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U.S. prosecutors seek 27 months imprisonment for former Uber self-driving head

reuters.com

11–20 of 122 posts

Re: U.S. prosecutors seek 27 months imprisonment for former Uber self-driving head

#11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If he's any smarter than me (and he clearly seems a lot smarter than me), he probably keeps many of his assets in bankruptcy-protected accounts/LLCs.

Well, he did steal a bunch of stuff and get caught. That's not particularly smart.

It’s okay to get caught (from a risk, not a moral perspective), it’s whether it was worth it after the costs (time and money) are tallied. Doesn’t make you dumb, it’s always a calculated risk if you’re considering a crime.

Re: U.S. prosecutors seek 27 months imprisonment for former Uber self-driving head

#12

> Federal prosecutors are also seeking three years of supervised release and an agreed-upon restitution payment of nearly $756,500 to Alphabet Inc’s self-driving car company Waymo > Levandowski filed for bankruptcy protection in March, shortly after a court confirmed that he must pay $179 million to Google to end a legal battle over his split from the Alphabet Inc unit. I see is guilty of a few things, but the size o…

They had previously paid him $120M so it seems like it's actually in the same ballpark of transaction size.

Re: U.S. prosecutors seek 27 months imprisonment for former Uber self-driving head

#13

> Federal prosecutors are also seeking three years of supervised release and an agreed-upon restitution payment of nearly $756,500 to Alphabet Inc’s self-driving car company Waymo > Levandowski filed for bankruptcy protection in March, shortly after a court confirmed that he must pay $179 million to Google to end a legal battle over his split from the Alphabet Inc unit. I see is guilty of a few things, but the size o…

No, it was blatant theft of IP and some might consider corporate espionage.

He was a high level exec at Waymo, who stole the IP which represented the core competency just before he jumped ship to Uber.

Re: U.S. prosecutors seek 27 months imprisonment for former Uber self-driving head

#14
> “It is, unfortunately, no exaggeration to say that a prison sentence today can amount to the imposition of a serious health crisis, even a death sentence, given the BOP’s (Federal Bureau of Prisons) current inability to control the spread of the coronavirus,”

No exaggeration ? °-°

Re: U.S. prosecutors seek 27 months imprisonment for former Uber self-driving head

#15
post #10

Honest question here. Why are we, the taxpayers, paying for 27 months of free housing and food for this guy? Considering he's not a physical threat to society, only an intellectual one, I'd much rather he be slapped with a financial punishment large enough to be meaningful.

Given that he's declaring bankruptcy going after a fine alone might make him judgement immune.

Re: U.S. prosecutors seek 27 months imprisonment for former Uber self-driving head

#16
post #10

Honest question here. Why are we, the taxpayers, paying for 27 months of free housing and food for this guy? Considering he's not a physical threat to society, only an intellectual one, I'd much rather he be slapped with a financial punishment large enough to be meaningful.

> Honest question here. Why are we, the taxpayers, paying for 27 months of free housing and food for this guy?

That's a great point, he should be sent to work in the uranium mines of Kamchatka to earn his keep for those 27 months.

The non-snarky answer is 'because sentencing in this country is a mixture of rehabilitation, punishment, and public safety', with a very heavy emphasis on punishment. (And quite frankly, I could think of more sympathetic persons and sentences to raise your question in defense of.)

Re: U.S. prosecutors seek 27 months imprisonment for former Uber self-driving head

#17
post #10

Honest question here. Why are we, the taxpayers, paying for 27 months of free housing and food for this guy? Considering he's not a physical threat to society, only an intellectual one, I'd much rather he be slapped with a financial punishment large enough to be meaningful.

So let's say I did the same thing. I don't have any money, so there is no meaningful financial punishment that can be applied to me. In which case, we'll need an alternate punishment, ie - jail.

In which case we've just set up a punishment system where poor people go to jail and rich people don't.

Re: U.S. prosecutors seek 27 months imprisonment for former Uber self-driving head

#18

Anyone can clarify what sensitive docs he took with him, citations appreciated?

The indictment [0]. He plead guilty to [1]:

> Levandowski admitted to taking a single spreadsheet called “Chauffeur TL Weekly Updates — Q4 2015.” According to court documents, the file contained quarterly goals and weekly metrics and the objectives and key results for Levandowski’s team. It also included a summary of technical challenges the team faced and some that had been overcome.

[0] https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndca/press-release/file/1197991...

[1] https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/03/19/levando...

TL;DR he stole lidar and plead down to a lesser charge.

Re: U.S. prosecutors seek 27 months imprisonment for former Uber self-driving head

#19
This is a great example of unequal prosecution. A startup that has its IP copied illegally would be lucky to not be ignored by the feds. Even if it was the proximate cause of a startup’s failure (which is admittedly rare).

But for Google and Goldman Sachs which never suffer any real damage in these cases, the feds are their private army capable of raiding and imprisoning anyone who copies some files illegally, even if they suffer no actual harm whatsoever.

There is no question Google should be able to use the law to stop someone from using their IP illegally and be compensated for any damages. But this attempt to make an example out of someone just because they’re powerful is despicable.

The combination of powerful corporations with vendettas and prosecutors out to make their bones is a huge flaw in our system.

Re: U.S. prosecutors seek 27 months imprisonment for former Uber self-driving head

#20

> Federal prosecutors are also seeking three years of supervised release and an agreed-upon restitution payment of nearly $756,500 to Alphabet Inc’s self-driving car company Waymo > Levandowski filed for bankruptcy protection in March, shortly after a court confirmed that he must pay $179 million to Google to end a legal battle over his split from the Alphabet Inc unit. I see is guilty of a few things, but the size o…

If the proceeds from the crime are astronomical, then the fine should probably be astronomical too: https://spectrum.ieee.org/cars-that-think/transportation/sel...
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