HP released the letter [1] in the hopes that it would make them look better, but the threat is still at the end of it. Not sure how that makes anything better.
Having read the actual missive they sent, they come out looking worse in my eyes; not only was the threat still at the end, but it was crowned by a complete unfocused display of management babble.
It just confirms Kellaway's point that the editorial side of a newspaper is supposed to be independent of the advertising. If we wanted advertising disguised as journalism or editorial decisions taken by the advertisers we could read a trade magazine.
As recently as two days ago I finished reading Porter Erisman's "Alibaba's World" in which he described his and Alibaba's run in with both Meg Whitman and Henry Gomez, who were then working on eBay China. What I read Erisman describe as his bitter experiences with Gomez then, and I read described in the article today, came as no surprise to me really.