4 ms·

Doesn't this sort of thing happen in government all the time?

ghaff 5y ago
I'm not saying people don't get away with it but the US government is actually stricter than many/most companies about gifts/perks from organizations that the government is doing business with.
prasadjoglekar 5y ago
It's just as illegal there if you're a government employee. If you're an elected official, general principle still applies but rules are a bit different. See https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/01/nyregion/sheldon-silver-guilty-corruption-trial.html https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/01/nyregion/sheldon-silver-g...
vxNsr 5y ago
Yes, but there are controls in place to limit it, many large corps have similar controls the problems usually arise when you get unicorns which grow faster than they can build processes to account for stuff like this. I’m sure now Netflix will work on the issue, possibly this case started bec they began working on preventing stuff like it.
namdnay 5y ago
there's a long road from "I'll buy from you but don't forget that I retire in 5 years' time, I hope there's a cushy job waiting for me" to "I'll buy from you, here's my bank account, make me a consultant wink wink"
- wombatpm 5y ago
  Sole source contracts happen all of the time. Where it becomes murky is if the contracting officer ends up retiring his government job and takes a highly paid job with vendor.
kvathupo 5y ago
This does remind me of Deloitte winning a contract for building a website using technology only Deloitte could use [1]. Surprise, surprise: the website sucked. [1] - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25975636 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25975636
gadders 5y ago
I think a lot of the time the quid pro quo is delayed (or gives that perception) i.e. executive helps Supplier X sign a at his company. The executive then leaves after a few months to get a senior job at Supplier X
tptacek 5y ago
It's even more straightforwardly illegal with government clients, where there is a presumption that the employer (the people) can't possibly be agreeing to a sweetener for the employee.
singlow 5y ago
Maybe, but if they are caught they can go to jail too. Several hundred[1] government employees are prosecuted for corruption each year. [1](https://trac.syr.edu/tracreports/crim/646/ https://trac.syr.edu/tracreports/crim/646/)
- rexreed 5y ago
  They only go to jail if the kickbacks are obvious. Most of the time it's promises of future employment or employment of federal worker's kids, spouses, family members, or the retaining of a firm they hold an interest in. There's so many ways around the direct illegal approaches.
barney54 5y ago
In the U.S. government. It happens some, but it totally illegal. It’s hard to get fired working for the U.S. government and this is one of the few ways you can get fired.
vkou 5y ago
Yes, but no, but yes. 1. It's incredibly illegal for an agent of the government to do this, and people get fired and prosecuted for this. 2. It is possible to couch this in a revolving-door sort of arrangement - once the agent stops working for the government, they get a cushy job at the vendor. In theory, the vendor has no reason to hold up their end of the bargain, once the person they are bribing is out of office. In practice, that person can then leverage their government connections to smooth out future business deals... Which in itself is not illegal, and is convenient cover for the job.
rexreed 5y ago
All the time. Michael Kratsios, former Federal CTO, and prior close associate of Peter Thiel gives a contract to a Thiel portfolio company (Scale) for $92M while he's Federal CTO and also undersecretary of the DoD with a fairly opaque budget and procurement (something called a "broad agency announcement"). He retires as Federal CTO and surprise, he's now an executive at Scale. This is all in the open not even subject to innuendo or implication.

I'm not saying people don't get away with it but the US government is actually stricter than many/most companies about gifts/perks from organizations that the government is doing business with.

prasadjoglekar 5y ago

It's just as illegal there if you're a government employee. If you're an elected official, general principle still applies but rules are a bit different. See https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/01/nyregion/sheldon-silver-guilty-corruption-trial.html https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/01/nyregion/sheldon-silver-g...

vxNsr 5y ago

Yes, but there are controls in place to limit it, many large corps have similar controls the problems usually arise when you get unicorns which grow faster than they can build processes to account for stuff like this. I’m sure now Netflix will work on the issue, possibly this case started bec they began working on preventing stuff like it.

namdnay 5y ago

there's a long road from "I'll buy from you but don't forget that I retire in 5 years' time, I hope there's a cushy job waiting for me" to "I'll buy from you, here's my bank account, make me a consultant wink wink"

wombatpm 5y ago
Sole source contracts happen all of the time. Where it becomes murky is if the contracting officer ends up retiring his government job and takes a highly paid job with vendor.

kvathupo 5y ago

This does remind me of Deloitte winning a contract for building a website using technology only Deloitte could use [1]. Surprise, surprise: the website sucked. [1] - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25975636 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25975636

gadders 5y ago

I think a lot of the time the quid pro quo is delayed (or gives that perception) i.e. executive helps Supplier X sign a at his company. The executive then leaves after a few months to get a senior job at Supplier X

tptacek 5y ago

It's even more straightforwardly illegal with government clients, where there is a presumption that the employer (the people) can't possibly be agreeing to a sweetener for the employee.

singlow 5y ago

Maybe, but if they are caught they can go to jail too. Several hundred[1] government employees are prosecuted for corruption each year. [1](https://trac.syr.edu/tracreports/crim/646/ https://trac.syr.edu/tracreports/crim/646/)

rexreed 5y ago
They only go to jail if the kickbacks are obvious. Most of the time it's promises of future employment or employment of federal worker's kids, spouses, family members, or the retaining of a firm they hold an interest in. There's so many ways around the direct illegal approaches.

barney54 5y ago

In the U.S. government. It happens some, but it totally illegal. It’s hard to get fired working for the U.S. government and this is one of the few ways you can get fired.

vkou 5y ago

Yes, but no, but yes. 1. It's incredibly illegal for an agent of the government to do this, and people get fired and prosecuted for this. 2. It is possible to couch this in a revolving-door sort of arrangement - once the agent stops working for the government, they get a cushy job at the vendor. In theory, the vendor has no reason to hold up their end of the bargain, once the person they are bribing is out of office. In practice, that person can then leverage their government connections to smooth out future business deals... Which in itself is not illegal, and is convenient cover for the job.

rexreed 5y ago

All the time. Michael Kratsios, former Federal CTO, and prior close associate of Peter Thiel gives a contract to a Thiel portfolio company (Scale) for $92M while he's Federal CTO and also undersecretary of the DoD with a fairly opaque budget and procurement (something called a "broad agency announcement"). He retires as Federal CTO and surprise, he's now an executive at Scale. This is all in the open not even subject to innuendo or implication.