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Palo Alto, Calif. (AP) -- Hewlett-Packard Co. says it has agreed to buy networking software and equipment maker 3Com Corp. for about $2.7 billion in cash. The 3Com products will be folded into HP's own networking equipment business. . . .

As the $2.2 billion merger between U.S. network-equipment giant 3Com and the Chinese firm Huawei Technologies collapsed this week, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Liu Jianchao could be heard calling for a "fair and favorable environment for Chinese enterprises in the United States." From a government that engages in extensive military and commercial espionage in the United States — four alleged operatives were just arrested passing U.S. military command-and-control technology to the People's Republic — a cry for principle on mergers with security relevance is beyond belief.

It was Just announced on Lou Dobbs show that Bain Capital Investment withdrew its application for a proposed take over of 3 com corporation. The company in charge of firewall, and anti-hacking software for the Department of Defense!!! I have never seen Lou Dobbs so elated he called it a victory for American interests, and proof that the system can work when our public servants work in the interest of the American people. It was reported that Bain withdrew the proposal when it became obvious the Committee On Foreign Investment was not going to approve it because it was a...

U.S. intelligence agencies informed a Treasury Department-led review committee recently that a merger between 3Com and a Chinese company would threaten U.S. national security, The Washington Times has learned. Bush administration intelligence officials said the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) recently submitted a required threat assessment to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, known as CFIUS, which is conducting a 30-day investigation of the proposed deal between 3Com and China's Huawei Technologies. The assessment, which is classified, described the deal as posing a "threat" to U.S. national security, according to officials familiar with the...

HUNTER CALLS ON ROMNEY TO OPPOSE BAIN PARTNERSHIP WITH CHINESE COMPANY FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 2, 2007 CONTACT: Gary Becks (619) 334-1655, dlhunter08@yahoo.com San Diego, CA - - - Presidential candidate and current Ranking Member of the House Armed Services Committee, Congressman Duncan Hunter, today called on former Governor Mitt Romney to send a "clear statement" to the leadership of the company he founded, Bain Capital, to terminate a proposed business deal with a controversial Chinese corporation seeking to acquire U.S. defense contractor 3COM. Bain Capital is attempting to form a business arrangement with Huawei Corporation, a Chinese corporation founded...

I am publicly stating who I support for the 2008 Republican nominee for President, California Representative, Duncan Hunter. Why? The reasons are many but the primary underlying reason is, he better than any other candidate, be they Republican or Democrat, at understand the world landscape both economically and politically. His over all goal is a stronger more protected America. Hunter, more than any other name on the ballot, is a student of history, not just recent history, he, as they say, sees the big picture. Unlike politicians of the past who have given away the American Dream as a good...

China Angles to Buy 3Com Thursday, October 25, 2007 2:48 PM By: Charles R. Smith The pending sale of a U.S. defense contractor to a company directly linked to the Chinese army would normally be canceled at once. However, the links between a dark Chinese company and many of the most powerful politicians in America appears to have put the buyout of 3Com on the fast-track toward approval. Bain Capital and Goldman Sachs — two leading financial firms — are currently seeking the buyout of 3Com, a computer communications firm with U.S. defense contracts. 3Com makes equipment used by the...

Would a private-equity firm founded by Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney fork over sensitive secrets to the Chinese? It might sound like the plot of a Jason Bourne movie, but it actually is the question shadowing concerns voiced by several U.S. lawmakers over Bain Capital Partners LLC's pending $2.2 billion buyout of 3Com Corp. [Mitt Romney] Bain's decision to allow China's Huawei Technologies Co. to take a minority stake in 3Com has prompted some politicians to wonder whether Huawei will gain access to the Marlborough, Mass., telecommunications-equipment maker's technology, which is used by the U.S. Defense Department, among others. (Hauwei...

By Bill Gertz - Several Republican members of Congress yesterday called for a Treasury Department probe into whether Pentagon computer networks will be compromised by the merger of a U.S. network-equipment maker and a Chinese firm with links to Beijing's military. Senior Pentagon officials, meanwhile, are investigating the security aspects of the announced plan for China's Huawei Technologies and the investment firm Bain Capital Partners to buy 3Com, which makes equipment used by the Pentagon to block computer hackers, including those from the Chinese military. Bain Capital announced last night that it will submit the $2.2 billion deal for review...

Several months ago, the Pentagon's network and e-mail system fell victim to computer hacking. After an internal investigation, Pentagon officials declared that the hack was perpetrated by the Chinese military. In particular, officials said the attack "was by China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) and that it led to the shutdown of a computer system serving the office of Defense Secretary Robert Gates." Now, a Chinese company with ties to the country's military, former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, and the Taliban will gain access to U.S. defense-network technology under a proposed merger.According to a story in the Washington Times, Huawei Technologies...

China bids for firm that makes "intrusion prevention" technology for the Department of Defense. THE CHINESE ANNOUNCED on Saturday that they would be buying into the company that provides the Pentagon with technology to prevent cyber-attacks--of the sort the Chinese launched a few weeks ago. Why worry? We are all free traders now, according the president and his secretary of the Treasury--all except misguided Democrats, trade unions, displaced workers, and those who worry about our national security. True, free trade is great--when dealing with other parties who are in it for the same thing--to make money. But that ain't the...

OK, people... I don't know why people seem to trash the old 3Com sharkfin modem... I've had one for the last 4 years, including 3 speed upgrades, and it seems to work fine for me. Since this is apparently a subjective item, I'd like to know the opinion of cable internet users here in FR, including those who still use the sharkfin.