A New Orleans judge has ordered Michael Dell to head to the Big Easy to testify about his company's role in a soured deal to sell the city crime cameras, the Times-Picayune reports.

The PC giant has come under fire for efforts to sell the city crime cameras in violation of a multistate agreement, and a judge has threatened to hold the firm in contempt of court for stalling when asked to disclose documents about its dealings with the city.

Complicating things: One of Dell's partners in the deal, NetMethods, is the subject of an FBI investigation for providing Mayor Ray Nagin with expensive trips, begging the suggestion of a payola affair in a city where such arrangements have a long and proud tradition.

Plaintiffs Southern Electronics and Active Solutions, have cried foul, charging Dell and its partners with unfair business practices by seeking to freeze them out of the crime-camera deal and conspiring to steal its technology. Those firms had been providing the crime-riddled city with cameras until late 2006, when Dell took over the business, selling the equipment through NetMethods and Veracent, firms both owned by Mark St. Pierre, a businessman with close ties to city hall and a chummy relationship with former New Orleans CTO Greg Meffert.

Vintage New Orleans, from the Times-Picayune:

"The lawsuit has helped uncover hundreds of thousands of dollars in gratuities NetMethods gave Nagin and his former technology chief, Greg Meffert. Nagin and his family took trips to Hawaii, Jamaica and Chicago on NetMethods' dime. Meffert had free access to a corporate credit card while he was the city's tech chief, using it for everything from strip club visits to cruises to home furnishings, and then collected more than $600,000 in fees from St. Pierre's firm once he left City Hall."

Dell's lawyers had asked the judge to allow the company's founder and CEO to give a one-hour deposition by phone, but she said no, that he must appear in person and submit to a questioning session of up to three hours.

Dell is scheduled to testify within 60 days.