CNNMoney takes aim at Dunn

Now I could be wrong but from all I've read, the inquiry request was from the boardroom to internal security, to an outside firm that then hired another outside firm that actually did the dirty deeds. How much went down the chain (SSN numbers, etc) one doesn't know. How much came back up the chain or what detail got stripped off at each step, one doesn't know. Unless you "do" know, have seen documentation, I think your pretty much over reacting. I think there is a stench but I'm not sure we have a clue exactly where it's emanating from yet.
I don't think a board should investigate board members but on the other hand, board members shouldn't leak sensitive info. If anyone is going to leak, it definitely shouldn't be the board.

Chris is smart guy but I think six months is way too long. The public's attention span won't last that long. I would hope you wouldn't even comment on it that long. It's already getting repetitive. I think you've made your point. We get it. Dunn needs to go. Board needs to go. Anything new to add?

I've mentioned this before, the media is missing the whole story by trying to focus on the cloak and dagger stuff, while letting George Keyworth get a free pass for his grossly unethical behavior. As a matter of fact, if he signed a nondisclusure agreement (which most board members do), he could and should be in more trouble.

Hopefully executives around the world will remember that he is the one that started this whole thing and is not to be trusted.

What ever happened to trust and integrity?

flickr is great, in just a few minutes I get a pretty good idea of your world. What kind of people you work with, your family, friends and interests. What you value is what you photograph.

It's interesting to see how HP is managing his situation and contrast that to how Toyota executives handled a recent crisis involving recalls and quality. In July, Toyota president Watanabe bowed and said, "I take this seriously and see it as a crisis ... I want to apologize deeply for the troubles we have caused." Reference here: http://www.baselinemag.com/print_article2/0,121.... Not the same situation, obviously, but I'm focusing more on how the officers of a corporation respond to a crisis (any crisis). The Toyota situation utterly fascinates me. The HP situation doesn't, unfortunately. A quick note to Gary (comment #3): I totally agree that the original leak is getting lost here, but that's because the reaction to that leak at the company appears to be profoundly more serous.

fyi: the link in my comment (#4) works fine if you remove the period at the end. Sorry about that. :)

Gary, that's a totally separate issue. Last I remember the leaker didn't break any laws.

LayZ: oh, well, if she stays on the board and the board stays in place, get ready for lots of little barbs like this one in InfoWorld: http://weblog.infoworld.com/tcdaily/archives/20...

LayZ: The journalists (and bloggers) will make sure that this gets brought up time and time again. HP's goons even went after a reporter's family's phones, so you know that this isn't gonna go away. What new is there to say in this? I don't know, it's four days so far and there's been something new (and worse) every day so far. A new day gets here in an hour, I wonder what new stuff will come out today?

Here's another take on why we should pay attention: http://blogs.pcworld.com/techlog/archives/00272...

Here's today's front page story from the San Jose Mercury News: http://www.sportsflea.com/cgi-bin/snapshot/merc...

I wonder what the front page story for tomorrow will be?

LayZ: More news on this story. http://today.reuters.com/news/articleinvesting....

PX: >>I think there is a stench but I’m not sure we have a clue exactly where it’s emanating from yet.

You haven't been reading very much about this issue if you think we don't have a clue exactly where it's coming from. There's plenty of evidence here. Certainly enough to say that Dunn should resign. Whether or not she broke any laws? I'll let the lawyers figure that one out.

And, note, this is a separate issue from the leaker. Sure, kick him out too. In fact, kick the entire board out since they were complicit. That'll give HP an opportunity to stitch up its wound and go in a new direction.

Robert, yes, I've been reading (your links +) and most are opinion pieces, not fact/evidence (other than in a general way). I agree that this will fester because Dunn/HP hasn't come straight at the event and Perkins got the upper hand in the PR game. And it will fester because their hires were stupid enough to snoop on "reporters". But, that's all PR. I get the feeling that if Dunn had immediately started a blog, the "stench" would have shifted down to the perps in your opinion.
I do agree it's all bad form and parts are illegal and that Dunn/HP are not necessarily doing a real good job of crises control. But I don't necessarily believe execs three levels up are necessarily 100% responsible/fireable because someone down the line screwed up. I don't think a Gates should necessarily be tarred/feathered/fired because a Scoble broke a law while on assignment unless the "facts" say he was directly involved in the illegality.
Until the full "facts" come out, I think you're pretty much jumping the gun and being little more than a vigilante with a blog.
;-)

The public’s attention span won’t last that long.

Nope, but reporter's memories last a lifetime, and she strayed beyond just the usual Board drama, and slurpped up WSJ, NYT and CNET, that won't long be forgotten. Besides, I've heard this from the horses mouth from a small army of journos, on this story, the public's attention span be damned, it's personal now.

Getting a side-bar on the '9/11 5 Years Later, Special Edition' in San Jose Mercury News. Gosh...trainwreck and then some.

But also why this story won't die, beyond eternal journalist grudges, it's a proxy example for a much much larger issue, identity theft (pretexting), privacy in the digital age, governmental intrusion and so on and so forth.

PR people never learn tho, journalists are not like Legislators. Congress is enemy on this issue, friend on the next, love hate, hate love. But journalists are forever, you burn them or shut them out on one issue, even something seemingly inconsequential, they will recall. Instead the PR beach-balls bounce around on the blogger-like ADD pills, wondering why their marketing thrust isn't taking off.

'Beware the fury of a patient man.' - John Dryden

Robert, I don't deny that there will be new news items come out every day. Watergate changed the mentality of reporters when it comes to things like this. They want to be seen as the ones that "take somebody down". That said, at the end of the day the story is basically a rewording of the same just looked at from a different perspective. Once, or IF Dunn resigns this thing will die a quick death. It will be forgotten by most in a week when that happens

Christopher, while it may be personal with the reporters, you know as well as anyone that at the end of the day the managing editors need stories to sell newspapers. At some point the public will get bored with the and start to ask, "Isn't there anything else to report? (See:Clinton/Lewinsky, Plame/Novak/Libby, Natalie Holloway) Now PMSNBC, CNN, FOX and other tragic TV news orgs may run with it, ad naseum, but I don't see this story having much legs outside of SV or on CNBC... which doesn't have all that broad viewership.

LayZ: Yeah, agree, but they will still try and worm it in, and every future privacy outbreak case (and there will be tons more), will usher it all back in. Any potshots to take, will be taken, it's gotten under the skin. I don't expect wall to wall, but this isn't something that will be dropped.

I don’t see this story having much legs outside of SV or on CNBC

Oh, I dunno, tie the HP story to 'identity theft' and 'digital privacy' and it has legs of steel. But you could be right, it all depends on the casting and the pitch...

I'm not saying it will be dropped. But the minute Dunn resigns it will get pushed to the back pages of the business sections, with only about 1 inch of column. If she doesn't resign it will stay front and center a bit longer, then the public will lose interest. Journalists may still hold a grudge, but their desire to be read will trump that. And if they are writing what people want to read, they'll table their grudges.

I go agree that HP will for now and ever more will be associated with privacy breeches stories. No amount of PR or "corporate blogging" will ever be able to overcome that.

LayZ: I agree that this goes mostly away if Patricia resigns and goes all the way away if the board resigns.

HP is definitely going to be left with an aftertaste for a while, though.

It's gotten to Feds and Congress now, and that takes months...and there will be grandstanding forever. Atty. General of Cally to Capt. Hill a flash. Dang, HP PR should be fired along with Dunn.