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Levandowski sentenced to 18 months in prison as new lawsuit against Uber filed

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Re: Levandowski sentenced to 18 months in prison as new lawsuit against Uber filed

#91

Post by adatavizguy »

CarelessExpert wrote: post #59
hannasanarion wrote: post #41

Why is the government throwing people in jail for leaking trade secrets? Trade secrets aren't supposed to have government protection, that's the entire point: they're risky. If you want a monopoly on your technology, you're supposed to file a patent. Trade secrets were invented as a riskier way to extend your monopoly by giving up government protection. If the government is going to give trade secrets the same protec…

> Trade secrets were invented as a riskier way to extend your monopoly by giving up government protection. You're definitely mistaken on that point. Trade secrets enjoy protection in the law, both in the US and worldwide: https://www.uspto.gov/ip-policy/trade-secret-policy > If the government is going to give trade secrets the same protection as patents (or even more, because patent infringement doesn't come with jai…

It is interesting that recipes are not art but rather fact. The same with fashion. I think that SpaceX has trade secrets rather than patents because there is nothing stopping China using the information in a patent whereas a trade secret is obfuscated.

Re: Levandowski sentenced to 18 months in prison as new lawsuit against Uber filed

#92

Post by albacur »

gilrain wrote: post #32
williamstein wrote: post #5

Much more interesting to me is that the article says "he will not need to report until threat of COVID-19 pandemic has passed." and "With no end to the COVID-19 pandemic in sight, it is possible that Levandowski’s latest lawsuit will be resolved before he even reports to jail."

A courtesy not afforded to the largely not-rich, not-white general prison population. I don't think Levandowski should be treated worse, just noting it would be nice if less privileged prisoners were treated as humanely.

You’re trying to make this into a race issue, when that’s not really the case here.

The justice system in San Francisco bends over backwards to keep criminals of all races, classes, and backgrounds out of prison, and especially so with Covid-19.

Re: Levandowski sentenced to 18 months in prison as new lawsuit against Uber filed

#93

Post by angry_octet »

mayneack wrote: post #89
throwawaygh wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Stealing, not leaking. It’s not like he was a whistleblower or something. Should he go to jail? Idk. But if stealing food from a grocery store can put you in jail, then a ten/hundred millionaire stealing IP should as well.

Should he go to jail? Idk. But stealing food from a grocery store isn't perfectly analogous to stealing IP. Bringing his knowledge to uber doesn't mean google can't use it. The same is true for digital piracy. Maybe it should be illegal, but it's not exactly the same as stealing an object.

You can go to jail in the US for stealing stuff with almost no value. A pack of Tampax, a bottle of water, some expired food they were going to throw out -- it doesn't matter.

Frankly he got off lightly. He was in a position of trust (and leadership) and he stole the crown jewels, and if he'd been successful it is very definitely eating Waymo's lunch.

If he had violated the CFAA to steal the documents he'd be up for considerably more time.

Re: Levandowski sentenced to 18 months in prison as new lawsuit against Uber filed

#94

Post by ipsum2 »

klipt wrote: post #88
CarelessExpert wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Trade secrets were invented as a riskier way to extend your monopoly by giving up government protection. You're definitely mistaken on that point. Trade secrets enjoy protection in the law, both in the US and worldwide: https://www.uspto.gov/ip-policy/trade-secret-policy > If the government is going to give trade secrets the same protection as patents (or even more, because patent infringement doesn't come with jai…

Pretty sure anyone could hire a few experts to duplicate the flavor of Coke exactly. Their moat is branding, partnerships and a huge distribution network, not some "secret recipe".

I think Coke's moat (in addition to branding) is their use of coca leaves, basically impossible for any other company to source legally (at least in the US: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coca-Cola#Coca_leaf

Re: Levandowski sentenced to 18 months in prison as new lawsuit against Uber filed

#95

Post by angry_octet »

albacur wrote: post #92
gilrain wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A courtesy not afforded to the largely not-rich, not-white general prison population. I don't think Levandowski should be treated worse, just noting it would be nice if less privileged prisoners were treated as humanely.

You’re trying to make this into a race issue, when that’s not really the case here. The justice system in San Francisco bends over backwards to keep criminals of all races, classes, and backgrounds out of prison, and especially so with Covid-19.

Class is a race issue.

Re: Levandowski sentenced to 18 months in prison as new lawsuit against Uber filed

#96

Post by s17n »

zerocrates wrote: post #66
s17n wrote: post #45

I realize that he's an asshole and his behavior was pretty egregious but as engineers we should not be happy about the precedent that this sets.

What's the worrying precedent engineers should be unhappy about here?

Getting sued / prosecuted for switching jobs.

Re: Levandowski sentenced to 18 months in prison as new lawsuit against Uber filed

#97

Post by albacur »

angry_octet wrote: post #95
albacur wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You’re trying to make this into a race issue, when that’s not really the case here. The justice system in San Francisco bends over backwards to keep criminals of all races, classes, and backgrounds out of prison, and especially so with Covid-19.

Class is a race issue.

It’s not a class issue. It’s not a race issue. It’s a “the Bay Area is not putting anyone short of convicted murderers in prison right now” issue.

Re: Levandowski sentenced to 18 months in prison as new lawsuit against Uber filed

#98

Post by ahmedalsudani »

illustriousbear wrote: post #64
w0mbat wrote: post #50

This guy had such a sweet deal at Google originally, it staggers me that he'd go to these lengths to steal even more. He was getting a massive salarY, bonuses in the millions, and he had persuaded Google to pay him even more money through a side-hustle company of his while remaining an employee. Then he quits and steals their stuff.

People in the security industry have told me that this sort of thing often comes down to ego and self-importance. In Intelligence, people have been caught selling state secrets for 10-20k a pop. The kind of secrets that can land you decades in jail. It makes no sense from a monetary standpoint.

One contrast I can think of between people in intelligence and Levandowski is tens of millions of dollars in pay... which actually causes me to agree with you. It seems mostly guided by an overinflated ego and a sense of invincibility.

Gotta remember not to drink your own Kool-Aid ;)

Re: Levandowski sentenced to 18 months in prison as new lawsuit against Uber filed

#99

Post by dbancajas »

pinewurst wrote: post #72
unityByFreedom wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Probably a habit built up over time. You don't just go from upstanding guy to con man overnight.

Read the stories about him - he was always scamming to move up - specifically how he treated the other people who were helping with his ventures.

can you post links of article? are you saying he was not even that good of an engineer?

Re: Levandowski sentenced to 18 months in prison as new lawsuit against Uber filed

#100

Post by newacct583 »

hannasanarion wrote: post #41

Why is the government throwing people in jail for leaking trade secrets? Trade secrets aren't supposed to have government protection, that's the entire point: they're risky. If you want a monopoly on your technology, you're supposed to file a patent. Trade secrets were invented as a riskier way to extend your monopoly by giving up government protection. If the government is going to give trade secrets the same protec…

Because it's a kind of fraud. If you cheat someone out of $1M by tricking them with a Nigerian Prince scam, you go to jail. If you cheat someone else out of $1M of profits by selling their trade secrets to a competitor, you should see a similar punishment, right?
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