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Quite apart from the obviously horrific and troubling aspects of this story, a more mundane question arises: how on earth did anyone at the company, even rogue

Quite apart from the obviously horrific and troubling aspects of this story, a more mundane question arises: how on earth did anyone at the company, even rogue actors, determine that the 'damage' done to eBay possibly justified the level of expense and organisation invested here in attempting to ruin this couple's lives?

fredgrott 5y ago
note legally using employee service sinthis manner is not rogue
matheusmoreira 5y ago
Probably not a rational decision. I bet the guy just felt insulted and disrespected by the articles and decided to escalate the situation in an attempt to rectify that.
- tartoran 5y ago
  Most definitely a bruised ego started all this
  - PhasmaFelis 5y ago
    What baffles me is how many high-level people were sufficiently involved to face criminal charges. A manager, two senior managers, a director, and a senior director? (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EBay_stalking_scandal#Charges_filed https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EBay_stalking_scandal#Charges_...) I expect high-level execs to be amoral bastards, but I would not have expected quite so many to be this suicidally stupid all at the same time.
    - everdrive 5y ago
      I'm sure this varies from company to company, but it's at least been my experience that a lot corporate executives see their jobs as vehicles for their egos. I'm not sure how to make this sound less trite, because the reality of the situation feels pretty shocking and alien to me. Why would anyone be _proud_ of having some status at some company? In my relatively short experience, it's quite common.
    - evan_ 5y ago
      I feel like in a lot of cases there's this weird understanding that if you're doing something for work it doesn't matter if it's illegal (or just amoral), you personally will not be subject to any consequences. Worse, often that's true.
potatolicious 5y ago
What persistent myth about corporate behavior is that it's rational (even if cold, cruel, and calculating). More often than not it's actually just people flying by the seat of their pants and more ego than anything else. That goes double if the corporate culture tends to be very personality-cult-y, where executives have even more intense power than simply their position in the management chain. What gets me is that, once again, the top of the chain managed to slide with few consequences. The low-level goons who carried out the attack of this couple got punished, while the exec(s) who ordered it either skated completely, or bailed out with a golden parachute. Truly a consequence-free environment.
jhayward 5y ago
In my experience, most large corporations are very badly lead by visibly flawed executives.

fredgrott 5y ago

note legally using employee service sinthis manner is not rogue

matheusmoreira 5y ago

Probably not a rational decision. I bet the guy just felt insulted and disrespected by the articles and decided to escalate the situation in an attempt to rectify that.

tartoran 5y ago
Most definitely a bruised ego started all this
- PhasmaFelis 5y ago
  What baffles me is how many high-level people were sufficiently involved to face criminal charges. A manager, two senior managers, a director, and a senior director? (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EBay_stalking_scandal#Charges_filed https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EBay_stalking_scandal#Charges_...) I expect high-level execs to be amoral bastards, but I would not have expected quite so many to be this suicidally stupid all at the same time.
  - everdrive 5y ago
    I'm sure this varies from company to company, but it's at least been my experience that a lot corporate executives see their jobs as vehicles for their egos. I'm not sure how to make this sound less trite, because the reality of the situation feels pretty shocking and alien to me. Why would anyone be _proud_ of having some status at some company? In my relatively short experience, it's quite common.
  - evan_ 5y ago
    I feel like in a lot of cases there's this weird understanding that if you're doing something for work it doesn't matter if it's illegal (or just amoral), you personally will not be subject to any consequences. Worse, often that's true.

potatolicious 5y ago

What persistent myth about corporate behavior is that it's rational (even if cold, cruel, and calculating). More often than not it's actually just people flying by the seat of their pants and more ego than anything else. That goes double if the corporate culture tends to be very personality-cult-y, where executives have even more intense power than simply their position in the management chain. What gets me is that, once again, the top of the chain managed to slide with few consequences. The low-level goons who carried out the attack of this couple got punished, while the exec(s) who ordered it either skated completely, or bailed out with a golden parachute. Truly a consequence-free environment.

jhayward 5y ago

In my experience, most large corporations are very badly lead by visibly flawed executives.