[Satellite TODAY 06-08-10] System integrator Electronic Data Systems (EDS), a subsidiary of Hewlett Packard (HP), has agreed to pay 318 million British pounds ($460.3 million) to BSkyB to settle its lawsuit over a failed CRM project, BSkyB announced June 7.
    The settlement includes interim payments of 270 million pounds ($390.7 million) that EDS already made to Sky in February.
    BSkyB’s lawsuit has its foundation in 2000, when the company employed EDS to carry out a 48 million pound ($68.9 million) contract to provide customer-service technology for its help centers in the United Kingdom. BSkyB terminated the contract two years later and filed a lawsuit against EDS for misrepresenting its capabilities in the bidding process. BSkyB completed the job using its own resources.
    In a company statement, HP said it would not appeal the ruling.
    David McIlwaine, an information technolgoy law expert at Pinsent Masons, said the result of the legal action was a harsh lesson for system integrators. “Payment of $460.3 million in the context of an [information technology] development contract worth $68.9 million and which contained a limitation of liability cap set at $43.1 million is a very painful reminder to HP and other businesses that the law of misrepresentation is alive and that senior management need to have processes in place in order that they can take immediate action if there is any suggestion of fraudulent practices during the sales process or otherwise.”

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