Microsoft employee pleads guilty to theft

SpinnerSpinner Birmingham, UK
edited July 2003 in Science & Tech
A former Microsoft employee, yesterday pleaded guilty to falsely ordering software meant for the companies internal use and selling it himself to make a tidy profit. This is the just one of three recent violations the company has un-covered.
Kori Robin Brown, 31, a former administrative assistant at the company's Xbox video console and games division, ordered more than $6 million worth of Microsoft's SQL Server database software and sold it for personal gain between 1998 and 2000, according to a statement by the U.S. Attorney's office for the Western District of Washington.

In my mind this just re-iterates the fact that Microsoft are a bunch of hypocrites! How can we the consumers take Microsoft's piracy policies seriously when their own staff fraudulently undermine them at every opportunity.

The full report:
http://rss.com.com/2100-1012_3-1026235.html?type=pt&part=rss&tag=feed&subj=news

Comments

  • a2jfreaka2jfreak Houston, TX Member
    edited July 2003
    Not sure I follow you're reasoning.

    An employee buys software at a discount and sells it for profit, which is illegal, and Microsoft is to blame for not liking pirates?
    This makes them hypocrites?

    :scratch: Maybe I misunderstood you.
    Spinner said

    In my mind this just re-iterates the fact that Microsoft are a bunch of hypocrites! How can we the consumers take Microsoft's piracy policies seriously when their own staff fraudulently undermine them at every opportunity.
  • SpinnerSpinner Birmingham, UK
    edited July 2003
    Perhaps hypocritical wasn't the right word to use. I was half joking anyhows. What I was trying to say is, the reason Microsoft hate pirating, just like any company does, is because it loses out on money as a result of it. This guy on their payroll was keeping the profits of sales, where they should usually go to the company. Pirating is much the same, at least in terms of the fact that pirates profit financially by copying or reproducing a piece of software where as the company who actually created the software does not.

    My point was, Microsoft are obviously looking externaly to make sure it doesn't lose its money (i.e by trying to stop piracy). But it is clear that incidents like the one reported are becoming more and more frequent, and are evidently costing Microsoft dearly by their employee's profiting at their expense, like pirates do. I was just saying perhaps they should sort their domestic problems out before getting in a big huff about external problems. However please don't take that last statement as an indication that I agree with piracy, because I absolutely do not. I just found it amusing that while Microsoft were out looking for pirates and for ways to stop them, their own people wore raiding the cookie jar.

    Does that make sense? But yea you're right, my original comment was a bit silly.;)
  • WuGgaRoOWuGgaRoO Not in the shower Icrontian
    edited July 2003
    man if i was part of ms id sabatoge or sumthing ....free win 2k3 server for everyone on shortmedia.com....witht the corporate liscense
  • a2jfreaka2jfreak Houston, TX Member
    edited July 2003
    OK. I follow that :D

    I have a friend that works for M$.

    Every time a new AOE game (or AOM) comes out he sends it to me. He doesn't get them free, but he does get a discount. I think that type of stuff happens often, and I really doubt M$ cares. They know employees purchase gifts for friends/family when they can, just like someone working at JC Penney gets a discount and uses that for purchases he makes when buying gifts for friends/family.
    Spinner said
    Perhaps hypocritical wasn't the right word to use. I was half joking anyhows. What I was trying to say is, the reason Microsoft hate pirating, just like any company does, is because it loses out on money as a result of it. This guy on their payroll was keeping the profits of sales, where they should usually go to the company. Pirating is much the same, at least in terms of the fact that pirates profit financially by copying or reproducing a piece of software where as the company who actually created the software does not.

    My point was, Microsoft are obviously looking externaly to make sure it doesn't lose its money (i.e by trying to stop piracy). But it is clear that incidents like the one reported are becoming more and more frequent, and are evidently costing Microsoft dearly by their employee's profiting at their expense, like pirates do. I was just saying perhaps they should sort their domestic problems out before getting in a big huff about external problems. However please don't take that last statement as an indication that I agree with piracy, because I absolutely do not. I just found it amusing that while Microsoft were out looking for pirates and for ways to stop them, their own people wore raiding the cookie jar.

    Does that make sense? But yea you're right, my original comment was a bit silly.;)
  • SpinnerSpinner Birmingham, UK
    edited July 2003
    a2jfreak said
    OK. I follow that :D

    I have a friend that works for M$.

    Every time a new AOE game (or AOM) comes out he sends it to me. He doesn't get them free, but he does get a discount. I think that type of stuff happens often, and I really doubt M$ cares. They know employees purchase gifts for friends/family when they can, just like someone working at JC Penney gets a discount and uses that for purchases he makes when buying gifts for friends/family.

    Yeah, but I don't think the guy mentioned in the original report was just ordering software for his friends and family. He apparently ordered about $6 million worth of software he wasn't supposed to, so he's either got a really big family, or he wasn't sticking to company policy, to say the least. That, I think Microsoft cares about. ;)
  • a2jfreaka2jfreak Houston, TX Member
    edited July 2003
    Sorry, I did not mean to make it seem like I thought Microsoft would not care about the acts of this particular individual, or similar acts done by others. I agree that they most certainly do care about these types of things. I just don't think they care about the $50 software for $15, or whatever it costs the employee to purchase a game for a friend.
    Spinner said
    Yeah, but I don't think the guy mentioned in the original report was just ordering software for his friends and family. He apparently ordered about $6 million worth of software he wasn't supposed to, so he's either got a really big family, or he wasn't sticking to company policy, to say the least. That, I think Microsoft cares about. ;)
  • SpinnerSpinner Birmingham, UK
    edited July 2003
    a2jfreak said
    Sorry, I did not mean to make it seem like I thought Microsoft would not care about the acts of this particular individual, or similar acts done by others. I agree that they most certainly do care about these types of things. I just don't think they care about the $50 software for $15, or whatever it costs the employee to purchase a game for a friend.

    No, of course not, and if I had a friend working at Microsoft, I would also expect my copy of the Age of Mythology expansion pack on my desk for a cheap price. Well before its official release I might also add.:D ;)
  • maxanonmaxanon Montreal
    edited July 2003
    He never bought the software, he ordered it internally. People steal stuff all the time. Admins have a lot of power when it comes to ordering stuff.
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