This is my first post on the DU. Normally, I just lurk, because I generally can’t offer an opinion that hasn’t already been expressed.
But this time, I am compelled to speak up. I cry foul on this Brian Shields person.
It was not Chinese hackers acquiring business plans that brought Nortel down. It was the business plans themselves and sheer corporate arrogance.
According to the linked article, the Chinese were downloading Nortel’s plans as far back as 2000. Well, I was working for Nortel in 2000.
Starting in the mid 90s and up until late in 2001, Nortel was on a buying rampage playing a game of monopoly with many millions of dollars and real-world assets. They spent lavish amounts of money buying smaller tech companies, and spent way too much for them. They also spend money wastefully within those newly acquired companies making everybody feel good about their new corporate overlords.
You see, Nortel had to have it for themselves (or could not face anyone else having these technology-rich smaller outfits).
Nortel was caught up in the fervor of the dot com bubble, and contributed to its inflation and eventual bursting. At that time, a lot of Nortel technology was used to develop the Internet.
Whereas their plans in 2001 included buying companies, in 2002 they focused on shedding those assets at fire-sale prices.
You see, Nortel management bought things very high and then had to sell them very low.
In 2001-2002, they eliminated one third of their workforce, including me. They cast off highly-paid professionals who had developed these technologies, and with them, most of the equity invested in their intellectual property. They left it to low-paid “rookies” to make the machines work.
They blamed 9-11. But it really was the downfall of the dot coms, and those lavish, wasteful business plans. They were ruthless in their layoffs, and deceptive to those who stayed behind.
In a few months, Nortel stock went from a value of double digits to about 50 cents a share. (Hard to remember exactly how much I lost.)
They laid me off, and then hired me back three months later as a consultant, and for almost twice my former salary. The work stopped and then had to be restarted … and ultimately the whole project was scrapped.
I was again out in the cold, and then six months later, I was hired by a subsidiary of Nortel as a consultant – again doubling my salary!
My job was Technical Writer, a producer of instructional manuals for Nortel equipment. As a consultant I was making over six figures. Tech Writers generally make only five.
My name is Randall Israel. I accuse Brian Shields of self importance. I accuse Nortel of sheer stupidity (and self importance).
I have no doubt that Nortel was hacked. But a company of that importance to the Internet should have been developing anti-hacking technologies instead of buying small equipment suppliers who made things that they didn’t need (and of course, putting those people out of business).
Thank you.
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