H-P: Of Red Flags and Black Holes

Now comes the cover-your-hide part of what already is the most bizarre business story of the year, as Patricia Dunn begins her testimony before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. I’m going to be giving my commentary on this as it progresses, but this disclosure: I have a bias against pretexting because I was pretexted by another company.

I think pretexting is illegal, and HP (HPQ) is now only being outed for something I believe companies have routinely done with reporters because it happened to the board. I fully believe I've been investigated for years, as have others who do what I do. Now Dunn is trying to say she had no idea anything "illegal" was being done. Yet somebody, if not some-bodies, who work for her know what the investigation involved. It's one thing to follow someone; it's another to break into their house. And now, on with the show....

Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Chairman Ed Whitfield, and others, wondered why nobody at HP had the instinct to realize pretexting was wrong. It's just so obvious.

Committee member Barbara Cubin and others wondered if what happened at Hewlett Packard is something that can be found throughout corporate America, whether these "kind of excesses" exist. The answer, of course, is yes. As I said earlier, the only reason this has become an issue is because among those whose privacy was violated were several prominent members of HP's board.

Cubin asked a great line of questions about why the company didn't see "red flags" on any number of actions taken by HP. She was also critical of Congress for allowing proposed pretexting legislation to fall into a "black hole" earlier this year. (Lobbying at its best! Or worst.)

Dingell to people in power at HP: "What were you thinking?"

On one level this is clear politics and grandstanding. But the fact that anybody's phone record can easily be broken into and stolen with legislators unclear whether it's illegal, and unwilling to pass a law making this CLEARLY illegal, is remarkable.

Oh, and by the way: I hate the word "pretexting." It's a created word by spinmeisters to give legitimacy to illegal breaking-and-entering.