Former Cambridge Analytica Chief Receives Seven-Year Directorship Ban (theguardian.com) 25
Alexander Nix, the former boss of Cambridge Analytica, has been banned from serving as a company director for seven years over "potentially unethical" behavior linked to his position at the center of a global scandal. The Guardian reports: The Insolvency Service said Nix had allowed companies to offer potentially unethical services, including "bribery or honey-trap stings, voter disengagement campaigns, obtaining information to discredit political opponents and spreading information anonymously in political campaigns." Nix did not dispute that he caused or permitted Cambridge Analytica's parent company SCL Elections to offer such services, behavior "demonstrating a lack of commercial probity," according to the Insolvency Service.
The Old Etonian and former financial analyst will be disqualified from holding directorships, or from promoting, forming or managing a company, starting from October 5, the Insolvency Service said. "Following an extensive investigation, our conclusions were clear that SCL Elections had repeatedly offered shady political services to potential clients over a number of years," said the Insolvency Service chief investigator, Mark Bruce. "Company directors should act with commercial probity and this means acting honestly and correctly. Alexander Nix's actions did not meet the appropriate standard for a company director and his disqualification from managing limited companies for a significant amount of time is justified in the public interest."
The Old Etonian and former financial analyst will be disqualified from holding directorships, or from promoting, forming or managing a company, starting from October 5, the Insolvency Service said. "Following an extensive investigation, our conclusions were clear that SCL Elections had repeatedly offered shady political services to potential clients over a number of years," said the Insolvency Service chief investigator, Mark Bruce. "Company directors should act with commercial probity and this means acting honestly and correctly. Alexander Nix's actions did not meet the appropriate standard for a company director and his disqualification from managing limited companies for a significant amount of time is justified in the public interest."
But (Score:2)
Trump will pardon him.
Re:But (Score:4, Informative)
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Re:But (Score:4, Insightful)
Single out, 'cough' 'cough', some of those were electoral crimes that require extended custodial sentences because they are an attack on democracy, that no custodial sentence, we are talking decades, was passed out means, a less than a slap on the wrist. It just means they corrupt arseholes name can not be on the paperwork of the company he owns and runs. The in your face corruption, they are banning him for crimes, they are not prosecuting him for, hows that for in your face corruption.
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
I don't think the United Kingdom recognises pardons issued by former Colonies.
Just how corrupt do you have to be (Score:3)
That's a bit like having Freddy Krueger & Leatherface tell you to take a break from serial killing because you're freaking them out.
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Under what jurisdiction? (Score:3)
There is no world law nor court in existence from which a 'ban from holding Director level positions' may be issued or enforced. The guy can literally just move to somewhere else.
Also, doesn't it seem a bit impractical to ban based on an arbitrary company title? Anyone could just scoop him up and hand him an oddball title like 'Dude that gets important stuff done'.
Also, what about the humanitarian aspect? If this 'ban' is somehow enforced, how is this dude supposed to support himself if he isn't allowed to do what he's good at?
Re:Under what jurisdiction? (Score:4, Insightful)
> If this 'ban' is somehow enforced, how is this dude supposed to support himself if he isn't allowed to do what he's good at?
Then he can go to prison with all the thieves who aren't allowed to do what they are good at.
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Yes, he could presumably move somewhere else and be a director of a company or other organization, but being locked out of the US is going to limit options, and really, the fact that the ban exists at all, even if it is enforceable everywhere on the globe, isn't exactly going to look good on his resume. And I'm sure he did something else before he was a company director, so he can do that. It's not an unheard of punishment, and I haven't heard of anyone who received such a ban dying of starvation.
Re:Under what jurisdiction? (Score:5, Informative)
The Insolvency Service is a British institution. He wasn't banned in the US, but in the UK and most likely the Greater Commonwealth.
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It's a pretty bad ruling, and shouldn't be legal at all.
He shouldn't be prevented from starting and running his own company.
Give him a fine or jail time or both, but this kind of nonsense punishment is flawed in so many ways.
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British Company Law. One of the risks you take when you become a company director.
Yes, he can move elsewhere but then he won't be in British Jurisdiction.
Directors in UK Law are 'Officers of the Company'. He's banned from becoming one. His immediate family are also banned. An old trick was to carry on the business under a slightly different name but with the wife as nominated Managing Director but the banned person actually ran the business.
As for supporting himself... He could become a litter picker.
What h
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He might be able to move to Europe before the end of the year but might still find he is banned since the decision was made while the UK was still a member of the Single Market.
After January 1st he will need a visa. Could be interesting trying to apply for a visa to go run a business with that kind of mark against his record.
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Missed a few people in that sting operation (Score:4, Interesting)
Yes, he's a terrible person for offering up those terrible services. Punish him, he deserves it.
Where are the terrible people that purchased those terrible services?
It's not like they didn't know what was happening at that level, get them in to that same court trial.
Targeted by Brittany Kaiser (Score:2)
is the book to read if you want to find out who was buying the services.
Nix recruited her into his organization, and she tells allllllll about it.
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Where are the terrible people that purchased those terrible services?
Dominic Cummings is currently running the country.
Yeah! We showed him! (Score:4, Interesting)
The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards sarcasm.
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If someone doesn't get a custodial sentence for the shit these people were pulling then we need to restore faith in our institutions. I have seen people be cited for swearing in public, so if someone can literally destroy our social fabric and get off scott free, fuck them. The criminal prosecution service (CPS) should get off their collective arses and go after these guys. I want my tax payer dollars going towards protecting what we all hold dear. I would hope all democratic countries could work togeth
Why are Steve Bannon and the Mercers (Score:3)
still walking around free. They have have already got and transferred the technology into many other platforms.
There is a reason that Cambridge Analytica was called Steve Bannon's MindF*ck machine.
The Intellectual Property left SCL and Cambridge Analytical immediately after they got caught.
Facebook has integrated that IP into their system as well as other companies that the Mercer's control.
It is being used right now against people in multiple countries on multiple platforms all over the world to manipulate how you think and what you will advocate and vote for. That is the real purpose of social media.
If you want to see the entry point into the rabbit hole that you may already be way down into and a hint of how you are being manipulated y into watch "The Social Dilemma" on Netflix.
Here is the trailer:
https://www.thesocialdilemma.c... [thesocialdilemma.com]
Learn, know resist. "They Live!" except that they are not lizard people.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0... [imdb.com]
maybe? ;-)
He didn't break any laws (Score:3)
Now maybe we do need some privacy laws, better election laws etc. but at the time Alexander Nix did these things there was no law against what he did.