Anthony Levandowski Sentenced To 18 Months In Prison, As New $4 Billion Lawsuit Against Uber Is Filed (techcrunch.com) 23
An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: Anthony Levandowski, the former Google engineer and serial entrepreneur who was at the center of a lawsuit between Uber and Waymo, has been sentenced to 18 months on one count of stealing trade secrets. Judge Alsup said that home confinement would "[give] a green light to every future brilliant engineer to steal trade secrets. Prison time is the answer to that." During court proceedings today, Levandowski also agreed to pay $756,499.22 in restitution to Google and a fine of $95,000.
"Today marks the end of three and a half long years and the beginning of another long road ahead. I'm thankful to my family and friends for their continued love and support during this difficult time," Levandowski said in a statement provided by his attorneys after the sentencing. The sentencing is the latest in a series of legal blows that have seen Levandowski vilified as a thieving tech bro, unceremoniously ejected from Uber, and forced into bankruptcy by a $179 million award against him. And yet, Levandowski is not skulking away. Even as he faced years in prison, the maverick engineer was plotting a comeback that could see him netting upwards of $4 billion from Uber.
TechCrunch has learned that Levandowski recently filed a lawsuit making explosive claims against Waymo and Uber that, if proven, could turn his fortunes around with a multi-billion dollar payout. Whether this is a last-ditch effort by a desperate man whose career has been upended by his own poor choices or a viable claim against a double-dealing tech titan, will be up to the courts to decide. This new lawsuit, filed as part of Levandowski's bankruptcy proceedings, mostly focuses on Uber's agreement to indemnify Levandowski against legal action when it bought his self-trucking company, Otto Trucking. It also includes new allegations concerning the settlement that Waymo and Uber reached over trade secret theft claims.
"Today marks the end of three and a half long years and the beginning of another long road ahead. I'm thankful to my family and friends for their continued love and support during this difficult time," Levandowski said in a statement provided by his attorneys after the sentencing. The sentencing is the latest in a series of legal blows that have seen Levandowski vilified as a thieving tech bro, unceremoniously ejected from Uber, and forced into bankruptcy by a $179 million award against him. And yet, Levandowski is not skulking away. Even as he faced years in prison, the maverick engineer was plotting a comeback that could see him netting upwards of $4 billion from Uber.
TechCrunch has learned that Levandowski recently filed a lawsuit making explosive claims against Waymo and Uber that, if proven, could turn his fortunes around with a multi-billion dollar payout. Whether this is a last-ditch effort by a desperate man whose career has been upended by his own poor choices or a viable claim against a double-dealing tech titan, will be up to the courts to decide. This new lawsuit, filed as part of Levandowski's bankruptcy proceedings, mostly focuses on Uber's agreement to indemnify Levandowski against legal action when it bought his self-trucking company, Otto Trucking. It also includes new allegations concerning the settlement that Waymo and Uber reached over trade secret theft claims.
Question (Score:2)
Re:Question (Score:5, Informative)
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The first. Happy now?
Should have been a banker (Score:2, Offtopic)
Great to see justice done. So when is someone from Goldman Sachs going to prison for the $4.5 billion dollar 1MDB fraud?
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It's worse then that. The Federal Reserve will print the money, loan it to the US government and then hand it directly to you.
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feudalism (Score:2)
That's right folks. We need to keep these serfs in line. You are company property and you belong to us. If you step out of line and steal our imaginary property we'll ruin you.
Re: feudalism (Score:5, Insightful)
If you violate a contract that you voluntarily signed saying that you a) believe in imaginary property and b) promise not to share it, then we will ruin you.
Fixed that for you.
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A contract between businesses is different than an employer and employee relationship. There is very much an asymmetric difference in negotiation power when you're signing a contract to get a job or worse if you already have the job and are ordered to sign additional agreements.
I'm not saying that's what happened here, but the message is clear. Examples will be made and the rest of us must fall into line.
Re: feudalism (Score:2)
Go start your own company or form a union or vote for government regulation. There are several historical models that demonstrate ways for individuals to level that playing field. This guy flatly lied to defraud millions of dollars. Not a good example to claim as your poster child for workersâ(TM) rights.
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Not a good example to claim as your poster child for workers' rights.
The message has been sent to all workers, not just rich entrepreneurs that blatantly rip off their employer in an unprofessional manner. That's what is so insidious about this, it goes far beyond the scope of the original offense and reasserts the power that employers and corporations have over the rest of us. Yet it is so subtle that people like yourself overlook the abuse of the legal system or actively defend it as being a justified response.
Re: feudalism (Score:2)
I have fought and won against multiple corporations, including those I have worked for, whether it be because we were helping build immoral weapons or denying equal pay. The system is not that far unbalanced. There are plenty of levers: quiet conversations with leaders, public calls to action, embarrassing public disclosures, and, yes, the court system. I teach kids how to claim and use the various levers. If you are not a thieving liar, there are tons of resources to back up your individual strength: union
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$25000 nuisance money (Score:2)
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If jail is not the solution for someone that stole millions of dollars, then what is? You didn't actually give any solutions to the problems you brought up.
You could bankrupt the person and leave them destitute I suppose. That's worse then sending him to jail for a few years, assuming he has money to come back to. Doesn't seem like a positive for society.
Mandatory community service for life or some lesser amount of time? That might be helpful.
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It's called a deterrent. It is supposed to make an example out of the individual so other individuals thinking about doing a similar crime would think twice about it, or not do it at all.
If he just got a slap on the wrist and was free to commit more crimes, the slap on the wrist example wouldn't stop anyone else from doing the same or similar thing.
>Prison should be reserved for people who are an actual risk to society
And rampant white collar crim
Sentenced to 0 months. (Score:2)
Haha. Sentenced to 18 months *that he does not have to serve until the pandemic is over*! ...Which will be never. Perfect example of white privilege. Er, I mean white *collar* privilege.
Then again, this goes on all the time with startups. This case was just particularly egregious because a lot of potential money was involved, and Google happened to get particularly pissed off, something not contemplated by Levandowsky in his rush to cash in.
Sad (Score:2)
Trade secrets literally are harm to every human (Score:2)
...on the planet.
Compensate inventors via some other means. Legitimate means.
But don't let anyone ever steal the idea from the public, and claim it for himself, to erect a monopoly and steal everyone's money with artificial scarcity even after the costs of invention have long been paid for!
Imaginary property harms everyone. Even the inventors!