7 ms·

Well, I'll be losing sleep hoping Netflix can make it through this tough time. Seriously, is there one person alive who believes the guy should get seven years

Well, I'll be losing sleep hoping Netflix can make it through this tough time. Seriously, is there one person alive who believes the guy should get seven years in prison? Fire him, do your character assassination thing, but prison time? Why are our tax dollars being used to defend a multi-billion dollar corporation? Let Netflix run its own company. Change compensation structure or something to reduce corruption. Douche or not, this is not behavior worthy of jail time.

xyzzyz 5y ago
There are in fact plenty of people who believe that people shouldn’t be able to get away with white collar crime to the tune of millions of dollars with a slap on the wrist, when petty criminals get much worse sentences for more minor trespasses.
- Phillip98798 5y ago
  Sure, there's Bernie Madoff stuff, and then there's this. Are you comfortable with big corporations and government hegemony muscling employees into compliance? I'm not. The guy should undoubtedly be sued, but it feels wrong to create an equivalency here with violent offenders.
  - xyzzyz 5y ago
    This guy defrauded the company to the tune of millions of dollars. I am perfectly comfortable with big corporations and governments muscling people into compliance, where thing to comply with is “not stealing from the company”. Imagine you run a business, and your employee just steals one of the company vehicles. Do you think you should have any recourse beyond firing them? I mean, it’s only a few tens of thousands of dollars worth of loss to you, so if you don’t want the government to go after the guy that stole millions from Netflix, why expect the government to help you recover some paltry car? It’s not violent offense after all, just property. As it happens, fraud is a crime, and government prosecutes crime to deter it. This is perfectly reasonable, and how things have always worked.
    - Phillip98798 5y ago
      I think that's a bit of a false equivalency. The guy incorporated a domestic LLC, which unless he's a total moron, I assume the guy just thought that this is how business is conducted, and the US government would be okay to know about it. I don't believe any small business employee is going to incorporate an "I Steal Trucks LLC." The American public gets defrauded by corporations daily. I seldom see white knights in the government volunteering to prosecute them on our behalf.
      - xyzzyz 5y ago
        His LLC had nothing to do with how they caught his fraud, or his culpability. I don’t get the point you’re trying to get across with “I Steal Trucks LLC”. > The American public gets defrauded by corporations daily. I seldom see white knights in the government volunteering to prosecute them on our behalf. Then you are not paying attention.
ludocode 5y ago
I absolutely believe he should go to prison. If a fine is the only punishment for a crime, then that law only exists for the lower classes. The only way to punish a rich person and deter other rich people from crime is to take away their freedom.
- Phillip98798 5y ago
  Aren't there better targets to make a point with though? Military contractors, oil companies? We're talking about billions of dollars in bribes. Do you think this case will even put a dent in that corruption? This is not a lot of money and as the popularity of this thread insinuates, this is how things have always been. There is no Silicon Valley without these types of deals unfortunately.
  - vkou 5y ago
    The best target to make an example of is the one you caught.
  - bogwog 5y ago
    Imagine if it was only a fine: say, 90% of all your money/assets. That sounds like a crazy gamble, but people gamble money all the time. Lots of people would be willing to take that risk. But prison time scares everybody. You can't get those years back, no matter how wealthy you are.
    - philwelch 5y ago
      Judging by how many people end up there, prison time does not seem to be a particularly effective deterrent either.
    - Phillip98798 5y ago
      I hear that. I just wonder what exactly it is we're accomplishing here in terms of justice. More corporate compliance and fear? Where is the line going to be drawn? Hyperbolic perhaps, but what's to stop the law from going after salaried people with side projects? Oh, you visited the stackoverflow career page during your 9-5? That's fraud. I'm exaggerating, but the precedent is there. Cases like this can create a slippery slope to complete subservience to big corporations.

xyzzyz 5y ago

There are in fact plenty of people who believe that people shouldn’t be able to get away with white collar crime to the tune of millions of dollars with a slap on the wrist, when petty criminals get much worse sentences for more minor trespasses.

Phillip98798 5y ago
Sure, there's Bernie Madoff stuff, and then there's this. Are you comfortable with big corporations and government hegemony muscling employees into compliance? I'm not. The guy should undoubtedly be sued, but it feels wrong to create an equivalency here with violent offenders.
- xyzzyz 5y ago
  This guy defrauded the company to the tune of millions of dollars. I am perfectly comfortable with big corporations and governments muscling people into compliance, where thing to comply with is “not stealing from the company”. Imagine you run a business, and your employee just steals one of the company vehicles. Do you think you should have any recourse beyond firing them? I mean, it’s only a few tens of thousands of dollars worth of loss to you, so if you don’t want the government to go after the guy that stole millions from Netflix, why expect the government to help you recover some paltry car? It’s not violent offense after all, just property. As it happens, fraud is a crime, and government prosecutes crime to deter it. This is perfectly reasonable, and how things have always worked.
  - Phillip98798 5y ago
    I think that's a bit of a false equivalency. The guy incorporated a domestic LLC, which unless he's a total moron, I assume the guy just thought that this is how business is conducted, and the US government would be okay to know about it. I don't believe any small business employee is going to incorporate an "I Steal Trucks LLC." The American public gets defrauded by corporations daily. I seldom see white knights in the government volunteering to prosecute them on our behalf.
    - xyzzyz 5y ago
      His LLC had nothing to do with how they caught his fraud, or his culpability. I don’t get the point you’re trying to get across with “I Steal Trucks LLC”. > The American public gets defrauded by corporations daily. I seldom see white knights in the government volunteering to prosecute them on our behalf. Then you are not paying attention.

ludocode 5y ago

I absolutely believe he should go to prison. If a fine is the only punishment for a crime, then that law only exists for the lower classes. The only way to punish a rich person and deter other rich people from crime is to take away their freedom.

Phillip98798 5y ago
Aren't there better targets to make a point with though? Military contractors, oil companies? We're talking about billions of dollars in bribes. Do you think this case will even put a dent in that corruption? This is not a lot of money and as the popularity of this thread insinuates, this is how things have always been. There is no Silicon Valley without these types of deals unfortunately.
- vkou 5y ago
  The best target to make an example of is the one you caught.
- bogwog 5y ago
  Imagine if it was only a fine: say, 90% of all your money/assets. That sounds like a crazy gamble, but people gamble money all the time. Lots of people would be willing to take that risk. But prison time scares everybody. You can't get those years back, no matter how wealthy you are.
  - philwelch 5y ago
    Judging by how many people end up there, prison time does not seem to be a particularly effective deterrent either.
  - Phillip98798 5y ago
    I hear that. I just wonder what exactly it is we're accomplishing here in terms of justice. More corporate compliance and fear? Where is the line going to be drawn? Hyperbolic perhaps, but what's to stop the law from going after salaried people with side projects? Oh, you visited the stackoverflow career page during your 9-5? That's fraud. I'm exaggerating, but the precedent is there. Cases like this can create a slippery slope to complete subservience to big corporations.