Hewlett-Packard finally settled with The New York Times and journalists from BusinessWeek over the lawsuits against it for spying on journalists. The news agencies sued HP after information surfaced showing the company had used fraudulent methods, including pretexting, to obtain journalistis phone records and then spy on them, according to Computerworld.
Private investigators HP hired used pretexting, or lying to trick a person into thinking they are someone else and divulging information, to obtain the phone records of several journalists. The investigators were hoping to uncover who inside HP was leaking company information.
Terry Gross, the attorney representing The New York Times and BusinessWeek, commented "The New York Times and the BusinessWeek reporters brought this action because they believed that this type of illegal activity aimed at silencing the press should not be allowed."
None of the parties involved revealed the size of the settlements, but The New York Times confirmed it plans on donating the money it receives to charity.
Additional lawsuits relating to HPis pretexting are still pending.