Prosecutors Raid LG Offices Over Alleged Vandalism of Samsung Dishwashers 87
As reported by Reuters, Korean manufacturing giant LG's Seoul headquarters have been raided over allegations that LG employees sabotaged dishwashers made by rival Samsung. The Samsung machines were "on display at two stores in September ahead of the IFA electronics show in Berlin." From the article:
On Friday, investigators searched the Seoul offices of LG Elec's home appliance head, Jo Seong-jin, and others and secured documents and computer hard disks related to the IFA fair, Yonhap News Agency said. They also combed through LG Electronics' home appliance factory in the southeastern city of Changwon, the report said. ... Samsung sued LG Electronics employees after the incident in Germany, and LG said the company has counter-sued Samsung employees on Dec. 12. Media reports have earlier said prosecutors banned LG's Seong-jin from leaving the country ahead of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) to be held January 6-9.
This means war! (Score:5, Funny)
And you guys thought the reason for adding Internet connectivity to appliances was to help the NSA.
Come see the Battle of the Appliances! Coming to a home near you!
GE toaster takes out Amana microwave. LG dryer attacks the Hoover vacuum. People run to the streets in terror!
Micheal Bay to direct the movie!
Re:This means war! (Score:5, Funny)
Re:This means war! (Score:5, Funny)
I'll leave the interpretation this statement of perception of quality of this particular vacuum as an exercise to the reader.
Re: (Score:1)
Or atleast the unfortunate purchaser. PSA: Don't buy their overpriced cordless vacuums. The corded ones are fine.
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
There are many vacuum-cleaner use cases and maximum power is not necessarily a requirement in all of them. I have a 2-in-1 floor/handheld Electrolux cordless that I'm rather partial to. No it's as powerful as the corded one, but I don't need something that big to nab a few stray bits of whatever from my desk top.
Re: This means war! (Score:1)
Re: (Score:3)
Except this doesn't sound like it has anything to do with the internet, or computer technology at all. It was physical vandalism, performed on the premises, in the flesh, by LG workers.
Re: (Score:2)
Come see the Battle of the Appliances! Coming to a home near you!
Been there, done that. In 1971. Push em over! Here's where Robot's Rules of Order don't apply... at Hideo Nut's Bolt-A-Drome! ... as seen on "Who Asked For It" ... strap on your servo-mitts and pit your nettle against common household appliances ... step right up ... think you can go three rounds with this water heater sailor, looks easy! But sealed in the back of this metal Mother is a Radar Activated Stamping and Siezing Module that will keep a man punchin' ... until he's drunk with power ... a man like [youtube.com]
I Always Liked the Cardasian Justice System (Score:4, Insightful)
Compare this to the Cardassian system that will not detain you, will not question you, will not release to the public any allegations, you lose 0 rights and are not even inconvenienced until your guilt is proven. They are given the burden of proving your guilt before they can do any of these things.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
I'm more partial to a polar justice system. It gives you a perfectly clear direction and says exactly just how far you may go. But don't you think that kinda goes off on a tangent now?
Re: (Score:2, Informative)
If you had ever watched Star Trek you would know the Cardassians had little interest in truth of justice, and were notorious for executing or incarcerating innocent people. For some proof please watch these episodes:
Deep Space 9 - Season 2 Episode 25 - Tribunal
Deep Space 9 - Season 5 Episode 8 - Things Past
Re: (Score:3)
Re: I Always Liked the Cardasian Justice System (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
The idea of running around solving your own crime, proving your innocence, is a fiction for films and TV
And the idea of doing anything other than paying for the best lawyer you can afford, and sitting in a chair in the courtroom as he mounts the best defense possible is not any more realistic than running around solving some murder you have been accused of. In America must buy your justice, and most people cannot afford much. You simply cannot defend yourself,
Re:I Always Liked the Cardasian Justice System (Score:5, Insightful)
Really? The government shouldn't have a right to detain people who are a potential flight risk? They shouldn't have the right to raid an office in search of evidence which may be potentially destroyed? This all seems to be part of a basic allegation.
On the flip side we can look at issues like the "terrorist" attack in Sydney last week, you know the one committed by a guy who was out on bail awaiting trial for 50 counts of sexual assault and accessory to murder?
Or just look at the countless cases of destroyed evidence which appear in the news every day.
I think the opposite to you. On an allegation any reasonable steps need to be taken to ensure they are investigated. People shouldn't be allowed to leave the country, offices should be raided. Otherwise it is simply too easy to avoid prosecution.
US, UK Bill of rights require bail (Score:2)
> Potential flight risk means a judge is facing a black and white decision. It's not that the thought of an inconvenience is unthinkable, but it is usually a blanket to the alternative of "nothing at all". The solution is to tag and release, like anyone else we want to track and/or you have an escort. Someone gets out of the country, that's the border patrol's problem...in an ideal world. Go track em down and execute them
No escort needed, catch and release is called "bail" and it's been around for thous
Re: (Score:2)
Bail is great in theory, but I think it is abused a lot these days. There was a case not long ago where a teen ranted on an internet board about a video game and was arrested for "terrorist threats". He was given a $500,000 "bail" amount and left to rot in a cell (an anonymous donor put up the money after about 4 months when the media got a hold of the story). Your average person has no chance of putting up bails like that, like a lot of things unfortunately in our society these days they put "common sen
Carter should sue 8th amendment "excessive bail" (Score:2)
The Carter case is f_ed up. Remember, though 10,000 cases were handled that day, and Carter's made the news because it was handled so wrongly. The 9,999 cases handled properly aren't newsworthy.
I'd like to see Carter sue Comal county in federal court for violating his Constitutional right right under the 8th amendment, which bars excessive bail.
Re: (Score:2)
"If it were a muslim that made a comment online"
Maybe if they had a bunch of extremest literature, a plane ticket, some weapons, etc. But not if they had none of those and and had never been to an airport in their life. Despite his ranting online Carter had no weapons, no hateful literature and no history of violence.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
It's not. Life's not fair. The whole point of granting government a right to detain, raid (with a warrant), or otherwise interrupt your life is to grant them sufficient power to attempt to carry out justice. Ie, it's a compromise against either anarchy or a police state.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:1)
Actually, it does. An integral part of a trial is that the accused has access to the evidence, the means of collection, and a means to defend themselves e
Re: (Score:2)
Actually, it does. An integral part of a trial is that the accused has access to the evidence, the means of collection, and a means to defend themselves even if it's as the people's expense. One can definitely argue that such a system still favors the rich and the prosecutor power is still very overwhelming, but that speaks more about refining the judicial process and not abandoning it in favor of a one-sided system where those who wish to "prove" guilty can manufacturer evidence and the person charged has no time or means to defend themselves.
Most of this is handled in the Cardassian version of a trial. They go over all the evidence with you, and the public, show how they got it and everything. At this point, yes your guilt has been proven, but if you actually have any information that could exonerate you (if you have the ability to defend yourself better than a lawyer) then their is nothign stopping that from happening. People get proven innocent after being found guilty all the time, there is no reason this would change if we used a different
Re:I doubt it. (Score:4, Interesting)
Whirlpool screwed up. That screwup allowed other manufacturers to get a more of a foothold here, ones that could leverage previous badge-engineering and then transition to other sources for the products. It's similar to how GM and Isuzu screwed up and licensed the Isuzu Rodeo (MU) to Honda as the Passport, so Honda could get a jump on the SUV/CUV craze and establish themselves earlier than they would have been able to without having it in the first place.
Re: I doubt it. (Score:2)
hey, I had a GE made in Mexico about a decade ago - complete junk. I just gave away a Bosch too - also junk. Before the GE was Whirlpool junk. Replaced the Bosch with a Maytag, a model with a grinder, and it's the first dishwasher I've bought that I haven't hated in two decades. Not sure where it's made.
Re: (Score:2)
Good luck with that Maytag. I replaced a 20+ year old Whirlpool washer with a Maytag (the Whirlpool was working, but the tub was rusting out). The Maytag failed about 5 years later, and was not economically repairable.
Vandalism unnecessary. (Score:1)
A dishwasher or washing machine from just about any reputable manufacturer used to last 20+ years. Nowadays we can count ourselves lucky if they work for 5 years. So much for advances in technology.
Re: (Score:3)
Hell that holds true with fridges among other things. I've got a 1940's style fridge that was my great-grandparents and it's still working. My parents are still using the fridge they got when they were married in 1977. On the other hand the new fridge that I bought 5 years ago has already died, the 3 year old fridge that I bought for my place in florida is already dead. And the same happened to my sister out in western canada, bought a new fridge 3 years ago...already dead. In all those cases, either t
Re: Vandalism unnecessary. (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Newer fridges are much more energy-efficient and cheaper compared to those old models. If you bought an expensive one marked as reliable instead of the cheapest one out there then it would last more than 5 years. The stuff that wasn't as over engineered from the past hasn't survived so we only see the stuff that was.
Sure, energy efficent is about all the newer models boil down to. As for "reliable" and "expensive" yeah...just keep telling yourself that. It's just like at one point there was one company in north america making all fridges, and dishwashers. There's around 5 now. Said "quality" is "buying brand name."
Re: (Score:2)
I've seen supposed high-end fridges die well before their tenth birthday. That's the problem with these kind of things - it's hard to judge whether an expensive fridge is actually built better, or if it's just a cheap fridge that's been marked up.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
I happen to have a Samsung fridge which has been working for over 10 years... I plan to replace it because the paint and the seals are starting to look bad; not because it is failing.
The Samsung replaced a very old Frigidaire unit which basically I threw out because the Samsung had reduced power consumption, not because the Frigidaire was failing.
Now, recently I replaced an LG air-conditioned which was almost 10 years old and started to fail. I went an bought another LG unit, technically the same model, onl
Re: (Score:3)
There have been great advances in technology, for the manufacturers. Its called "planned obsolescence", now they can cheaply and reliably build an appliance that will last 3-5 years. At point at which it is no longer their problem. And then shortly thereafter it will fail, meaning that you have to purchase a new one. Its a win win for them.
Re: Vandalism unnecessary. (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Maybe I'm just showing my age (OK, downhill side of 50), but it seems to me that just about any whitegoods type of appliance these days is made to such shoddy standards, it would be pretty much impossible to attribute failure to vandalism on anyone's part.
They're that much cheaper and better at what they do that they're still better value for money, even if they have a quarter the lifespan. However, they don't have worse lifespans - you're looking back with rose tinted spectacles.
Repairing any kind of wh
Re: (Score:2)
Keep in mind that the "exactly everything" also includes the expected lifetime of the appliance, which is one of the inputs that goes into their models. So if the expected lifetime is 5 years, that's how long the appliance will be engineered to last.
Korea (Score:2)
Which department of Samsung do the prosecutors work for? Legal?
Maytag diddit! (Score:3)
Obviously Maytag did it and framed LG!
Surely this should be in the idle section..? (Score:1)
I don't see how this is news that matters...
The prosecutors went in ... (Score:2)
Looking for a dish of dirty little secrets, but everything was clean!
Boom! Boom! :-)
Only one explanation for this story (Score:4, Insightful)
Second, offices of LG in Korea have been raided. What evidence did they expect to find? For a raid (which I assume is just a search with a warrant, and lots of police arriving because it is a big office), the police would have a reasonable expectation to find proof of a crime. Well, in Korea, there is of course another explanation: If Samsung calls the right minister whom they own, any search warrant will come forward immediately.
But then a raid on an LG factory? What evidence in connection with a purported case of vandalism are the police expecting to find in an LG factory? Only possible explanation, same as above.
CEO not allowed to leave the country? That's getting bizarre. Do they think he won't come back? Never heard of bail?
I think it's getting time for LG to buy some politicians themselves. Worst case if someone gets convicted, they can then expect a pardon, like Samsung's ex-CEO (convicted for tax evasion).
Re: (Score:3)
That's a pretty big overreaction for breaking the door hinges on the showroom models. The LG people might have only been 'testing' the Samsung model to LG standards. As in, putting a lot of weight on the door to simulate really heavy dishes.
There's an implication here: LG's door hinges are far stronger than Samsung's. If that is true, then the LG people have a viable defense, in that they didn't do anything that their own dishwasher couldn't handle. They are setup for demonstration purposes, and allowed to
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
There is a reasonable explanation, which you are failing to see. If LG employees were instructed to destroyed Samsung property by their employer, ...
But that is just an accusation without any shred of evidence. You shouldn't be able to get a search warrant just for an accusation without any shred of evidence. And you are not answering my first point: What does Korean police to do with damage that was done in Germany? Only German police should be involved with this, since the crime happened in Germany.