Uber facing federal probe on allegations of espionage

[FrodosNewPet]

Source: Chicago Tribune

by Michael Liedtke, Associated Press | Nov 28, 2017

Federal prosecutors are investigating allegations that Uber deployed an espionage team to plunder trade secrets from its rivals, triggering a delay in a high-profile trial over whether the beleaguered ride-hailing service stole self-driving car technology from a Google spinoff.

The criminal probe being conducted by the U.S. Justice Department centers on information contained in a 37-page letter that Uber’s former manager of global intelligence sent in May to a company lawyer. The investigation hadn’t been publicly known until Tuesday, when it surfaced in a court hearing that was supposed to set the stage for a trial pitting Uber against Waymo, a self-driving car pioneer that started within Google eight years ago.

~ snip ~

Richard Jacobs, the former Uber manager whose lawyer wrote the letter at the center of the courtroom drama, testified Tuesday that Uber had up a secret unit to steal trade secrets from its rivals overseas. He didn’t specify which competitors that Uber had been targeting, but said some of the stolen information involved drivers. His allegations had been kept under seal since the U.S. Justice Department passed them along to U.S. District Judge William Alsup last week.

~ snip ~

Alsup described the allegations in the letter as “scandalous” and lashed out at Uber’s legal team for not informing him about them before he was notified by the Justice Department. “I can’t trust anything you say because it has been proven wrong so many times,” Alsup told Uber attorney Arturo Gonzalez. The judge also called Uber’s espionage teams as “a plumber’s unit doing bad deeds.”

~ snip ~

Read more: http://www.chicagotribune.com/bluesky/technology/ct-uber-federal-espionage-probe-20171128-story.html

[LisaM]

1. Do they bother to follow ANY laws?

It's ridiculous.

[FrodosNewPet]

4. Laws are for little people

Travis Kalanick's guiding Randian philosophy was (is) "It's quicker and easier to ask for forgiveness than to seek permission".

That philosophy is coming back on Uber in many ways. But there is still enough people who need or want to ride with them, and enough investors willing to burn cash until the magic IPO where people will throw stupid amounts of cash for shares at them, to keep them afloat.

[Cal Carpenter]

8. It's just more of that 'sharing' economy they're always blabbering about. n/t

[LisaM]

9. How is Uber ride "sharing", anyway?

They originally posed it as some kind of service where someone on his way from Point A to Point C was going to pass by Point B anyway, so just stopped to grab another passenger.

In reality, it's an unregulated taxi service.

[Cal Carpenter]

10. You are absolutely right.

It presents as a tech company that is allowing society to do all these amazing things, but in reality, as you say, it is an unregulated taxi service - a network of underpaid drivers using their own vehicles in an inherently risky job, with no recourse for problems, no security in terms of employment stability or otherwise, no benefits, and all the risks.

I know quite a few people who rely on Uber and Lyft to get around affordably - in my region public transportation is not useful to most people. I also know several people who drive for Uber or Lyft because there is so little reliable work around here, particularly no flexible work for people with other issues/problems/responsibilities. And I hear these services being defended due to the fact that this number of people apparently benefit from their existence. But in the big picture, I think they are a sign of a sick society where the paupers are barely propping each other up while the techie investors and wunderkinds make billions. It is really fucked up.

[LisaM]

11. And not only that....

I find it absolutely indefensible for anyone who votes for a $15 minimum wage to use any kind of service that depends on freelance or contract employees. I think that is so hypocritical. If you really support a $15 per hour minimum wage, then go patronize the businesses that choose to, or have to, pay that and DO NOT ever use Uber, Postmates, or any other company that considers its employees independent contractors.

[blue-wave]

2. I Never Have and I Hopefully Will Never

use Uber or Lyft or any other ride share service. They are unregulated with so many issues. Give me a good old fashioned cabbie any day. With that said, how much did Uber stock drop today?

[FrodosNewPet]

3. Uber is not publicly traded

They have never made a profit during their existence. Their valuation is shrunk from 70 billion dollars to 48 billion dollars because of the recent scandals.

[LisaM]

7. I had a friend call Uber in September and sort of had to ride along...

I didn't want to, but you know how it gets. Anyway, the ride was from Graceland (yes, that Graceland) to the Peabody Hotel in Memphis, and our driver was a flat-out racist. His family had come over from Vietnam in the 70s, and the guy hated black people and made racist comments during the ride. It was awful.

[Kablooie]

5. Avoid Uber! An Uber driver hit my car and they refuse to give me his info!!

I can only contact them by email.
They wanted more info.
I gave it to them and they haven't replied since.

[ret5hd]

6. What kinda cab company has a "manager of global intelligence"???