
DOJ investigation yields fresh evidence against Google, Apple in lawsuit - cooldeal
http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/20/doj-google-apple-lawsuit-hiring-antitrust/
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ajays
If the evidence is so damning, why settle? Why does the government seem so
quick to settle when a company does something wrong, but lays down the hammer
on citizens who do something wrong[1]?

[1] [http://madmikesamerica.com/2011/08/young-woman-sentenced-
to-...](http://madmikesamerica.com/2011/08/young-woman-sentenced-to-twelve-
years-for-selling-31-worth-of-marijuana-in-oklahoma/)

PS: yes, I know it was reduced later; but still it's at 8 years.

~~~
jm4
I don't have a problem with the government settling. Are they supposed to
spend money fighting a lawsuit for years just to squeeze some more money out
of them? Then what? Some employees that had nothing to do with it get laid off
to keep up the bottom line?

I think the point here is to stop the behavior and give out just enough
punishment to keep them from doing it again, but not excessive so as to damage
the business. In this case, the problem is the companies were colluding to
deprive people of jobs and to lower salaries. The desired outcome is to ensure
a fair hiring and salary negotiation process. A settlement achieves that with
minimal cost to the government and minimum collateral damage to the tens of
thousands of people who had nothing to do with it.

Businesses and individuals are completely different and there should be
different standards for dealing out punishments.

That said, the case you mentioned seems absurd and unfair. The best answer I
can give is that the government-- when it comes to the justice system-- is not
a single entity. Justice is not dealt out uniformly. There are many, many
different people with different views prosecuting cases. Some are more lenient
than others, within the legislated guidelines. Different regions have
different prevailing standards for justice. Even in the same town you have
ball breaker judges and ones with a reputation for letting people off easy. If
the law provides guidelines you can be sure that people will be spread out all
across the spectrum of what is allowed. Getting 12 years for selling pot
sucks. I'd be pretty pissed if I were in her shoes. If I were a judge I
wouldn't think of giving out that kind of sentence. I would go so far as to
say I think the judge who did is wrong, even if he did give a sentence allowed
by law. But I'm also not the kind of dumbass who would sell pot. If you do
stupid, obviously illegal things you put yourself at the mercy of a person who
might just throw your ass in a hole for the next decade.

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jiggy2011
I wonder how common these sorts of deals are? And how common just blatent wage
fixing is.

There are a number of jobs in the UK that seem to be always paid at exactly
minimum wage, mostly retail etc.

I've always wondered why the "free market" does not dictate that these wages
should rise slowly over time.

~~~
hga
I don't know the U.K. at this level of detail but didn't you go "all in" on
socialism after WII? As far as the government set minimum wages, aren't you
already talking about something other than a free market?

Anyway, if the minimum wage is set by the government at a level above the
value of someone's labor, you (the company) are going to:

Do without (movie ushers in the US).

Automate.

Move the work offshore.

Hire as few as you can for as little as you can when you can't do without,
which these retail jobs might be an example of.

I'm not at the moment discussing the merits of a minimum wage, just pointing
out that is has well established consequences.

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djackson
The economic consequences of non-compete agreements are interesting, to say
the least.

I'm curious to see what happens to average salaries for programmers over the
next few years if this investigation results in more competition. I'd also
like to see if programmers care enough to bounce back and forth even more for
salary bumps, but that's harder to measure.

~~~
sachingulaya
Salaries may increase but more likely it will become like wall street for the
most valued employees--that is, a bonus & stock options culture. So, for
example, your base is 90k with 30k in options that vest in 3 years and a 15k
year end bonus. So if you're thinking about making the jump to MegaCorp Inc.
they're going to need to offer you a significantly better deal to cover your
lost earnings.

~~~
cluda01
Doesn't this happen already? Moreover, I don't think it will ever get as
unbalanced as wallstreet compensation was at the height of the financial boom
simply because we aren't as "close to the money" as traders are. E.g. A trader
has a P&L so it's very easy to calculate how much value he brings to the firm.
For an engineers working in industries other than finance the calculation
isn't as straightforward and requires more art (read: politics) than simple
calculations.

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alexqgb
Meanwhile, Reuters investigation yields fresh evidence of bottomless
corruption at the very highest level of the DOJ.

[http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/20/us-usa-holder-
mort...](http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/20/us-usa-holder-mortgage-
idUSTRE80J0PH20120120)

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jrockway
Note to companies: never send an email with the phrase "our gentleman's
agreement" in it.

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jdp23
I'm just waiting for the Google fans here to defend them and blame this on
'rogue contractors'

