HP Skates Away From SEC Charges 80
theodp writes "The SEC has dropping charges against HP, in return for some small concessions. The company was originally charged with improperly depriving investors of important information, violating the public reporting requirements of the Securities Exchange Act, and failing to disclose the full impact of an out-of-control press leak investigation. In return for the dropped charges, the computer maker simply agreed to cease and desist from doing similar acts in the future, without admitting or denying having done so in the past. 'HP acted in what it believed to be a proper manner,' said the company in a press release."
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Why don't we hold corporate america to high standards any more ? This countries reputation is being bought and sold by these companies everyday.
Nothing like greasing the goons to let you go.
Re:Did they have those shoes with built in skates? (Score:4, Insightful)
Any more? When did we ever?
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Federal securities laws require a public company to disclose - by making a public filing with the Commission - the circumstances of the disagreement if a director resigns because of a disagreement with the company on any matter relating to its operations, policies or practices. Notwithstanding this requirement, HP did not make the mandated disclosures, instead reporting only the fact that Mr. Perkins had stepped down. The Commission found Mr. Perkins' disagreement related to HP's corporate governance and HP's policies regarding the handling of sensitive information, and therefore was a disagreement related to HP's operations, policies or practices which was required to be disclosed.
Sorry for quoting a whole paragraph; I know that's more than many /.'ers care to read from TFA.
Relax, people. It's sunny today, and you don't have .0000001% of the insane red-tape restrictions on you a publicly traded company does.
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What would happen if I failed to file my taxes ! I get in deep trouble and would probably be hung from the state building by the IRS workers , via Lord of the Fly like hordes , but yet these guys just feel like they shouldn't have to report even the little things.
As an Hp stock holder this affects me. This is a major reason why most americans are starting to see investing in US companies a waste. They are not being "nice neighbors" any mor
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Sure, this particular incident doesn't affect me personally, but it is indicative of the general immunity that corporations seem to have from any consequences for their actions.
I wouldn't classify a regulation that requires a publicly traded company to reveal information that directly impacts their operations as "insane red-tape restrict
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Care to name what FUD you are talking about, or is it really that ANY bad-mouthing of our Corporate Masters sticks in your craw? Do you secretly long for a society in which no one is allowed to criticize the status quo? Do you profit from supporting the status quo?
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You really aught to put that in your sig. You add that snide personal attack to everything you post, it seems.
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And people who vehemently attack the status quo are usually too stupid or lazy to do so themselves.
The status quo works for a lot of people who aren't super-rich. The fact that it doesn't work for you may be less an indication of how bad things are and more an indication of what a dolt you are.
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Of course the status quo works for a lot of people. That's why they never question its inherent unfairness. Usually, only people for whom it does not work would bother to question it. They aren't stupid or lazy, either.
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If you think you've offended me, you give yourself too much credit. I laugh at the fact that your supposed insight into me and my personal ideology is based on your own disdain and limited understanding of people with whom you disagree.
As for my site, that's just a hobby that I occasionally use to give words
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And try to do it without equating my defense of Christians' rights to personally identifying with their beliefs. Indeed, defending free speech and opposing censorship is sooo neocon.
I'm curious how you've come to these conclusions of yours.
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Oh, I don't know about that. Weasels are notoriously amoral, as everyone knows. So I'd have to guess from your statement that the rabidity of the weasel is what lends it morality in the first place.
As we all know, rabies is also known as hydrophobia, hence the moral value that can be ascribed to rabidity is a fear of water.
So what you are saying, in essence, is if corporate America was only half-afraid of water --
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The major government IT vendors: http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/04/19/234 7237 [slashdot.org]
Jack Abramhoff and his pals: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Abramoff [wikipedia.org]. A tiny number of people were perp-walked.
The Bush administration for, among other things, sodomizing the division that is used to exist between the Executive branch and the Attorneys General. http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=234873&cid=191 46 [slashdot.org]
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I'd like to point out that while power/influence/reputation may be bought by corporations every day, it is most certainly SOLD by your elected politicians. Instead of trying to hold a company to some ethical standard for which the very act of doing business often conflicts, we should instead remove from politicians the brokered power/influence/reputation of which being human often conflicts with being a good steward.
Obligatory: Editors... (Score:1)
Slashdot does have editors, right?
Right?
it gets better (Score:2)
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You must be new here.
Thems with the deepest pocketses winses! (Score:3, Informative)
*** Beware. Disgust vent system engaged. ***
yep (Score:3, Insightful)
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Your forget Step 3.5 (Score:1, Insightful)
Has dropping charges? (Score:2)
Disgusting... (Score:5, Interesting)
Phillips, TRW, and Koch have more in common than a history of repeatedly violating workplace and environmental laws. They also rank among the nation's largest government contractors. Between 1995 and 2000, the three corporations received a combined total of $10.4 billion in federal business-at the same time that regulatory agencies and federal courts were citing the companies for jeopardizing the safety of their employees, polluting the nation's air and water, and even defrauding the government.
That's not supposed to happen. Federal contracting officers are charged with reviewing the record of companies that do business with the government and barring those that fail to demonstrate "a satisfactory record of integrity and business ethics." But officials are given no guidelines to follow in making such decisions, and there's no centralized system they can consult to inform them of corporate wrongdoing. As a result, a government report concluded in 2000, those responsible for awarding federal contracts are "extremely reluctant" to take action, even when they are aware of violations. And in the rare instances when the rule is enforced, it is almost always employed against small companies with little clout in Washington.
There is little incentive for any company to follow laws of the law. Why should they when they can get a slap on the wrist and a wink of the eye... "You don't go doing that again now you here... By the way, we really like those HP notebooks and I was thinking about my son's classmates". Jesus christ this country is a scam in itself
This is not really a SEC cup of tea (Score:1)
Dropping Charges (Score:1)
better headline (Score:2, Interesting)
Keep in mind that it wasn't long ago that a bill legalizing pretexting was pushed by the RIAA [arstechnica.com].
Please stop buying HP stuff. Please stop buying stuff from companies that have a political axe to grind against their consumers. Please stop buying stuff from companies that consider consumers a silent, renewable, god given, right to exploit reso
Re:better headline (Score:5, Informative)
HP was charged with a '34 Act violation because they didn't report WHY a director (Perkins) resigned, only that he did. They were required to report WHY he resigned because he resigned over a disagreement with corporate policy, which must be disclosed per the '34 Act. He could've resigned because he disagreed with their pricing of toner, and it would've had to have been reported because:
Yes, this happened in relation to the pretexting scandal, but that's not why the SEC sought enforcement. Therefore, HP's claims that it thought it was acting "lawfully" are not in regard to pretexting, but in regard to the disclosure of a director's resignation and what amounts to the quote above. They thought it didn't fit that definition, stupidly and blatantly incorrect, might I add, but it had nothing to do with them believing pretexting was a lawful action. That wasn't the question to be decided here.
don't buy from crooks (Score:2)
In summary... (Score:5, Funny)
I hope they at least made them pinky-swear.
HP played their trump card (Score:3)
The Feds decided it was too much hassle, made a speech, and let them go.
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So, promise not to break the law... (Score:3, Insightful)
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Re:So, promise not to break the law... (Score:5, Insightful)
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Because any rules that hold down profit margins are effectively unconstitutional.
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Now, some of those laws are necessary,
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Yeah, only American investors wised up, right? It's just a lot easier to issue securities in other markets. The SEC requires a lot of disclosure, both prior to issuance and ongoing, that other markets don't require. The SEC is not run by idiots, and they believe this to be a problem, so
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From reading the two links, (IANAL and I haven't read the specific rule) it seems that this was a grey area for the rule. The rule is that if a board member quits because he disagrees with the companys operations/policies/practices, the company must explain the reason for
Cocksuckas (Score:2)
Message to America (Score:1)
Seems like a small thing to me. (Score:3, Insightful)
It's not like they poisoned Bhopal, killed a bunch of pets, or murdered everyone in Hama.
Ohhhhhhh. I get it. Big company. Definitely deserving of all the flea bites the
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This actually isn't a very serious offense. HP was probably a bit dumb in misinterpreting the regulation (or forgetting it existed), especially since securities laws tend to interpret broadly because of the overarching goal of investor protection, but it's not terrible.
Reading about the issue (Score:2)
One thing I've noticed about
Your meaning is unclear to me. (Score:2)
Sounds familiar (Score:2)
Agreed to no longer act properly (Score:1)
Skated? (Score:2)
I wonder if there's more, in context (Score:2)
cease and desist (Score:2)
First the FCC and now the SEC. (Score:3, Informative)
A similar lack of complaint was heard when the food and drug administration reevaluated aspertame for the third time and declared it safe despite their own warnings to the contrary see here [wikipedia.org]. Thanks again Donald Rumsfeld.
Then the Food and Drug administration recently was accused of stepping down enforcement of many complaints and 'streamlining' the process of approval for the drug companies.
Now this. Realistically speaking I would hope that sooner or later events like this, you know large companies committing fraud and spying on people for money, lying, etc. and being given only a slap on the wrist, would say piss people off so much that they would Write their Congressional Representative [house.gov], and Their U.S. Senator [senate.gov], and even The President [whitehouse.gov]. A few e-mails saying, either this is a government of by and for the people or we'll vote for someone else. A few e-mails saying, I pay my taxes why are they being spent to harm me? A few e-mails just reminding them that we are paying attention. Lacking that they can do whatever they want and we're no longer the greatest nation on earth.