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Levandowski agrees to plea deal over Google secrets

reuters.com

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Re: Levandowski agrees to plea deal over Google secrets

#41

Post by dbt00 »

throwaway_4179 wrote: post #39
seibelj wrote: post #14

After admitting his guilt and serving his time, would you refuse to work with him again? It seems like he was a brilliant guy who made a bad mistake. I don’t think he’s unemployable. Isn’t prison punishment enough? Time is the only irreplaceable resource we have.

I'm trying to be as vague as possible here so as not to identify myself, but I knew him fairly well. I can tell you it wasn't just a mistake. Anthony doesn't have the same... qualms as you and I.

Yeah, I've never met the guy and I'm always careful about trusting media reports directly in this kind of a witch hunt, but goddamn he spent at least 10 years double-dealing and behaving with incredibly poor ethics.

He might be good at the self-driving car stuff or he might not, I have no idea, but I wouldn't trust him with a ham sandwich.

Re: Levandowski agrees to plea deal over Google secrets

#42

Post by goatherders »

irjustin wrote: post #10
goatherders wrote: post #4

Even if they dont "use" anything he stole, 30 months of someone else's life in jail is a zero price to pay for Uber to get even a small amount of competitive knowledge. Even something like an internal calendar of expected timelines would be super useful and cant be unseen.

I'd argue the opposite that this was extremely expensive for Uber. The legal nightmare which resulted a loss in 0.34% of equity and combined with having to throw away whatever they had[0] before as part of the deal with Google is not cheap at all. Anecdotally, I have engineering friends on the Uber self driving team and they talk about how they are just starting over again and how far behind they are as a result of i…

Thanks for sharing.

Re: Levandowski agrees to plea deal over Google secrets

#43

Post by CoolGuySteve »

0x00000000 wrote: post #30
CoolGuySteve wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not according to the plea. You should try reading the article next time.

Did you read the indictment and do you know what a plea deal is? Why do you think google is lying about the 14000 files he downloaded? That could easily be proven or disproven and everyone knows it. It’s obvious they just threw him a soft ball on probably the least incriminating file they could to just get some money back rather than dragging the trial on forever then sentencing him to 100 years. But that doesn’t mea…

I do know what a plea is. Legally, this calendar is the only thing he stole.

I understand Google made many claims but apparently the evidence was only strong enough for this one minor article to make through the plea negotiations.

Now put yourself in this "fucking 40 year old"'s position and think about what it means for a corporation like Google to make these claims. Even if they're false you can't afford to fight them.

The guy was steamrolled.

Re: Levandowski agrees to plea deal over Google secrets

#44

Post by danans »

seibelj wrote: post #37
danans wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree that people should have a chance to redeem themselves, but serving time is meant to redeem him in the eyes of the law, not in the eyes of the profession or industry. The onus is on him to demonstrate why his reputation in the industry should be restored. The problem is that at the level that he was operating at, he would need to reenter industry in a leadership position of some sort, and most people would not…

I think he will need to try extra hard after this to prove his honesty. But black black ball him entirely? I would still give him a chance. Just my opinion.

Sure, but who first?

Re: Levandowski agrees to plea deal over Google secrets

#45

Post by duxup »

seibelj wrote: post #14

After admitting his guilt and serving his time, would you refuse to work with him again? It seems like he was a brilliant guy who made a bad mistake. I don’t think he’s unemployable. Isn’t prison punishment enough? Time is the only irreplaceable resource we have.

No doubt he is capable.

I think he'll end up somewhere and just fine. Someone will be willing to take a chance on him.

Personally I'm not smart enough / likely to end up working with him. But just for the sake of argument if I was I would be wary.

He took all that stuff with him... that no doubt included the work of people around him, and that showed a lot of disregard not just for his employer, but his peers. I could 'understand' if someone had a problem with their employer (still a bad choice!), but the disregard for his coworkers to me signals something else as far as his moral / ethical choices / standards... if there are any.

Do you trust that guy not just to walk off with your work, but to even represent it accurately to others? Have your back when you need it? Not sure I would.

Re: Levandowski agrees to plea deal over Google secrets

#46

Post by hn_throwaway_99 »

throwaway_4179 wrote: post #39
seibelj wrote: post #14

After admitting his guilt and serving his time, would you refuse to work with him again? It seems like he was a brilliant guy who made a bad mistake. I don’t think he’s unemployable. Isn’t prison punishment enough? Time is the only irreplaceable resource we have.

I'm trying to be as vague as possible here so as not to identify myself, but I knew him fairly well. I can tell you it wasn't just a mistake. Anthony doesn't have the same... qualms as you and I.

I've heard this multiple times on this board, and given his public behavior, he definitely fits some of the 'lack of consciousness' traits of a sociopath.

Re: Levandowski agrees to plea deal over Google secrets

#47

Post by s3r3nity »

Curious to hear from those who have been following the details more closely: was there _any_ legal basis to Levandowski's claims?

It's easy to write him off as an extremely greedy sociopath, but I wonder if he was walking along some precarious line or "loop-hole" that eventually too many attempts to cross bit him in the butt.

Re: Levandowski agrees to plea deal over Google secrets

#48

Post by sytelus »

foolfoolz wrote: post #2

great example of how white collar crime does not get punished. “no more than 30 months” for a theft implicated at multi-billion dollar values. that’s even less with good behavior credit

I'm against this barbaric tradition of putting people in cages for whatever XYZ crimes. I think the isolation of the rest of the society from the criminals is essential but should be done in a much more humane way. For instance, prisons should be a place to learn and develop one's mind with libraries, documentaries, education and tools of creation but still making sure the person cannot contact the rest of the society. Prisoners should be making living to pay for such facilities by doing work. You might wonder what if this actually promotes more crimes but you can increase the lengths of sentences and exponentially growing lengths for repeated offenses. A way to think of prison is just another society with its own economy and rules with strict isolation but otherwise similar in most other respects. For example, a "prison town" may have cafes, restaurants, theaters etc with everything being run by this isolated community which is not allowed to be in contact with the rest. I know this is crazy and rather radical ideal but small cages and solitary confinement is inhuman beyond thought.

Re: Levandowski agrees to plea deal over Google secrets

#49

Post by saghm »

sytelus wrote: post #48
foolfoolz wrote: post #2

great example of how white collar crime does not get punished. “no more than 30 months” for a theft implicated at multi-billion dollar values. that’s even less with good behavior credit

I'm against this barbaric tradition of putting people in cages for whatever XYZ crimes. I think the isolation of the rest of the society from the criminals is essential but should be done in a much more humane way. For instance, prisons should be a place to learn and develop one's mind with libraries, documentaries, education and tools of creation but still making sure the person cannot contact the rest of the societ…

> For example, a "prison town" may have cafes, restaurants, theaters etc with everything being run by this isolated community which is not allowed to be in contact with the rest

What happens if someone commits a crime in a prison town? Double secret prison?

Re: Levandowski agrees to plea deal over Google secrets

#50

Post by asdfasgasdgasdg »

s3r3nity wrote: post #47

Curious to hear from those who have been following the details more closely: was there _any_ legal basis to Levandowski's claims? It's easy to write him off as an extremely greedy sociopath, but I wonder if he was walking along some precarious line or "loop-hole" that eventually too many attempts to cross bit him in the butt.

No, there is no legal basis for using corporate resources for personal gain. It's not a gray area, it's a bright line.
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