HP pays to end kickback probe HP is taking a two cents per share charge to end a Department of Justice investigation into bribery allegations. The company stressed that it was not admitting any wrongdoing, of course. The DOJ investigation began in 2007 and included Accenture and Sun. It centred on allegations that the three companies improperly charged …
The cost of cooperating with the investigation and defending against a court case has to be set against the cost of settling early. It is not a question of guilty or innocent, it is a balance of costs and probabilities. If we are acquited (insert probability) what do we get, if found guilty (1 minus previous probability) what would the punative fine be? Now stack up against the cost of the payoff. Take least cost option.
Of course the probabilities would be affected by what they know of the evidence available. that just affects the size of the swing between the choice of settling and going to court.
IMHO the gap between the punishment if found guilty and the cost of settling out of court distorts any conclusions about guilt or innocence.
Probably better to settle early as it keeps the money from going to the lawyers (on both sides).
Unlikely. Dell is basically a pure Intel shop and that's the way Intel and Dell want(ed) it to stay. HP has a long history of AMD product in desktops, laptops, and servers.
"It is not a question of guilty or innocent,"
Says who? The people with the money? Oh, that's all right then. I guess that makes "the war on drugs" a bit specious though, 'cos there's a lot of money there, but maybe they too are neither guilty nor innocent, so we could just call the whole silly thing off and get Tesco to do the sourcing and distribution, and collect the tax. Right?
unless, of course, one is a wealthy corporation (a juridical construction, which, according to the US Supreme Court, inherently possesses all the rights that the US Constitution gives real persons), in which case one pays a minor fine and admits no guilt. Ain't capitalism grand ?...
Henri
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