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Netflix Executive Sentenced to 30 Months for 700K Bribes, Kickbacks from Vendors

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Re: Netflix Executive Sentenced to 30 Months for 700K Bribes, Kickbacks from Vendors

#191

Post by Sohcahtoa82 »

horsawlarway wrote: post #128
pyronite wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not aware of any laws I've unintentionally broken. Which kinds of laws are you speaking of?

Ever been under 18 and owned a spray paint can or a permanent marker? Crime. Ever connected to an open wifi network without directly confirming with the owner you're allowed? Crime. Ever held your phone while driving? Crime. Happen to also be headed downhill and hit 1mph over the limit? Double crime! Ever walked across your street outside of clearly marked crossings? Crime. Ever sung happy birthday in public? Crime.…

> Ever sung happy birthday in public? Crime.

I'm assuming this is regarding Happy Birthday being copyrighted? If so, you should know that that copyright was declared invalid, and Happy Birthday is now public domain.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happy_Birthday_to_You#Copyrigh...

Also, copyright infringement is only a crime if it is done for financial gain. Otherwise, it's a civil issue. You won't get jailed for pirating a movie. You CAN get jailed for SELLING pirated copies of a movie.

> Ever played a poker game for small stakes at home? Crime.

I heard this isn't true unless the host takes a rake, though this might depend on the state.

Re: Netflix Executive Sentenced to 30 Months for 700K Bribes, Kickbacks from Vendors

#192

Post by lern_too_spel »

pyb wrote: post #90
PragmaticPulp wrote: post #13

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…

This guy was able to extract kickbacks from nine different vendors. So in fact, it looks quite a few companies have systems in place to "facilitate" deals if needed.

And none of these nine vendors (or any of their competitors that Kail might have approached) reported the crime to the authorities.

Re: Netflix Executive Sentenced to 30 Months for 700K Bribes, Kickbacks from Vendors

#193

Post by ludocode »

DangitBobby wrote: post #171
PragmaticPulp wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I know of people who AWS fully sponsored, including business class intercontinental travel, to attend re:Invent which is essentially a week long holiday party, by virtue of AWS bill. Flying people to an AWS conference seems entirely different than funneling money into a single person's bank account. Yes, I know these conferences have a party-like atmosphere, but it's not done surreptitiously and it's not siphoning…

It doesn't really seem that different.

You think inviting someone to conferences is the same thing as putting $700k in their personal bank account?

Is this satire? What is going on in this thread?

Re: Netflix Executive Sentenced to 30 Months for 700K Bribes, Kickbacks from Vendors

#194

Post by moltar »

moralestapia wrote: post #189
DangitBobby wrote: post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It doesn't really seem that different.

It is VERY different, come on. It's an open conference offered by the largest player in the space vs. a shady deal between a supplier and ONE person of another company, without its employers consent, on top of that.

It’s different in facts, but it’s not different in spirit.

Did you know that pharma sales reps take out doctors to play golf all expenses paid, plus fancy restaurant lunch in the end?

Is that different?

How about a lobbyist donating money to a political party?

Is that different?

Google the law of reciprocity. It’s human nature.

Re: Netflix Executive Sentenced to 30 Months for 700K Bribes, Kickbacks from Vendors

#195

Post by 0x0nyandesu »

wyldfire wrote: post #159
0x0nyandesu wrote: post #32

I love how it's totally legal for the governor of Florida to send lucrative drug testing contracts to his wife's owned company but a guy getting a few stock options from a client is illegal. I guess we'll just go back to big wads of cash in an envelope instead.

> I guess we'll just go back to big wads of cash in an envelope instead. Uh so wait are you saying that because the elected official isn't held responsible that we should then lower the bar to permit all bribery? That doesn't make any sense.

The sense comes from that part of growing up when you come to the realization that it happens whether you want it to or not so not participating and acting holier than thou about it just makes you a sucker.

Re: Netflix Executive Sentenced to 30 Months for 700K Bribes, Kickbacks from Vendors

#196

Post by lordnacho »

duffpkg wrote: post #185
lordnacho wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did people ask you for bribes, did you say no, did you miss the hints, or did you just not know that you needed to do this?

After losing some deals that just seemed like there was no credible way we could lose, better "product", better price, better team, etc. You start asking hard questions about all the people involved and eventually someome will confidentially explain what happened. Especially people who actually need to work with the worse vendor that just got selected. If you read through the settlement I linked ("The settlement also…

Thanks for answering, I always wonder how people find out things like this. For me it's like racism, how will you ever know the real motivation? I guess sometimes you will get some discreet feedback.

Re: Netflix Executive Sentenced to 30 Months for 700K Bribes, Kickbacks from Vendors

#197

Post by paulpauper »

calvinmorrison wrote: post #37
hpoe wrote: post #8

If you get caught stealing $700,000 you've got a problem. If you get caught stealing $700,000,000 the criminal justice system has a problem.

if you owe the bank 50,000, you have a problem, if you owe the bank 50,000,000, the bank has a problem

if you owe the bank 500,000,000,000 the bank has a problem

if you owe them 500,000,000,000,000,000 you got a value overflow error

Re: Netflix Executive Sentenced to 30 Months for 700K Bribes, Kickbacks from Vendors

#198

Post by tssva »

vishnugupta wrote: post #114
PragmaticPulp wrote: post #13

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…

I know of people who AWS fully sponsored, including business class intercontinental travel, to attend re:Invent which is essentially a week long holiday party, by virtue of AWS bill. Every vendor has marketing budget and a decent portion of it goes to keeping their point people at clients happy. You can call it kick back or whatever, it’s a matter of semantics. So yes it is normal. And no it’s neither cynical and nor…

At one point in my career I was one of those people. Not AWS but I went to many a conference on the vendor's dime. Ran up some impressive bar and restaurant tabs while there. Also on their dime. Some vendors didn't have large conferences and would fly me to a nice resort somewhere for a few days which included some product info sessions. Usually at that point the people trying to keep your business and those trying to get your business are all doing the same thing so it is all ineffective in influencing your choices. In fact during that time I would say a majority of the vendors I was involved in selecting actually did neither.

At none of them was there any kind quid pro quo even hinted at. My employer knew about and approved all trips beforehand.

This is way different than what happened here. Direct payments to an employee for award of work without knowledge of their employer.

Re: Netflix Executive Sentenced to 30 Months for 700K Bribes, Kickbacks from Vendors

#199

Post by blacksmith_tb »

DangitBobby wrote: post #171
PragmaticPulp wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I know of people who AWS fully sponsored, including business class intercontinental travel, to attend re:Invent which is essentially a week long holiday party, by virtue of AWS bill. Flying people to an AWS conference seems entirely different than funneling money into a single person's bank account. Yes, I know these conferences have a party-like atmosphere, but it's not done surreptitiously and it's not siphoning…

It doesn't really seem that different.

Hmm, even at my most cynical I would say the difference is the free conference is a much smaller (and thus presumably less effective) bribe. Giving away tickets to a conference which they sell the tickets for costs AMZN very little (sure, there are costs associated with putting it on, but those would have had to be paid anyhow, adding an attendee or two won't change much). So it's a few grand worth of airplane tickets vs. $700K...

Re: Netflix Executive Sentenced to 30 Months for 700K Bribes, Kickbacks from Vendors

#200

Post by ___q »

horsawlarway wrote: post #175
___q wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Happy birthday" is public domain and you don't need to report things you buy online on your taxes

> "Happy birthday" is public domain Only after 2016. Before that you would have been on the hook for ~$700 per performance to warner media group. Admittedly, in most "Private" settings, you'd be fine. The most common place to get flagged was in a restaurant where the waiters sing to you. > you don't need to report things you buy online on your taxes Ooof, I got some bad news for you, buddy. You ABSOLUTELY DO need to…

> Only after 2016.

Which it is right now, so "happy birthday" is public domain.

> You ABSOLUTELY DO need to report any online purchase that does not charge you sales tax

The original post didn't say "that do not charge tax." Yes you must pay taxes where applicable, like all purchases.

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