Every time this story comes up, the comments are filled with people proclaiming that kickbacks like this are totally normal and very common. I can't tell how much of it is random people projecting their cynicism onto the business world, or if it's people who have been part of bribery/kickback schemes themselves trying to normalize the behavior online. Either way, cases like this should make it clear that the behavior…
My question is how this could lead to jail time? I mean, its against policy, the employer can sue for damages, fire the person, etc. But to throw someone in jail for breaking essentially a corporate policy seems really off.
Netflix is a publicly traded company. They have a fiduciary responsibility to the shareholder to increase shareholder value by always selecting the best interest of the shareholders. It is way beyond a corporate policy. It is stealing shareholder value.