By Steve Ragan May 8, 2007, 15:09 GMT
Three CNet reporters are preparing to sue Hewlett-Packard, charging invasion of privacy according to the lawyer who is representing the journalists and the New York Times. Stephen Shankland, Dawn Kawamoto, and Tom Krazit, are seeking damages after HP hired detectives to access their phone records (personal and business), said Kevin Boyle, an attorney at Panish Shea & Boyle in Los Angeles.
Mr. Boyle told the Times, that the suit will not seek a certain dollar amount but rather it will seek punitive damages against HP after it admitted to accessing personal information through pretexting. In 2006, HP faced a hailstorm if negative press for using an investigator who took advantage of pretexting to gain personal information on several HP board members. CNet said that they are not joining the suit filed by its three reporters, but might file a suit on their own in the future. The three reporters are no longer allowed to report any news related to HP or its child companies.
One definition of pretexting is “The act of creating and using an invented scenario (the pretext) to persuade a target to release information or perform an action and is usually done over the telephone. It is more than a simple lie as it most often involves some prior research or set up and the use of pieces of known information to establish legitimacy in the mind of the target.” It is often used by private investigators such as the one hired by HP to locate people or information.
“HP's conduct stifled the reporters' abilities to do their jobs,” Boyle said in a statement. “It clearly infringed on the privacy rights of themselves and their families.” The three CNet reporters are not the only ones who are looking at lawsuits. There are others, including three reporters from BusinessWeek and one from The New York Times. The three from CNet walked away from discussions directed at reaching a mutual settlement, and hired their own attorney. The other four, while their lawyers have talked with Boyle, have made no plans to sue.
The main issue the seven debated for months, according to the Times story, is what happens professionally? How will their professions suffer or benefit from their decision to file suit. That is unknown at present, but the simple fact is reporters or not, they are citizens and they should get the same legal rights.
David McCraw the lawyer for the Times reporter John Markoff, said the spying HP did was “designed to interfere with our journalism and, ultimately, to deprive our readers of information of importance to them.” McCraw said that the newspaper was not looking for financial gain and that any money awarded in a settlement, would be donated.
“The New York Times Company appreciates the steps that H.P. has taken to remedy the situation,” Mr. McCraw said, “but we believe H.P. can and should do more to acknowledge the harm that was done and to demonstrate to other companies that may be tempted to engage in similar conduct that this is not an offense that carries no consequences.”
The CNet lawyer declined to say when the suit would be official. HP has issued no comment on the matter. There were two other reporters form the Wall Street Journal who was also included originally, but the Journal said it would take no part in legal actions taken against HP.
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