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Perks & Paintball For Employees At Cybercrime, Inc.
Barence writes "Innovative Marketing Ukraine was in the business of churning out some of the world's most pernicious, and profitable, computer viruses. As the company grew, it added a human resources department, hired an internal IT staff and built a call center to dissuade its victims from seeking credit card refunds. Employees were treated to catered holiday parties and picnics with paintball competitions. Top performers got bonuses as young workers turned a blind eye to the harm the software was doing. 'When you are just 20, you don't think a lot about ethics,' said one former Innovative Marketing programmer. 'I had a good salary and I know that most employees also had pretty good salaries.' The firm has been closed down after the US Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit seeking its disbandment in the federal court. But an examination of the FTC's complaint and documents from a legal dispute among Innovative executives offers a rare glimpse into a dark, expanding — and highly profitable — corner of the internet."
Given the number of student protest organisations relative to other age groups, I'd have assumed that 20 was when most people thought about ethics. And what happens to the money that these scum made?
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Yes, but did you paintball and have a good wage?
When I explained my consultancy work to a girl, she replied "so you're a whore basically?" - "yes, well, an intellectual whore, I get rented out for my knowledge and work." "A whore is easier to remember, I know that concept."
It's what alot of software devs do; I don't care about the software I'm writing and it wont profit myself directly. My clients have the businessmodel, they dream up their profits and what their software will generate. I'm just hired to do the work and I make sure my work is done well so I'm well worthy of my price-tag.
Other then that, I don't care and noone I ever worked with did. fe, right across me (right now working for a bank) is a guy programming saving-plan calculations. Before, he used to program callcenters and find creative ways to help his contractor to reach more people (like automated redailing, calllists and redirects to callagents when there's a pickup) having DDOS-ed telephone switches making entire blocks fall out during times managers got a bit too enthousiastic with the system. He doesn't care, he equally hates call-agents.
Soft devs are whores. Sometimes as cheap as a paintballgame to make us think "oh well, at least I'm having fun and I get my monthly cheque."
"When you are just 20, you don't think a lot about ethics"
Really? I did.
What I suspect this person really means is: He was fully aware that what he was doing was unethical, but he liked the money. Saying that that he "didn't think" about the ethics is an attempt to excuse his behaviour.
At least traditional whores are doing honest work...
It's too bad that they, not prick software devs, get most of the attention from serial killers.
Well of course, if you do something illegal, you have to bribe your employees not to tell on you.
If you do something legal, you are just a slave without leverage.
Please tell me, does your reasoning extend to individuals i.e. if I am amoral, then you have no right to call me either good or evil when I decide to go and rob your house?
'If Christ had tweeted the sermon on the mount, it might have lasted until nightfall.' - John Perry Barlow
I put this in the same category as people who work for telemarketers. They know they are pissing people off left and right because people tell them so on a daily basis. That doesn't stop them, though. They all use the same excuses: "I have to work somewhere." and "Someone else would do it anyway."
This guy just takes it a step further and ignores criminal actions as well as unethical ones.
"If you make people think they're thinking, they'll love you; But if you really make them think, they'll hate you." - DM
The difference in ethics by working at some big company paying you to sell over-priced home loans that eventually collapse the global economy is what?
We are talking the Ukraine here. Let's not automatically superimpose American sensibilities on someone that comes from a drastically different culture and lifestyle.
Let's have a little charity for someone who hasn't grown up as extravagantly privileged as us.
I've never understood this rationale. How is theft in the Ukraine any different from theft anywhere else? I'm sure many people make an honest living there, just like every other country. You can't put a "cultural" spin on fraud or theft.
I don't moderate anymore. Karma penalty for 90% fair mods? Can I mod that unfair?
It's fascinating how many people have latched onto the ethics issue... It would be interesting to see how many of them have nothing but fully paid for or legally free software and music on their computers.
Funny, I did think about ethics when I was 20.
Then again, I wasn't a piece of scum.
This is exactly what I thought. You should have a sense of moral code and ethics by puberty. If you don't have ethics at 20, you probably won't have ethics at 30, 40, or 50, or until you've somehow been influenced or compelled to change.