HP ’spy’ scandal rolls on
p2pnet.net News:- Private Eye, white collar crime investigation and forensic accounting firms will be well pissed with Hewlett-Packard.
Thanks to the company’s efforts to uncover the identity of a senior employees suspected of leaking information, ‘pretexting," a hallowed institution long used and much loved by private investigators, is now receiving a great deal of unwanted attention.
On the second day of testimony over the spying scandal that’s "embroiled" HP, the company’s top executives were, "grilled about their roles in the scandal," says the Associated Press.
Many invoked their Fifth Amendment rights against self incrimination, but, "only one witness, Doug Atkin, owner of Anglo-American Investigations Inc., invoked his right to refuse to testify," says the story, going on:
"Lawmakers asked what happened to a bill their panel had approved that would ban pretexting, underscoring the point by putting up a mock vintage movie poster in the hearing room that read, ‘H.R. 4943, Gone with the Wind.’ All six of the telephone company executives said they would support a bill criminalizing the practice of pretexting.
"Thomas Meiss, associate general counsel at Cingular Wireless, the nation’s largest cell phone provider, said his company can sue a firm that obtains customer records from his company under false pretenses, but that is not enough of a penalty. ‘I don’t trust these people at all,’ he said of data brokerage firms that sell private phone records. ‘They need to be in jail’.”
Meanwhile, Cingular has sued a private eye caught up in the scandal, "seeking to make him pay for allegedly obtaining customer-call records under false pretenses," says another AP story.
"The Atlanta-based company said in federal court papers it wants Charles Kelly, his firm CAS Agency and any of its agents to return all Cingular customer information they may have, give up any profits they made for getting the data and pay unspecified damages for their conduct," it says, adding:
"The complaint, which follows a similar suit filed late Thursday by Verizon Wireless, also seeks an injunction against CAS, which is based in Carrollton, Georgia.
"Kelly could not immediately be reached for comment Friday. No phone listings for Kelly or CAS could be found through directory assistance, an internet search or a Georgia state website on corporation registrations."
Not only but also, "In the wake of the spying scandal at Hewlett-Packard Co., Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill Friday that makes it clear that it is illegal to gain access to individual phone records through fraud or deceit," says the Sacramento Bee.
Sponsored by state senator Joe Simitian, the new law goes into effect on January 1 next year, says the story, adding:
"Penalties for a first offense could include a fine of up to $2,500 and up to a year in county jail. Subsequent violations could result in a $10,000 fine and a year in jail. Six other states have similar laws, according to Simitian’s office."
Also See:
hallowed institution – HP spectacle becomes a farce, September 29, 2006
Associated Press – Lawmakers, wireless execs, regulators all want anti-pretexting law, September 29, 2006
AP – Cingular Sues PI for Pretexting, September 29, 2006
Sacramento Bee – California governor signs ‘pretexting’ bill, October 1, 2006
p2pnet newsfeeds for your site.
rss feed: http://p2pnet.net/p2p.rss
Mobile – http://p2pnet.net/index-wml.php
