San Francisco - A number of journalists whose phone records were obtained by private investigators working for Hewlett-Packard -- which at the time was looking into boardroom leaks to the media -- have decided to sue the company for invasion of privacy, CNET News.com reported on Monday.

CNET News.com reporters Dawn Kawamoto, Stephen Shankland and Tom Krazit plan to sue HP for punitive damages; publisher CNET Networks said it would not join their suit, but may separately sue HP.

Reporters for several other publications, including BusinessWeek and The New York Times, are separately in settlement talks with HP.

In the wake of the scandal, HP has also paid $14.5 million to settle a civil lawsuit filed by the California attorney general.

President Bush in January signed a bill into law that makes it a federal crime to fraudulently obtain, or disclose confidential phone records.

Additionally, last month the FCC issued an order that asked telecommunications firms to add safeguards to prevent the disclosure of phone records to unauthorized persons.

Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/2mrskp (CNET)

http://tinyurl.com/2kwaza (DMW previous coverage)