Volkswagen's U.S. head: individuals engineered emissions cheating

Post by asn0 » Thu, Oct 08, 2015, 5:50 PM UTC

somebodyother wrote: post #7

taylodl wrote: post #2

"This was a couple of software engineers who put this in for whatever reason," - I'm not buying it. What would be their motive compared say to VW's motive? VW has a heck of a lot more motive for falsifying emissions than do "a couple of software engineers." Even if you were to argue the engineers were somehow fearful for their jobs that's still VW's problem because they're the ones who created that work environment i…

Also, it implies a couple of engineers could slip through arbitrary code to be executed under selective conditions. That's terrifying.

Post by 1971genocide » Thu, Oct 08, 2015, 5:52 PM UTC

cryptoz wrote: post #12

tedmiston wrote: post #8

I've always wondered how something like this plays out legally: Can the engineers be somehow held accountable for writing something they were forced / asked to by their managers?

This isn't a direct comparison, but after World War II it was decided clearly that soldiers are not protected by saying "my boss told me to do it" when the commit war crimes or other atrocities. This is now called the Nuremberg defense and it holds no water at all. The same principle applies here, in a general sense - but it's sufficiently different in practice, I wonder how it would be treated too.

Post by JustSomeNobody » Thu, Oct 08, 2015, 5:52 PM UTC

tedmiston wrote: post #8

I've always wondered how something like this plays out legally: Can the engineers be somehow held accountable for writing something they were forced / asked to by their managers?

Post by JustSomeNobody » Thu, Oct 08, 2015, 5:55 PM UTC

dayjah wrote: post #27

JustSomeNobody wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly. I don't buy this one bit. If those engineers feared for their jobs because the cars wouldn't pass, I bet those engineers could have left VW and found better jobs. Nobody needs that kind of stress. I think it is cowardice to blame them.

This is probably a little reactionary, but can we just stop for a second and admire the difference in American CEO's versus his European counterpart? The latter resigns immediately as a way of accepting he is ultimately responsible, the former points fingers. This is a blatant example of why the tide of opinion is turning against those with the most wealth.

Post by forgetsusername » Thu, Oct 08, 2015, 6:03 PM UTC

JustSomeNobody wrote: post #16

taylodl wrote: post #2

"This was a couple of software engineers who put this in for whatever reason," - I'm not buying it. What would be their motive compared say to VW's motive? VW has a heck of a lot more motive for falsifying emissions than do "a couple of software engineers." Even if you were to argue the engineers were somehow fearful for their jobs that's still VW's problem because they're the ones who created that work environment i…

Exactly. I don't buy this one bit. If those engineers feared for their jobs because the cars wouldn't pass, I bet those engineers could have left VW and found better jobs. Nobody needs that kind of stress. I think it is cowardice to blame them.