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Goldman Sachs Code Theft Not Quite So Cut and Dried
The New York Times has some interesting details that are surfacing about the recent charges brought against Sergey Aleynikov, the programmer who allegedly stole code from Goldman Sachs on his way out the door to another job. "This spring, Mr. Aleynikov quit Goldman to join Teza Technologies, a new trading firm, tripling his salary to about $1.2 million, according to the complaint. He left Goldman on June 5. In the days before he left, he transferred code to a server in Germany that offers free data hosting. [...] After his arrest, Mr. Aleynikov was taken for interrogation to F.B.I. offices in Manhattan. Mr. Aleynikov waived his rights against self-incrimination, and agreed to allow agents to search his house. He said that he had inadvertently downloaded a portion of Goldman's proprietary code while trying to take files of open source software — programs that are not proprietary and can be used freely by anyone. He said he had not used the Goldman code at his new job or distributed it to anyone else, and the criminal complaint offers no evidence that he has."
Here's the thing, Open source or not, taking it directly from his employer was a bad idea. If you modify a piece of software for in house use and don't distribute it outside, you don't have to distribute the source. If he wanted open source software, i know of a few places where he might find copies. (no links because you should know about google and source forge by now). So, if the source code HAD to have been taken from GS's servers, then it probably had proprietary in house changes which may not be re-licensed under the gpl (the gpl is a distribution license and kicks into effect as soon as GS starts distributing). That might still be theft of in house IP, which is bad.
Anywho, in summary, weak sauce excuses are weak sauce.
Criminally negligent carelessness or a clever disguise for future criminal intent? Short of reading his mind, we may never know.
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
Can you really "waive your rights against self-incrimination"? Like, now that he's waived his rights, he's required to incriminate himself?
Breakfast served all day!
I'm in the wrong industry vertical.
You better watch out, there may be dogs about . .
He said that he had inadvertently downloaded a portion of Goldman's proprietary code while trying to take files of open source software
Why try to take open source software instead of downloading it when you need it?
He said he had not used the Goldman code at his new job or distributed it to anyone else.
It sounds like maybe he wanted to keep it around for possible later reference. Not uncommon, but not innocent either.
To steal code, you print screen and save it as an image file :)
Keep your personal business and your company's business separate. For instance, I have a separate banking account whose sole purpose is to hold expense reimbursements until I pay the ccard. Why? Because it's just too damned easy to screw up and cause yourself trouble all out of proportion to the original mistake.
"As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly." A. Carlson
He is a developer so by definition he is computer literate; you don't "accidentally" copy the wrong files (especially since they have BASH LOGS of what he did). However, even if what he says is true WHY IN THE NAME OF FUCK would you copy Open Source Software from your development machine instead of directly from the source? The potential for the appearance of impropriety is bad enough. On top of that, according to the original Slashdot article a while back he also encrypted the files. WHY IN THE NAME OF FUCK would you bother to encrypt Open Source Software files? While everything he said is technically plausible, it just comes off as fraudulent in the same manner as Hans Reiser's defense; i.e. "I'm so smart and I have an answer for everything". I suspect the next thing we hear about this story will involve a plea deal.
Why would you be shocked?
I mean, I not a conspiracy theorist by any means, but have you looked at how many ex-Goldman Sachs employees are employed in the highest levels of the US and several state governments?
And I'm not just talking about Treasury Department appointments... also in the SEC, in elected office, etc. There's a joke I've heard that the SEC doesn't sneeze if they haven't asked GS for permission first.
At any rate, the funniest thing I've heard about the whole deal is that GS told the authorities that with this software, the guy who stole it could manipulate markets and gain an unfair advantage in trade, and disrupt global markets. And yet somehow those potentials are not possible with GS being the only part holding the software?
"Trolls they were, but filled with the evil will of their master: a fell race..." -- J.R.R. Tolkien on Olog-hai
He's a f*cking idiot, and probably watched too much CSI and other cop shows where they always show people talking without their lawyer. Don't talk to the police, or the FBI, or any authority without your lawyer. Doesn't matter if you are innocent, doesn't matter if you have an explanation, an alibi, whatever. Just don't do it, because you can and will say something that can be used against you in a court of law.
'If Christ had tweeted the sermon on the mount, it might have lasted until nightfall.' - John Perry Barlow
The interesting part of the article is actually in paragraph 3 (i.e., before anything the submitter thought was important):
Of course, it's perfectly fine that Goldman-Sachs management and traders have code that could be used to "unfairly manipulate" stock prices. But when a private citizen gets their hands on something like that, look out! God knows we wouldn't want the hoi-polloi to have the same chance to "unfairly manipulate" stock prices that the big boys have.
That is all.
It is illegal front running IF it looks at their brokerage business order flow and trades ahead of that. Do you have evidence that they are doing that? If so, you should be talking to the SEC, not posting on Slashdot.
Lots of firms implement high frequency trading strategies based on statistical probabilities of short term market movements, and order book depth analysis. These strategies are usually capital constrained, and a lot of work to implement and maintain, but can be levered up and earn a relative huge return on a modest amount of capital utilized, when implemented properly.
Of course, they can also fail to get timely execution of orders if there are 5 people going after the same trades, in which case 4 of you are likely to lose your arses. Unlike other areas, high frequency strategies are often (though not always) a winner-takes-all world where your network latency and code execution speed are measured in microseconds, not seconds, or even milliseconds.
From the article: "He said he had not used the Goldman code at his new job or distributed it to anyone else, and the criminal complaint offers no evidence that he has." Not to mention that 2.6% of a program (the amount he was quoted to have, including the OSS that is not proprietary) is a bit weak in my opinion.
Apparently I'm not alone (again, from the article): Harvey A. Silverglate, a criminal defense lawyer in Boston not involved in the case, said he was troubled that the F.B.I. had arrested Mr. Aleynikov so quickly, without evidence that he had made any effort to use or sell the code. Such disputes are generally resolved civilly rather than criminally, Mr. Silverglate said.
Possession of proprietary data happens every time one of these guys leaves a company - they have it between their ears. Using it is where they get nailed. The reason I'm so surprised at the FBI is that I know they're smart enough to not spring the trap before they have the guy dead-to-rights. Failing to do that is how perps walk and I expect more from our country's premier law enforcement agency.
The stamping out part is about Citadel, not GS and certainly not the FBI. (You may want to read the article - it's a pretty quick read)
Citadel and GS are either going off half-cocked or we don't have all the pieces.
DISCLAIMER: This post was not checked for speling and grammar- if you complain- you're a whiner
That analogy is, unfortunately, wholly incorrect.
The GPL requires you to distribute the source code to everyone you give the binary. If you do not distribute the binary but keep it in house, there is nothing that forces you to hand out any changes you've made to the source.
This isn't even a loophole in the GPL, this is in there by design --- if I "buy" GPL software from someone, I own it --- I am free to modify it in any way I see fit, and unless I'm seeking to profit by re-selling it, I have no further obligations to the person gave or sold me that software.
I think everyone (or almost everyone) is missing the larger point here. This software, from Goldman Sachs, is what they are using to get the jump on everyone as part of their HFT (high frequency trading gambit). What they are doing is technically fraudulent and illegal, which was why they used their extraordinary influence with the US Government - which they, and the rest of the banksters now officially own - to IMMEDIATELY have Sergey arrested.
Also, all the Euro papers and blogs I perused stated that the code was originally uploaded to a server in London, United Kingdom. Something appears amiss here (and the game is still afoot, BTW).
Goldman Sachs alumni also found at World Bank and IMF, as well as at least ten people in the Obama Administration (probably even more than that).
GS doesn't have a statistically impossible earnings record with HFT because they are smart, it's called cheating..cheating...cheating....what they have always excelled at. Didn't anyone read Matt Taibbi's outstanding article in the Rolling Stone mag the other month? Geez, they have their hardware positioned exactly right to make a killing -- no brains involved -- plus they own all the frigging exchanges (via a series of holding companies, 'natch). You others here, catch a clue, doods....