Feds throw book at eBay execs who deny they had anything to do with cyberstalking of site's critics Two senior eBay executives who have refused to join their colleagues and plead guilty to charges of cyberstalking have been hit with a string of fresh charges. James Baugh, 45, was eBay senior director of safety and security, and David Harville, 48, was its director of global resiliency when they were arrested back in June, …
You really have to wonder how no one in that room said "Hang on a minute, what we're talking about is really not on!". (Not to mention illegal and immoral).
I mean if someone is critical of your firm, who's first thought is "Lets do everything we can to make their lives hell"? I mean, maybe (at a far stretch) i could see that if someone was the owner of a small business and such criticism was likely to seriously hurt their business. But even then, I dont really see it (small business owners have enough on their plate without the additional work of trying to live out a revenge fantasies). But this is Ebay, and these were just minions. Ok there's a couple of director level bods here, but even so, such criticism is not going to hurt Ebay in the slightest. It's not going to hurt these directors bonuses, or their salaries. So seriously, why on Earth would you go to this level?
Well, at least this tells Ebay, that they can get rid of these positions. Obviously, these guys didnt have enough work to do, if they could decide that fulfilling their revenge fantasies was a good use of their time...
The minions acted after some venting by board-level executives, according to previous coverage on the Register. The CEO was angry about an article written about his compensation package, and moaned to the Chief Comms Officer. The CCO is supposed to have passed on the moaning to the accused.
Neither the CEO or the CCO have been charged with anything. Both resigned from Ebay after this investigation.
It all sounds a bit "Who will rid me of this turbulent priest". Thin-skinned person in power loses temper. Minions hatch plan, which wasn't really what Person-In-Power (who has now calmed down a bit) intended. Person-in-power isn't legally guilty, but does penance (resigns).
Don't know if I should be impressed or disappointed: They were trying to do all those things themselves and not hire professionals to do the dirty work for them?
It does sound stupid, and I do have to wonder if this is Ockham's razor or if someone is telling porkies to make their case sound more serious than it actually was.
Be interesting to see what happens if this does go to court.
Yeah, I was quite surprised that high-level execs were physically involved in this, and not just giving orders. They (allegedly) drove to the victims' home? After flying across the country, since presumably they're based at eBay's HQ in California. (And like most of the Boston Metro area, Natick1,2 isn't exactly fun to drive around.)
This whole thing just gets more and more bizarre as the details come out.
1At first I misremembered and thought the victims lived in Nahant, which is more pleasant to drive around, but more tiresome to get to in the first place. Nice beaches, though, by Massachusetts standards.
2For driving around Natick, I recommend listening to "Driving on 9"3 by Ed's Redeeming Qualities. Listening to the cover by the Breeders is also permitted.
3There's some debate about whether "9" refers to Massachusetts Route 9 or the one in California, but the song was released the same year that the band moved from Boston to San Francisco, which suggests to me that it was written before the move. In any case it works for either.
Having read the NY Times's article, the security staff seems to have watched many too many tough-guy movies far too uncritically. I'm wondering whether the streaming services should start appending "kids, don't try this at home" notices to Goodfellas, the Godfather movies, etc., the way that morning TV does to children's shows.
You're critical of us, and we will come by and let you know how upset we are. probably get in your garage and mess up your car.
OK, just don't tell me when you'll be here.
Why, you gonna run away?
Nope, I live in Georgia.
What has that got to do with anything?
Not only do I get to carry a gun on my person, but we get to shoot trespassers.
OH CRAP. click brrrrrrrrrrrrr
Oh my all involved with this are not only immoral, but flat out idiots as . How could no one at any point in the trajectory off this dismal enterprise stop and say "hold on a minute this is quite illegal and could get us in a lot of trouble"?? Especially these 'executives' (who should know as well that obstruction or evidence tampering always gets a much more severely enhanced sentence. )
It makes one wonder, especially after reading somewhere, that we are already at a condition, where states won't be the people's enemy or tyrannical regime, but huge global corporations will; and they will have more power than any single country could ever hope to posses. Could it happen? Something to chew on!
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