Venture capitalist and bon vivant Thomas Perkins is one of the long-time stars of Silicon Valley, but he gained a different kind of noteriety last year when he went to war with then Hewlett Packard Chairman of the Board, Patrica Dunn.

Perkins, an HP director, was fingered (incorrectly) by Dunn as the mole in what became known as the Kona II investigation of HP employees and the journalists with which they may have sharing company secrets. Dunn initiated the investigation, with famed Cali counsel Wilson Sonsini at her side, employing several independent private investigators - all in an attempt to shut down the leaks she felt were plaguing the company.

As has been widely reported, the investigation went well beyond what was advisable or legal and led to a major conflagration in the press as well as state and national legislatures over the issue of phone record privacy and the investigative tactic known as pretexting. Dunn herself, along with HP's general counsel, was a casualty of all this attention, losing her chairmanship and eventually resigning from the HP board.

The Times of London has run an excerpt from Tom Perkins autobiography, Valley Boy, which describes his first person reaction to the Dunn investigation and the thought process behind his subsequent resignation from the HP board. Really good stuff...

-- MDT

Labels: HP, Kona II, Patricia Dunn, pretexing, Thomas Perkins

In a move that had been expected for some time, several lawsuits alleging "illegal and reprehensible conduct" have been filed against Hewlett Packard as well as the company's former CEO, Patricia Dunn and Kevin Hunsaker, PH's former ethics chief.

These would be the two company executives most closely associated with the hiring of private investigators, who among other things, used pretextual tricks to obtain private phone records of several individuals who HP suspected of facilitating media leaks of sensitive company information.

Amongst the plaintiffs in the five cases are journalists from the Associated Press and CNET. More on the pending cases via MLive. Loads of background on HP corporate spying fiasco is available via the tags below.

-- MDT

Labels: HP, Kevin Hunsaker, Patricia Dunn, pretexing, Wilson Sonsini

HP violated mandatory disclosure rules when it failed to come clean in company 8Ks about the reason that shareholder Tom Perkins left the board of directors. Perkins, a noted venture capitalist and an old-school Don of Silicon Vally hardly needed the HP board berth to pad his extensive resume.

As you may recall, Perkins left his seat to protest HP's spying on himself, other board members and various journalists.

HP top brass, including former CEO Patricia Dunn believed Perkins to be the source of media leaks that were hampering the company. In response Dunn, HP's general counsel, outside counsel Wilson Sonsini and a cadre of investigators and subcontractors initiated what came to be known as Kona II, an investigation that included surveillance, pulling trash and obtaining phone records under false pretenses.

There are no "teeth" to the SEC's settlement with HP. The company simply double-promises not to violate disclosure rules in the future. No penalty was assessed.

For further background on the HP shenanigans - that is, if you're not totally sick to death of the story - check out the tags below.

-- MDT

Labels: HP, Kona II, Patricia Dunn, pretexing, Wilson Sonsini