A Goldman Sachs programmer was found guilty

[Ilya W]

Depending on what you signed when you started working, your employer may own the rights to your HW. Obviously, no sane employer would care, but technically, it may legally be theirs. If they had any suspicions that the code is not actually HW, they can pursue charges pretty easily.

Even though I agree with that, but per law you are innocent until proven guilty and in case of HW, after internal investigation (no one in their mind will pursue charges without it) the max you can get is the warning of using e-mail in your personal use.

 

[ferdowsi]

Even though I agree with that, but per law you are innocent until proven guilty and in case of HW, after internal investigation (no one in their mind will pursue charges without it) the max you can get is the warning of using e-mail in your personal use.

Yeah, but we're discussing ways one can steal code. They would have proof that you took code, and they have the legal leverage to make you prove your innocence (in the moral sense since you're already technically breaking the law).

 

[Ilya W]

in the moral sense since you're already technically breaking the law.

Not the law, just internal policy rule , but again that was just a hypothetical scenario. I agree that taking other people code or project code you are working on for your employer is a crime of stealing. What is really interesting for me is how safe you can be, if you do not take anything that relates to work but just doing your hw or even a small project to improve your own skills? Can you print it or send to your e-mail safely or you might get into the BIG troubles

 

[Andy Nguyen]

And he is arrested again.

The legal odyssey of a former Goldman Sachs programmer, Sergey Aleynikov, took a surprising turn on Thursday when the Manhattan district attorney charged him with state crimes.

Mr. Aleynikov was charged in state court less than six months after a federal appeals court overturned his conviction on federal criminal charges that he stole secret source code from Goldman’s computers.

While the case involved a relatively low-level ex-employee at a financial firm, the government has taken a particularly hard line. The district attorney, Cyrus R. Vance Jr., and Preet Bharara, the United States attorney in Manhattan, have made the prosecution of corporate espionage and high-tech theft a top priority.
http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/08/09/ex-goldman-programmer-is-arrested-again/?emc=eta1

 

[quantie]

And he is arrested again.

The legal odyssey of a former Goldman Sachs programmer, Sergey Aleynikov, took a surprising turn on Thursday when the Manhattan district attorney charged him with state crimes.

Mr. Aleynikov was charged in state court less than six months after a federal appeals court overturned his conviction on federal criminal charges that he stole secret source code from Goldman’s computers.

While the case involved a relatively low-level ex-employee at a financial firm, the government has taken a particularly hard line. The district attorney, Cyrus R. Vance Jr., and Preet Bharara, the United States attorney in Manhattan, have made the prosecution of corporate espionage and high-tech theft a top priority.
http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/08/09/ex-goldman-programmer-is-arrested-again/?emc=eta1

High frequency trading was all the nage at the time, so both the federal and state prosecutors wanted to get in the public eye and catch somebody at wrongdoing. That said, this guy seems to have gone a bit too far and is now paying for it. Whether he is paying too much is a different question. It seems to be clear that regadless of how much, some payment in the form of prison time is needed. I admit that I'm not familiar with the facts and only know what the unreliable press has written.