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Google accused of racketeering in lawsuit

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Re: Google accused of racketeering in lawsuit

#161

Post by aneutron »

ComputerGuru wrote: post #41
noncoml wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You state it as it is fact. That’s what the plaintiff claims, yes. But it doesn’t mean it’s true.

If , as hinted in the article based off a judge in the case’s remarks, and Google’s defense is “we were under no obligation to compensate him” then it does seem that it is what went down.

They have to deal with thousands of patent trolls. I'm assuming that they have to do this, otherwise they'd set a precedent, not strictly in the court room, that they have been subdued. IANAL, but I think that any firm of this size would be aggressive when you start throwing such statements.

Re: Google accused of racketeering in lawsuit

#162

Post by aneutron »

drtillberg wrote: post #138
Teever wrote: post #85

Man it would be so terrifying going up against Google in court. How do you do research? How do you communicate with your lawyer? They know everything about what you do, when you do it, and who you do it with.

Google is embedded in most web services, including this site (as capcha via cloudflare). But, you eventually would learn that non-google services that are mostly as good (except maps), and you would use no-script.

Not really no. Security wise, they remain one of the most badass actors on the field. I am very sure that my data and passwords are safeguarded. Same can't be said about Yahoo, Bing, or other companies/products.

Re: Google accused of racketeering in lawsuit

#163

Post by cdibona »

influx wrote: post #52

Where are all the people who are always disclaiming to work for Google in every thread about Google? Weird you’re silent on this.

Not really, this looks like a nuisance suit that hired a publicist. Googlers don't want to comment on lawsuits, it's time consuming and turns into deposition, which are time consuming. Also, most googlers are not anywhere near X, Flux or for that matter outside google proper. So what would they say?

You have to understand: Google gets sued a lot . It is a function of having money. I wish everyone on HN as much success as google, and if you do even a fraction as well I can guarantee you'll be hiring lawyers at a steady clip as your bank balance attracts lawsuits.

Doesn't mean people shouldn't be careful when partnering with Google or anyone, but there's no end of people who think when they have some idea in their head no one else on earth has it and can execute on it.

Nearly 8b people on this planet means that someone, somewhere, is probably working on 'your' idea. Some of them at Google. Some at Apple, some at some yc startup across the room from you. Only answer is to ship better and before they do.

Re: Google accused of racketeering in lawsuit

#164

Post by bitL »

Hmm, all these news just tell me the winning strategy is no longer being generous like it was in 00s, where free/open source/access exploded, rather selfishly secretively keep all information to your advantage to yourself. Not sure I'd like to live in such a society. Can't wait to have enforced-by-automation toxic daily life.

Re: Google accused of racketeering in lawsuit

#165

Post by alphonsegaston »

paul7986 wrote: post #86
rdtsc wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Is this common behavior for Google, if the story is true? It depends on details of his contract. It's quite plausible his employment contract in "Project X" did say that he would transfer knowledge and ideas in exchange for money. It's pretty standard stuff. In other words, it might not be exactly a slam dunk case. A racketeering charge seems pretty outrageous as well. However if Google did these things (which look…

Based on my similar experience with Google ATAP I bet they do this a lot! I've detailed my experience below... https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15422475

I hope you reached out to the legal team pursuing this case.

Re: Google accused of racketeering in lawsuit

#166

Post by amcooper »

amcooper wrote: post #153
Normal_gaussian wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I recently turned down a job offer citing an overly broad IP clause. I had a call within minutes offering me a choice of how else it could be worded. I still turned it down and decided to go freelance instead because the contracts I had read had raised all kinds of personal questions.

I received a one-month contract—teaching, not developing—from a subsidiary of a large education company. I had to consult a lawyer and fight with them for a week over the contract's overly broad IP claims. They basically wanted ownership of teaching ideas I—or my partner (!)—came up with in perpetuity! I eventually got them to change it to my satisfaction, and had a great teaching experience with a cool group of stud…

"This is the first time anyone's had a problem with this," the subsidiary's h.r. rep told me. This approach impacts people who have had experience with contracts and lawyers, and thus aligns with age discrimination.

Re: Google accused of racketeering in lawsuit

#168

Post by tyingq »

nova22033 wrote: post #155

Someone filed a lawsuit against a company with deep pockets? Is it just me or has there been an increase of anti-google piling on after the James Damore thing?

The lawsuit has existed for a couple of years. The news is that accusations of racketeering were recently added. That's highly unusual, and so, newsworthy.

Re: Google accused of racketeering in lawsuit

#169

Post by XenophileJKO »

Top19 wrote: post #46

Wow this story is shocking. I want to point out it’s quite believable if you look at this situation historically. Microsoft was known for doing this exact same thing. Their tactic was to wine and dine startups, give them the “big megacorp company treatment”, ask them to divulge just a little of how they were doing what they were doing. Then they would go back to Seattle, put out an identical product 6 weeks later, an…

If they released in 6 weeks then they had already created the product before they talked to the startup.

Re: Google accused of racketeering in lawsuit

#170

Post by dleslie »

ZoFreX wrote: post #127
alehul wrote: post #2

> Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but a judge in the case noted last year that the firm has argued that Attia gave Google rights to his technology “without a condition of later payment.” So Google's defense isn't even that the substance of the accusations are false, but that they had the legal ability to do so? Is this common behavior for Google, if the story is true? This may be naive, b…

> with a reputation as huge and important as Google's Not trolling: What reputation? Among non-techies, their reputation is one of creepy and spying. Among techies, it's that company that keeps killing loved products. Among developers, it's one of terrible support and awful job interviews. Common to everyone is they are impossible to get hold of, a faceless and heartless machine that makes decisions you can't argue w…

And among current Google employees it's one of exhalted prestige and boundless trustworthiness.
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