/cheat/steal in support of your business objective. At the time, it was considered a grave error if you went down that path, and would probably get you bounced off the executive track.
This sort of thing has and undoubtedly still does continue among companies here in the valley. It's sad and bizarre seeing it at HP, though.
Thanks - I'd appreciate any coments.
Directors aren't employees. They are elected by the company's owners or shareholders. That's often not recognized, even by boards.
Dunn used the company's security department to carry out the investigation. The company -- or management -- was investigating its owners' representatives, who are supposed to be watching management on their shareholders' behalf.
With "leaking", it's all relative, just like Scoble and others could get away with breaking NDAs left and right at Microsoft, but some front-line trooper that did nothing, yet wasn't a "team player", was always falsely saddled with breaking NDAs and leaking. It's common practice to besmirch enemies with 'leaking'...come guys, doncha know basic Wash DC-styled Political Warfare games? A leaker is not always a real leaker, sometimes (and more than you would think) he/she is just not on the program.
And extreme paranoia over leakers is crippling at best, and Stalinist at worst. But so much for her skills, tons of ways of filtering out and giving the suspected source tainted info and seeing where the blood shows up, or marking certain docs, no laws broken. Freshman CIA spy craft 101.
And this has long since been apart of Corporate Culture, once you join a Board, you are basically surrendering any shed of privacy, the price you pay. This stuff goes on daily. HP's arrogance and overreach killed them here.
Ever worked in the journo biz? Ummm, pot calling kettle black. Media ain't gonna sue, if they do, they are stupid, companies will just fight back libel-style. Besides journalists make misrepresentational-styled pretexting and other iffy private-eyeish methods a daily newsroom practice. The fact some got burnt, all parta the job. Too risky suing, opens up a can of uncontrollable worms. The aggression will come in the form of non-stop wall to wall coverage for weeks and constant revisits and snarky ironic jokes forever. Besides they are already gathering dirt a mile high...
Groklaw - an independent FOSS-friendly law-focused blog - posted a couple of articles on this HP case yesterday. I go to Groklaw today and can't get to it.
Chilling effect?
The original person who has leaked information to public put entire company at risk. There was reason why information was made confidential.
Sure - information on somebody phone calls is also private - so both sides did wrong. But one side did this for his own benefit, while another did for company one (or at least believed so).
Ends justifies the means, eh? And who is to say any leaking actually happened? I have seen lots of companies spread public domain info, only to later call it 'confidential' when the spin doesn't go their way. Maybe this 'leak' was a 'gotcha'. Ex post facto?
The arrogance of Patricia Dunn is amazing, truly amazing, any non-tech company that deals with real PR, would of asked for her head, nearly second of, emergency vote, no dilly-dallying for days. I don't know why HP is letting itself get dragged through the mud.
For one thing, you have no skin in this game (any more than does Steve Gilmor when he rants for the firing of specific Microsoft executives). Secondly, this is not an election and you are not on a jury. Commenting on their lack of transparency, and on the comparison with Ford Motor Company (FMC to its friends and family) are useful.
Calling for the guillotine is not very appropriate. It doesn't leave much room for redemption. It doesn't cultivate much mutual understanding and room for cleaning things up and putting in corrections for future conduct. We are all in the peanut gallery here, and that makes our posturing ridiculous.
I vote for CNNMoney.
I understand this situation isn't exactly like that, but it is a bit like the spectator's calling for a gladiator's execution.
Maybe worse. We don't have all of the facts, and we're not in a position to have them. And we shouldn't rush to judgment. However the HP board's leak-stoppage fiasco plays out, we won't know much until it is over. This is not one of those situations that gets handled by a blog response.
http://www.fbbook.com
Thanks,
Ted