CORONADO, CA -- Earlier today, Delaware Chancery Court Judge William Chandler III paved the way for the HP/Compaq merger to roll on by ruling that the plaintiffs had "failed to prove that HP management improperly enticed or coerced Deutsche Bank into voting in favor of the merger." Chandler also ruled that Walter Hewlett's side "failed to prove that HP disseminated materially false information about its integrating efforts or about financial data provided to its shareholders." Hewlett can still appeal the judge’s decision of course, but what will be done remains to be seen at this time. Hewlett said in a statement, “While we are disappointed with the Court's decision, we are grateful that it heard this case on such an expedited timeframe. We will now review the Court's written opinion and decide on a course of action.” Hewlett continued, “Regardless of our decision, my involvement with HP will not end today. As Chairman of The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and as a trustee of The William R. Hewlett Revocable Trust, I represent two major stockholders and I will continue to monitor the company's performance to ensure that it acts in the best interests of all stockholders.” --SF