Earlier quoted context omitted.
Some people might see an irony in your comment. Economist Joseph Stiglitz wrote in 2009 "...banks that are too big to fail are too big to exist..." My theory is that the too big to exist theory is now true for basically all the tech giants. Generally, everyone who knows the kind of tracking these companies do (internal and external) agree this is true, except those who benefit from the companies' continued existence…
You conveniently forgot consumers.
Alphabet's Waymo Alleges Uber Stole Self-Driving Secrets
361–364 of 364 posts
Re: Alphabet's Waymo Alleges Uber Stole Self-Driving Secrets
#362Earlier quoted context omitted.
Exactly! Btw, the specific term of art for "actual things" that are subject to theft is "rivalrous" (adj): a good whose consumption by one consumer prevents simultaneous consumption by other consumers. You can commit theft of a rivalrous good, like an apple or a computer. You cannot, however, do the same to a file or a song or an idea. I wish more people understood this difference. Society would be better for it.
I'm not sure how society would benefit from a better understanding of a technical difference between these two crimes.
In this particular case, the reason that theft is wrong (because it deprives another person) is very different than the reason that copyright infringement is illegal (because the founders wanted to encourage invention by granting limited monopolies). If people believe that copyright infringement is theft, however, then powerful corporations like Disney can convince them that copyrights should last indefinitely.
Re: Alphabet's Waymo Alleges Uber Stole Self-Driving Secrets
#363Earlier quoted context omitted.
I used to work at a small company that made a SaaS product for a niche HR function. One of our largest customers, a bank whose ATMs you likely see every day if you're in the US, decided to drop our service in favor of a solution built in-house. We were disappointed, but had to let them go. Then, about 2 years after they'd canceled, our support department got a strange email from a user that was having problems. At fi…
> When we called them on it, they basically threatened to use lawyers to put us out of business if we pursued the issue, so I guess our management decided to drop it. We did make them change the support email and phone number. This is why we can't have nice things. Darned lawyers. Can't live with them, can't live without them
A lawyer can screw you badly, but if you want to screw a lawyer you need another lawyer. If taken as a category, they never lose.
Re: Alphabet's Waymo Alleges Uber Stole Self-Driving Secrets
#364Earlier quoted context omitted.
1. Why bring your own laptop to an interview? 2. Isn't this scenario incredibly suspicious?
I have been asked to bring my laptop to a interview so that I could could in a development environment I am already comfortable with. I not only found it reasonable but also appreciated it.