HP, Texas schools, and corruption

[General Zod]

Corruption in the Texas school system? Shocking, I know.

Hewlett Packard has agreed to fork over $16.25 million to settle charges that the computer maker "lavished" gifts on two Texas school districts in order to win government contracts to provide computer equipment. Acting on tips from whistleblowers within the Dallas and Houston school districts, the Department of Justice and Federal Communications Commission investigated the allegations.

"Meals and entertainment—including trips on a yacht and tickets to the 2004 Super Bowl—were provided by the contractors to get inside information and win contracts that were supposed to be awarded through a competitive bidding process," the Federal Communications Commission disclosed late on Wednesday.

The FCC's Schools and Libraries or "E-Rate" fund is the program that was allegedly compromised. E-Rate provides money to libraries and schools for computer and networking gear. Contractors like HP are supposed to bid for school district cash under an open process.

The suits were filed under the provisions of the False Claims Act, which allows the whistleblowers to sue on behalf of the United States and receive some of the recovery money. But, as is often the case in these settlements, while the government charged that HP was "conspiring to rig the competitive bidding of E-Rate contracts," the company is admitting no crime.

"This Agreement is neither an admission of liability by HP, which denies the claims described above, nor a concession by the United States that its claims are not well-founded," the settlement explains.

Bottom line: HP will pay $7,402,441 for the Dallas contract and $8,847,559 for its contracting bids in Houston.
We did nothing wrong, and we'll never do it again

HP has also agreed to a compliance program which involves training its employees in how to comply with E-Rate contracting rules (presumably someone will tell them not to hand out Super Bowl and yacht trip tickets to school officials).

The company's employees will have to certify that they "are not aware of and have no reason to suspect that anyone has provided or has promised to provide a gift, payment or entertainment, or anything else of value, on HP's behalf in connection with any bid or agreement that might violate the E-Rate Program Rules or other applicable law, or any HP policy."

Further actions are being taken against former HP business partners Micro Systems Engineering (MSE) and Analytical Computer Services (ACS), and a number of individuals.

Hewlett Packard sent us this press release on the settlement:

"HP requires that all employees and partners adhere to lawful and ethical business practices. The activities at the center of this investigation occurred more than five years ago, the partner relationships have been terminated and the employees involved are no longer with the company. HP fully cooperated with the authorities and the matter is now resolved."

You have to love the way wealthy companies settle things like this. "Okay okay we'll give you tons of money to make this go away. But giving you tons of money doesn't mean we did anything wrong! No sir!"

[Mr. Coffee]

So basically more shenanigans that happened under Fiorina's watch that HP is still having to clean up after. Bitch really was the anti-Steve Jobs.

[someone_else]

We did nothing wrong, and we'll never do it again

EEEEEK!

That sums up the whole matter.

[Gil Hamilton]

It's a good business model. Actively commit fraud and then when anyone catches you, sign a compromise where you admit absolutely no wrongdoing but agree to pay damages (which aren't from the wrongdoing, which totally didn't happen); damages that are a tiny fraction of what you make.

If you succeed in fraud, you get the rewards. If you get caught, you pay a pittance but face no legal consequence, and still might get the rewards. Pretty sweet deal, when companies are above the law and any attempt to change that is "anti-business".

[TheFeniX]

E-rate was a pretty damn competitive business. Dell was winning most of the contracts back when I was doing installs. But the corruption wasn't just limited to the manufacturers. I heard from a few administrators about a number of kids who shouldn't have qualified for the free lunch program (which is what your e-rate money is based on), but many parents are easily persuaded to apply anyway. It's not surprising HP would do whatever they could to break in as I remember the grant writer vs installer relationship was not nearly as separate as it should have been.

TIFF grants (based off a small cell-phone tax in Texas) were also rife with bullshit. I've installed two $4,000 servers in a building that was no larger than a one-story starter home, all because there were technically two different school libraries contained in one large room, even though the database software (Follet) could have easily run both catalogs with no issue. And no, there were no requirements for them to remain separate. TIFF is first-come first-serve, so if your school has the in, you can really screw other needy schools out of the hardware.

My experience is dated (I quit in 2005), but it all came down to playing the game. Those who try to stick to the "spirit" (for lack of a better term) of the grants end up getting shafted. Those who do it right end up with only the chance of getting caught and that just isn't a punishment. One jackass bought over $100,000 in 3Com NICs (3C905C-TX-M, I will remember that model # the rest of my life) and had them sitting in a warehouse for months. Jail-time for the massive amounts of fraud was being talked. I didn't get the specifics, but somehow he was able to get them all returned and the correct equipment was bought and he didn't even get fined. I will bet some poor 3COM sales-man got shit-canned though.

[White Haven]

This sort of crap is why I really detest civil law as practiced. Financial penalties for blatant fraud and corruption encourage a 'you win some, you lose some' attitude towards that sort of behavior, even excepting the ability to pay less than your total profit from the aforementioned corruption. Felony charges and prison time would go a long way towards dissuading at least casual corruption.

[TithonusSyndrome]

Why doesn't America get a worse corruption perceptions rating than it does, more akin to a 5 like Italy has? This kind of practice is more or less institutionalized right now, it has to be at least as widespread as in the dregs of Europe - is it because it's not being committed by an avowed criminal organization like the Mafia or some outlaw organization in the Second World, but rather by a "respectable" corporate entity?

[MKSheppard]

HP is already running a nice corruption ring with the whole "HP calculators are required for any high school maths class", and then making the god damn things cost $75; when in reality they should cost $25; they haven't changed the design in a decade!

[phongn]

HP is already running a nice corruption ring with the whole "HP calculators are required for any high school maths class", and then making the god damn things cost $75; when in reality they should cost $25; they haven't changed the design in a decade!

Didn't TI more or less get a complete lock on the market?

[Gil Hamilton]

I've never seen a student whip out a graphing calculator that WASN'T a Texas Instruments product. I know mind is. TI runs themselves a scam, though I suppose their calculators have improved in function if not form. My TI-83 doesn't do nearly as much as the TI-89s my students use.

[phongn]

I've never seen a student whip out a graphing calculator that WASN'T a Texas Instruments product. I know mind is. TI runs themselves a scam, though I suppose their calculators have improved in function if not form. My TI-83 doesn't do nearly as much as the TI-89s my students use.

HP calculators tend to be limited to the engineering and business worlds.

[MKSheppard]

Brainfart. I said HP when I meant TI. TI has not changed their calculators at all in any way that justifies their price.

[Beowulf]

HP is already running a nice corruption ring with the whole "HP calculators are required for any high school maths class", and then making the god damn things cost $75; when in reality they should cost $25; they haven't changed the design in a decade!

Didn't TI more or less get a complete lock on the market?

Yeah. I was pretty much the only student in my high school with an HP. Everyone else had a TI.

[Sarevok]

HP graphing calculators are superior in some ways like their RPN support. The TI-89 feels like archaic dinosaur due to its arcane interface.

[Gil Hamilton]

That's the problem. My TI-83 meets all my needs, even though TI-89s ARE better calculators. The next TI calculator would be worth buying a bit more even if they kept all the functions it can do indentical to the 89 if they only bothered to devote more effort to the interface. That's why I haven't broken down and bought one, even if the calculator can do more, it's not really user compatible enough for me to give up the calculator I've had for years, have extensively writing little programs for, and know how to do everything on.

(Besides, it has sentimental value. My calculator and I have been through alot together. Doing eigenvalue problems on another calculator feels like cheating even if the calculator can do it better. I have MatLab for heavy lifting)

[Starglider]

Aren't those things already obsoleted by calculator apps on smartphones and iPads? Or at least will be once the price of the later comes down a bit more.

[General Zod]

Aren't those things already obsoleted by calculator apps on smartphones and iPads? Or at least will be once the price of the later comes down a bit more.

Most teachers won't allow smartphones or iPads in class because they make cheating incredibly easy. So you're stuck using TI-83s.

[Phantasee]

Alberta school requirements have made TI-83s the standard for so long they've become hand-me-downs. I know one kid got his from his uncle, who may have got it from the kids father. There was a noticeable speed difference between his 83 and our 83+s.

[Sarevok]

Aren't those things already obsoleted by calculator apps on smartphones and iPads? Or at least will be once the price of the later comes down a bit more.

There is almost nothing useful beyond simple graph plotters on smartphones.

That said you could use Wolfram-Alpha from most mobile phones these days. Its a bit clumsy but it does work even on basic feature phones running nothing more than Opera Mini.

[Phantasee]

I know the iPhone has apps that replace my HP 10bII financial calculator. Looks like the real thing, but can show you what is in the cash flow registers, and can plot things out in a graph. Way better than the actual calculator.

[Thanas]

Less talking about calculators, more talking about the subject of this thread, people.