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CHP Undertakes Investigation SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Reports of document shredding at the California Department of Information Technology prompted a California Highway Patrol investigation and the seizure of a large trash receptacle by Department of Justice agents, adding new intrigue to a growing Capitol scandal over a software contract with the Oracle Corp. The growing scandal prompted Republican calls for the U.S. Attorney's Office to step in. They want an investigation into a six-year, $95 million software contract with Oracle. A state auditor said that the contract could cost taxpayers millions of dollars. Republicans turned up the heat, accusing Gov....

SACRAMENTO, Calif., May 2 (Reuters) - A top California Republican on Thursday demanded a federal probe of the state's controversial $95 million software contract with Oracle Corp. (NasdaqNM:ORCL - news). ADVERTISEMENT Assembly Republican leader Dave Cox asked the U.S. Attorney's Office to take over the investigation following a media report that a lawmaker leading a legislative review of the deal was being pressured to stop by officials in administration of Democratic Gov. Gray Davis. The call comes two weeks after an audit blasted the deal with Oracle, saying the contract was awarded without competitive bids, with little legal oversight, for...

<p>California Highway Patrol officers secured the state offices of the state Department of Information Technology Thursday to prevent removal or shredding of documents related to the unfolding Oracle computer investigation.</p> <p>CHP Commissioner Spike Helmick said at 12:30 p.m. that representatives of the state attorney general’s office were on their way to the offices.</p>

SAN FRANCISCO, April 19 — U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft and database billionaire Larry Ellison were named this year's most notorious American violators of personal privacy by leading advocacy groups on Thursday. The annual "Big Brother Awards" are presented to government, corporations and private individuals who allegedly have done the most to threaten personal privacy. Privacy International, a London-based activist organization made up of privacy experts and human rights organizations from several dozen countries, presented the awards at the annual "Computers, Freedom & Privacy" conference here this week. They were joined by well-known U.S. privacy activists. The "Worst Government Official"...

<p>Deal to buy Oracle software in bulk was likely unnecessary, audit says.</p> <p>SACRAMENTO -- An unprecedented $122.6 million state computer contract with Oracle Corp. - approved without competitive bidding and touted as a major cost saver - could wind up costing taxpayers tens of millions of dollars, the state auditor said Tuesday.</p>

SACRAMENTO, Calif., April 17 — A potentially illegal deal between Oracle Corp. (NASDAQ:ORCL) and California could cost taxpayers tens of millions of dollars for software that few state employees need or want, the state auditor said Wednesday. In a highly critical review, a state audit questioned why officials in three state agencies went ahead with the $122.6 million no-bid deal last May when a survey indicated few state workers had interest in using the database software. "We didn't know if there was a need and we committed millions of dollars to this contract," said State Auditor Elaine Howle told Reuters....

Microsoft, DOJ seek to close the deal By Joe WilcoxNews.com March 6, 2002 nbsp; WASHINGTON--The U.S. Justice Department on Wednesday conceded that it settled with Microsoft in part because trustbusters failed to prove part of the basic theory of the antitrust case. In his presentation before U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, Justice Department lead attorney Philip Beck said that Microsoft was able to hold on to a monopoly in Intel-based operating systems only through anti-competitive acts. But the government was not in a position to make that argument stick, he said. quot;We tried very hard the first time around,...