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Ex-Fujitsu executive feels 'aggrieved' by damage done to Horizon's reputation

10 points by chrisjj 2y ago

zeristor 2y ago
Hmm. Fujitsu + Boeing search: https://www.fujitsu.com/global/about/resources/news/press-releases/2010/1217-01.html https://www.fujitsu.com/global/about/resources/news/press-re... Just about using RFID for maintenance, but I was curious if there was a connection.
chrisjj 2y ago
HN falsified my title. Ex-Fujitsu executive...feels 'aggrieved' by damage done to Horizon's reputation
bell-cot 2y ago
Wow. With entitled, self-righteous attitudes like his - why would any sane would-be whistleblower even try to tell him that things were serious wrong? And if your title is "Chief Executive", but your plan for learning about major problems is "whistleblowers will alert me" - yeah. No competently-managed company would want you on their payroll. Let alone in charge of important stuff.
alephnerd 2y ago
The title is kinda clickbait From the article > he believed that the “real issue” was the way criminal prosecutions of post office operators had been handled by the state-owned body. And he's not wrong in that sense. The only reason innocent Postmasters were held liable was because of the horrid internal policies of the Post Office that decided to explicitly treat software as infallible. Post Office Ltd is equally as liable as Fujitsu imo.
- chrisjj 2y ago
  HN title or linked title? Latter is: Ex-Fujitsu executive says he feels ‘aggrieved’ by damage done to Horizon’s reputation
- hyperman1 2y ago
  This is an executive doing his job. There is a big problem so he rephrases it in a very plausible way as somebody else's fault.
- chrisjj 2y ago
  > The only reason innocent Postmasters were held liable was because of the horrid internal policies of the Post Office Untrue. They were suspected liable solely on the basis of Horizon data and found liable in some cases on the basis of false evidence from Fujitsu. "False evidence by Post Office’s expert contradicted his own report" https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-68857142 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-68857142
  - alephnerd 2y ago
    Fair point. I'd edit my comment to include this fact but I can't.
- SilverBirch 2y ago
  I think that's being rather generous. Yes, the Post Office was culpable in their role pretending the software was infallible and pursuing Subpostmasters to such an extend, but Fujitsu were equally culpable. A number of Post Office people have testified that Fujitsu mis-represented the capabilities of the software, the fallibility and the access by Fujitsu staff. I'm sure there was a very juicy contract behind all this that drove the Post Office to pretend they hadn't spaffed away money on a broken system and for Fujitsu to cover up the shortcomings in an effort to avoid any financial penalties.
justinclift 2y ago
What the heck? On Wednesday night it was reported that the Post Office had accidentally published the names and home addresses of 555 post office operators wrongfully convicted in the Horizon scandal. At this point the Post Office should be told to step away from the computer because its too drunk. :(
- chrisjj 2y ago
  Under HN discussion here https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40731866 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40731866
SilverBirch 2y ago
It seems very difficult to square this testimony (that Fujistu only remotely tampered with accounts in co-operation with the Post Office), with the core defence of a number of post office staff (that Fujitsu categorically refuted any suggestion they could alter accounts). It also seems... bizarre that he can claim he was unaware that prosecutions were being carried out.

10 points by chrisjj 2y ago

Hmm. Fujitsu + Boeing search: https://www.fujitsu.com/global/about/resources/news/press-releases/2010/1217-01.html https://www.fujitsu.com/global/about/resources/news/press-re... Just about using RFID for maintenance, but I was curious if there was a connection.

chrisjj 2y ago

HN falsified my title. Ex-Fujitsu executive...feels 'aggrieved' by damage done to Horizon's reputation

bell-cot 2y ago

Wow. With entitled, self-righteous attitudes like his - why would any sane would-be whistleblower even try to tell him that things were serious wrong? And if your title is "Chief Executive", but your plan for learning about major problems is "whistleblowers will alert me" - yeah. No competently-managed company would want you on their payroll. Let alone in charge of important stuff.

alephnerd 2y ago

The title is kinda clickbait From the article > he believed that the “real issue” was the way criminal prosecutions of post office operators had been handled by the state-owned body. And he's not wrong in that sense. The only reason innocent Postmasters were held liable was because of the horrid internal policies of the Post Office that decided to explicitly treat software as infallible. Post Office Ltd is equally as liable as Fujitsu imo.

chrisjj 2y ago
HN title or linked title? Latter is: Ex-Fujitsu executive says he feels ‘aggrieved’ by damage done to Horizon’s reputation
hyperman1 2y ago
This is an executive doing his job. There is a big problem so he rephrases it in a very plausible way as somebody else's fault.
chrisjj 2y ago
> The only reason innocent Postmasters were held liable was because of the horrid internal policies of the Post Office Untrue. They were suspected liable solely on the basis of Horizon data and found liable in some cases on the basis of false evidence from Fujitsu. "False evidence by Post Office’s expert contradicted his own report" https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-68857142 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-68857142
- alephnerd 2y ago
  Fair point. I'd edit my comment to include this fact but I can't.
SilverBirch 2y ago
I think that's being rather generous. Yes, the Post Office was culpable in their role pretending the software was infallible and pursuing Subpostmasters to such an extend, but Fujitsu were equally culpable. A number of Post Office people have testified that Fujitsu mis-represented the capabilities of the software, the fallibility and the access by Fujitsu staff. I'm sure there was a very juicy contract behind all this that drove the Post Office to pretend they hadn't spaffed away money on a broken system and for Fujitsu to cover up the shortcomings in an effort to avoid any financial penalties.

justinclift 2y ago

What the heck? On Wednesday night it was reported that the Post Office had accidentally published the names and home addresses of 555 post office operators wrongfully convicted in the Horizon scandal. At this point the Post Office should be told to step away from the computer because its too drunk. :(

chrisjj 2y ago
Under HN discussion here https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40731866 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40731866

SilverBirch 2y ago

It seems very difficult to square this testimony (that Fujistu only remotely tampered with accounts in co-operation with the Post Office), with the core defence of a number of post office staff (that Fujitsu categorically refuted any suggestion they could alter accounts). It also seems... bizarre that he can claim he was unaware that prosecutions were being carried out.