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> I know of people who AWS fully sponsored, including business class intercontinental travel, to attend re:Invent which is essentially a week long holiday party

> I know of people who AWS fully sponsored, including business class intercontinental travel, to attend re:Invent which is essentially a week long holiday party, by virtue of AWS bill. Flying people to an AWS conference seems entirely different than funneling money into a single person's bank account. Yes, I know these conferences have a party-like atmosphere, but it's not done surreptitiously and it's not siphoning money out of the deal into someone's pockets.

DangitBobby 5y ago
It doesn't really seem that different.
- shakezula 5y ago
  This situation is like lobbying: is it the people's voice in fungible action or is it mega-corporations funneling money directly into politicians pockets? The answer is probably both, and any attempt to litigate it will probably be abused and lead to even more issues.
- ludocode 5y ago
  You think inviting someone to conferences is the same thing as putting $700k in their personal bank account? Is this satire? What is going on in this thread?
  - twic 5y ago
    Some people think that quantitative differences are never qualitative differences. Zero, one, infinity, right?
  - bumby 5y ago
    At least in the medical field, conferences only provided the thinnest veneer. Doctors were paid handsome fees to present, which is tantamount to dropping money in their bank account when you compare it to other professions whether people often go to conferences on their own (or company’s) dime.
- moralestapia 5y ago
  It is VERY different, come on. It's an open conference offered by the largest player in the space vs. a shady deal between a supplier and ONE person of another company, without its employers consent, on top of that.
  - moltar 5y ago
    It’s different in facts, but it’s not different in spirit. Did you know that pharma sales reps take out doctors to play golf all expenses paid, plus fancy restaurant lunch in the end? Is that different? How about a lobbyist donating money to a political party? Is that different? Google the law of reciprocity. It’s human nature.
    - rrrrrrrrrrrryan 5y ago
      The main difference here is the scale. "Let us take you on a $2000 vacation" vs. "Let us take you on a $700,000 vacation." One is objectively ridiculous - this is the difference.
      - kjreact 5y ago
        So what you’re saying is taking a smaller bribe is okay? Just as long as it’s not a “ridiculous” bribe…
        bumby 5y ago
        There are thresholds elsewhere. For example, a civil servant can accept a gift, up to a very small amount, from a vendor without being an ethics violation.
      - moltar 5y ago
        But there’s proportional impact as well. The person who got the AWS treatment might be responsible for $50K of AWS budget. And the person at Netflix is responsible for millions of dollars of budgets, royalties and other schemes.
    - 5y ago
- blacksmith_tb 5y ago
  Hmm, even at my most cynical I would say the difference is the free conference is a much smaller (and thus presumably less effective) bribe. Giving away tickets to a conference which they sell the tickets for costs AMZN very little (sure, there are costs associated with putting it on, but those would have had to be paid anyhow, adding an attendee or two won't change much). So it's a few grand worth of airplane tickets vs. $700K...
cheriot 5y ago
Pharmaceutical companies used all inclusive "conferences" to influence doctors to prescribe more opioids. It was effective enough to be banned. > Accepting a free trip to a drug-company-sponsored conference guided doctors to write more prescriptions of the company’s drugs, a spike of 80 to 190 percent https://www.drugwatch.com/news/2012/01/18/pharmaceutical-companies-bribing-doctors/ https://www.drugwatch.com/news/2012/01/18/pharmaceutical-com... America is generally good about limiting things to legal graft. I can't offer an elected official money in exchange for a vote, but I can donate millions to entities controlled by the elected officials that are my "friends" and make sure they know about it.

DangitBobby 5y ago

It doesn't really seem that different.

shakezula 5y ago
This situation is like lobbying: is it the people's voice in fungible action or is it mega-corporations funneling money directly into politicians pockets? The answer is probably both, and any attempt to litigate it will probably be abused and lead to even more issues.
ludocode 5y ago
You think inviting someone to conferences is the same thing as putting $700k in their personal bank account? Is this satire? What is going on in this thread?
- twic 5y ago
  Some people think that quantitative differences are never qualitative differences. Zero, one, infinity, right?
- bumby 5y ago
  At least in the medical field, conferences only provided the thinnest veneer. Doctors were paid handsome fees to present, which is tantamount to dropping money in their bank account when you compare it to other professions whether people often go to conferences on their own (or company’s) dime.
moralestapia 5y ago
It is VERY different, come on. It's an open conference offered by the largest player in the space vs. a shady deal between a supplier and ONE person of another company, without its employers consent, on top of that.
- moltar 5y ago
  It’s different in facts, but it’s not different in spirit. Did you know that pharma sales reps take out doctors to play golf all expenses paid, plus fancy restaurant lunch in the end? Is that different? How about a lobbyist donating money to a political party? Is that different? Google the law of reciprocity. It’s human nature.
  - rrrrrrrrrrrryan 5y ago
    The main difference here is the scale. "Let us take you on a $2000 vacation" vs. "Let us take you on a $700,000 vacation." One is objectively ridiculous - this is the difference.
    - kjreact 5y ago
      So what you’re saying is taking a smaller bribe is okay? Just as long as it’s not a “ridiculous” bribe…
      - bumby 5y ago
        There are thresholds elsewhere. For example, a civil servant can accept a gift, up to a very small amount, from a vendor without being an ethics violation.
    - moltar 5y ago
      But there’s proportional impact as well. The person who got the AWS treatment might be responsible for $50K of AWS budget. And the person at Netflix is responsible for millions of dollars of budgets, royalties and other schemes.
  - 5y ago
blacksmith_tb 5y ago
Hmm, even at my most cynical I would say the difference is the free conference is a much smaller (and thus presumably less effective) bribe. Giving away tickets to a conference which they sell the tickets for costs AMZN very little (sure, there are costs associated with putting it on, but those would have had to be paid anyhow, adding an attendee or two won't change much). So it's a few grand worth of airplane tickets vs. $700K...

cheriot 5y ago

Pharmaceutical companies used all inclusive "conferences" to influence doctors to prescribe more opioids. It was effective enough to be banned. > Accepting a free trip to a drug-company-sponsored conference guided doctors to write more prescriptions of the company’s drugs, a spike of 80 to 190 percent https://www.drugwatch.com/news/2012/01/18/pharmaceutical-companies-bribing-doctors/ https://www.drugwatch.com/news/2012/01/18/pharmaceutical-com... America is generally good about limiting things to legal graft. I can't offer an elected official money in exchange for a vote, but I can donate millions to entities controlled by the elected officials that are my "friends" and make sure they know about it.