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Instant Messaging Company Snap Threatens Jail Time for Leakers (cheddar.com)

Posted by msmash on from the my-way-or-highway dept.

An anonymous reader shares a report: Snap has a simple message to its employees: leak information and you could be sued or even jailed. The chief lawyer and general counsel of Snapchat's parent company, Michael O'Sullivan, sent a threatening memo to all employees last week just before The Daily Beast published an explosive story with confidential user metrics about how certain Snapchat features are used. "We have a zero-tolerance policy for those who leak Snap Inc. confidential information," O'Sullivan said in the memo, a copy of which was obtained by Cheddar. "This applies to outright leaks and any informal 'off the record' conversations with reporters, as well as any confidential information you let slip to people who are not authorized to know that information."

6 of 92 comments (clear)

  1. What an asshole! by DaMattster · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The leaking of information, at most, is a tort. It is not a crime and there will be no jail! Michael O'Sullivan is nothing more than a bully and how is this memo not work placement harassment!?

    1. Re:What an asshole! by swb · · Score: 5, Informative

      I'm inclined to agree with you, and it sounds more like "Muh business is like the government and you go to jail!".

      That being said, just how bendy are the laws on corporate espionage, theft of information, etc? The problem isn't that this is basically a civil dispute between employer and employee, it's that Congress is all too willing to pass laws that criminalize these kinds of disputes and in the employer's favor.

      This makes it very convenient for corporations to use the FBI as their private enforcement arm and makes threats of criminal prosecution plausible if not real, especially if the employer does a good job with keeping up with their political subscriptions, er, contributions.

  2. Leaking the leaker memo! by jelwell · · Score: 5, Insightful

    What a perfect response, leak the memo threatening leakers. This is not going to end well for SNAP!
    A great company would simply remind employees that it's in their best interest not to leak information. This sounds like the flailings of a dying company.
    Joseph Elwell.

  3. Great recruitment policy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Snap's going to have fun filling positions. Who wants to work in that type of environment?

  4. Channeling Steve Jobs? by ErichTheRed · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I'm surprised the CEO isn't appearing on stage in black turtlenecks and jeans.

    This just sounds like a paranoid, in-over-his-head dotcom era CEO running the place like his own personal empire. He's just trying to mimic the Steve Jobs personality...intense secrecy on products, over-the-top asshole personality, etc... So many people I've dealt with in executive positions are like this -- it's like they read a book in the airport bookstore telling them they need to act exactly like this CEO or that CEO, and just latch onto it for dear life, trying as hard as possible to pull it off.

  5. morale by jsepeta · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The beatings will continue until morale improves!

    --
    Remember kids, if you're not paying for the service, YOU ARE THE PRODUCT THAT IS BEING SOLD.