SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge has given Hewlett-Packard Co. a second chance to keep details of a recent shareholder settlement out of the public eye, two weeks after issuing a snarky order that poked fun at the company's incessant demands for secrecy.

Last month U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer of the Northern District of California made it clear he was unconvinced that HP's filings in litigation over its botched Autonomy acquisition “should remain permanently shielded from public view.” He slapped HP with an unusual four-page order that, in wry homage to many of the filings he's received from HP, was almost entirely redacted.

“For the following reasons, all pending motions to seal are hereby denied,” Breyer began.