The case that turned Hewlett-Packard's board inside out and made "pretexting" part of everyday parlance came to a less-dramatic end last week. Judge Ray Cunningham of Santa Clara County Superior Court threw out all charges against former HP board chairwoman Patricia Dunn and agreed to dismiss a misdemeanor charge against three other defendants--former HP ethics officer Kevin Hunsaker and private investigators Ronald DeLia and Matthew DePante--after they complete 96 hours of community service and make restitution.

The defendants originally were charged with four felonies involving identity theft, wrongful use of computer data, fraudulent wire communications, and conspiracy to commit those crimes. They came from revelations in September that investigators acting on HP's behalf might have lied to obtain phone records of board members, journalists, and others in an attempt to find the source of leaks to reporters. The case launched a national discussion of privacy and the protection of telephone records. One additional outcome: AT&T reported a "dramatic" decrease in pretexting in the six months since prosecutors brought charges in the HP case.

Photo by Paul Sakuma/AP