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A 'Witch Hunt' in Silicon Valley
garzpacho writes "BusinessWeek Online has an interview with Daniel Warmenhoven (CEO of Network Appliances), who joins a growing list of technology executives in saying that the government's search for backdated options among tech companies is going too far: 'It's become a witch hunt. I think the government is looking to find some egregious examples [of wrongdoing] and to publicly hang people for them. That's fine. But where does it stop? I'm not saying the past practices were all good. But I thought the SEC's role was to build investor confidence. What they're doing right now is destroying it, and I don't see the purpose. They're penalizing today's shareholders for events that occurred five years ago. But who is this protecting, exactly? With Enron, every shareholder in the company lost money. The same with Qwest, and with MCI-Worldcom. But I don't know who the injured party is here.'"
I agree, but we shouldn't hang them. Well, not until we've taxed them of all their money, at least, and only if the business execs can't claim for reasonable wear and tear on the rope.
It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
We don't have a mechanism to make the executives responsible for the deception pay for it. Instead we force the shareholders, who've already been duped, to pay the penalty.
What about sending them to a great "Pound me in the Ass Prison?'
SEC: What makes you think she is a witch?
Stockholder: Well, She turned my stock into a newt!!
(pause)
SEC: a newt?
(long pause)
Stockholder: It got better...
Stockholders: BURN HER anyway! BURN! BURN! BURN HER!
Apple Fan: What's all this about accounting regularities? God, I hate Corporatism. Always out to screw the little guy. Artificially inflating their stock prices at the expense of the small investor. These people need to be run out of town on a rail! Put 'em in jail, by God!
(Normal Guy): Pssst! Apple was one of the worst offenders! Steve Jobs was right in the middle of it!
Apple Fan: Damn mainstream media! Always picking on Apple. Can't they just leave Apple alone and stop making crap up? Obviously it's just more of the same lies. Steve would NEVER do anything underhanded. No, those commercials were just trying to be funny. Besides, everyone lies in advertising, it's part of the game. Some Micro$ofty probably snuck in and changed Apple's records to get them in trouble...
Sometimes it's best to just let stupid people be stupid.