Hewlett Packard Chairman Patricia Dunn (pictured), who launched an investigation into media links that resulted in phone records of board members and reporters being obtained illegally, has agreed to resign in January following a meeting of the company’s board. Chief operating officer and president Mark Hurd will take over the chairman’s post. Dunn will remain on the board as a director. In a statement, Hurd sought to distance himself from the scandal in which phone records of reporters and board members were obtained illegally by private investigators hired by Dunn. “I am taking action to ensure that inappropriate investigative techniques will not be employed again. They have no place in HP,” Hurd said. Also, the board member accused of the media leaks, George Keyworth, is resigning immediately. Coverage includes CNET, Reuters, Mercury News, Chronicle and Bloomberg