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Did Goldman Sachs Overstep in Criminally Charging Its Ex-Programmer?
theodp writes "Programmer Sergey Aleynikov holds the dubious distinction of being the only Goldman Sachs employee since the 2008 financial meltdown to have actually served time in prison. After leaving Goldman, Sergey was accused of stealing computer code from his former employer and sentenced to eight years in federal prison. Exactly what he'd done neither the FBI nor the jury seemed to understand, so Moneyball author and financial journalist Michael Lewis decided to give Sergey a second trial, assembling a jury made up of programmers and people familiar with high-frequency trading, and asking them to level a judgment. Their verdict? Not guilty. 'I think it's quite possible that Goldman itself didn't know what he had taken, the value of it, the purpose of it, or anything else,' Lewis concludes. 'There was such turnover at Goldman, and the system was such a hairball, that I think people knew pieces but they didn't know the whole. Serge might have been as close as there was to an expert on the how the whole system worked. I think the valuable thing that Serge took when he walked out the door was himself.' Aleynikov was released on appeal in 2011, but subsequently re-arrested on state charges the following year, so he's still not out of the woods yet."
"Did Goldman Sachs Overstep in Criminally Charging "
Goldman Sachs can bring criminal charges? Really?
The people who do the actual stealing are holding presidential cabinet positions. Can't touch this... If there were such a thing as justice, Goldman Sachs' charter would have been revoked a long time ago.
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
That's vengeance, not justice... Asset forfeiture is sufficient.
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
You're assume Goldman Sachs cares about "is this legal?" or "is this right?". What they care is: "will this improve our PR?", "will this scare people from going against us?", "will this scare people from working for us?".
This is the whole reasons corporations worked to try to make "non-compete" agreements enforceable: to lock in their control of an employee.
And that is why non-compete clauses or agreements are no longer enforceable in California. California did a good thing for a change.
They need to get it through their heads that they do not control the contents of a mind. If they want somebody to "not compete", then the PROPER way to do it is to give them better pay and compensation than the other guy. That's called capitalism.
If you count the hundreds to millons that lost job, houses, fell into poverty, prostitution, or died at consequences of them getting richer, in all the world, i think that rope and pitchforks below what justice should do. But if you want to point exactly who died, i'd say justice. What happened with them (and the rest of that mafia) is just the death note for anything that resembles justice in US.
Guilty of somehow offending Goldman-Sachs. In corporate America, that's more than enough to get him thrown in jail. Anyone who doesn't understand this is deluding themselves about the nature of 21st century American's government and legal system.
Real monsters have learned that society rewards their behavior. Taking away those rewards will go a very long way to correct the problem.
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
I wish I had mod points, but in lieu of that, I will say ABSOLUTELY! The criminal justice system in the country is completely messed up. The programs don't work (especially 3 strikes laws) and especially with the treatment of addicts (which is a medical condition) being locked up along with rapists and murderers. The fact that prison rape has become a punchline of jokes shows just how screwed up it all is. The entirety of the system needs an overhaul, from laws to prison conditions.
I got nuthin