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I can’t read the article due to the paywall but is this the incident where software written by some firm accused postal workers of theft and got them fired? Har

I can’t read the article due to the paywall but is this the incident where software written by some firm accused postal workers of theft and got them fired? Hard to see how the final outcome can be characterized as a good job, unless they’re claiming they implemented the specifications they were given.

Jtsummers 2y ago
Not just fired, convicted of crimes they didn't commit. He's defending himself as much as the software. He personally gave testimony against some of the convicted postmasters. He's in denial because otherwise he'd have to admit that he was not just wrong, but personally helped send innocent people to prison.
- crooked-v 2y ago
  Also, many of the 900-plus people affected were made to "pay back" "embezzled" money that was never missing in the first place, and more than a few went bankrupt in the process.
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
  - aurizon 2y ago
    It was a national shame of the type that undermined and destroyed the USSR, and Putin and his ilk have robbed Russia and covered up a deep social culture of theft and corruption. You know, of course, that the invasion column sent to occupy Kiev stalled because tanker drivers sold the fuel and the army stalled. There are many other things we see on youtube/Telegram daily
- KittenInABox 2y ago
  If I wrote such software that drove otherwise healthy people to kill themselves I would consider myself responsible for their deaths. The motivation to deny this would be immense. I still have no sympathy for him; in my mind, I think he killed people.
  - datavirtue 2y ago
    Dude, it's just software. The responsibility lies with management 100%.
    - lowbloodsugar 2y ago
      Right up to the point where (FTA) he provided expert testimony.
    - Devasta 2y ago
      "Once the rockets are up, who cares where they go down? That's not my department." says Werner Von Braun...
    - Jtsummers 2y ago
      > Dude, it's just software. The responsibility lies with management 100%. If you're an engineer, that's not true. The responsibility largely (though not entirely) lies with you. You're the one informing management on whether the system is sound, safe, and fit for purpose. If you don't want that kind of responsibility, don't call yourself an engineer. And definitely don't give expert testimony that your system couldn't possibly be at fault.
      - datavirtue 2y ago
        They had a responsibility to establish actual standing for accusing and prosecuting someone. Software is irrelevant at that point. If the software tells me to kill someone I'm going to hopefully step back and think shit over.
    - kergonath 2y ago
      He testified against them. At this point he is complicit.
janice1999 2y ago
It's this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Post_Office_scandal https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Post_Office_scandal Over 900 subpostmasters were prosecuted and 236 went to prison, including a pregnant woman whose baby was taken from her, despite no evidence the money she was accused of stealing ever existed in the first place. People lost their businesses and homes, were shunned by their communities and some committed suicide. And the Post Office knew from at least 2003 the software was broken.

Jtsummers 2y ago

Not just fired, convicted of crimes they didn't commit. He's defending himself as much as the software. He personally gave testimony against some of the convicted postmasters. He's in denial because otherwise he'd have to admit that he was not just wrong, but personally helped send innocent people to prison.

crooked-v 2y ago
Also, many of the 900-plus people affected were made to "pay back" "embezzled" money that was never missing in the first place, and more than a few went bankrupt in the process.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- aurizon 2y ago
  It was a national shame of the type that undermined and destroyed the USSR, and Putin and his ilk have robbed Russia and covered up a deep social culture of theft and corruption. You know, of course, that the invasion column sent to occupy Kiev stalled because tanker drivers sold the fuel and the army stalled. There are many other things we see on youtube/Telegram daily
KittenInABox 2y ago
If I wrote such software that drove otherwise healthy people to kill themselves I would consider myself responsible for their deaths. The motivation to deny this would be immense. I still have no sympathy for him; in my mind, I think he killed people.
- datavirtue 2y ago
  Dude, it's just software. The responsibility lies with management 100%.
  - lowbloodsugar 2y ago
    Right up to the point where (FTA) he provided expert testimony.
  - Devasta 2y ago
    "Once the rockets are up, who cares where they go down? That's not my department." says Werner Von Braun...
  - Jtsummers 2y ago
    > Dude, it's just software. The responsibility lies with management 100%. If you're an engineer, that's not true. The responsibility largely (though not entirely) lies with you. You're the one informing management on whether the system is sound, safe, and fit for purpose. If you don't want that kind of responsibility, don't call yourself an engineer. And definitely don't give expert testimony that your system couldn't possibly be at fault.
    - datavirtue 2y ago
      They had a responsibility to establish actual standing for accusing and prosecuting someone. Software is irrelevant at that point. If the software tells me to kill someone I'm going to hopefully step back and think shit over.
  - kergonath 2y ago
    He testified against them. At this point he is complicit.

janice1999 2y ago

It's this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Post_Office_scandal https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Post_Office_scandal Over 900 subpostmasters were prosecuted and 236 went to prison, including a pregnant woman whose baby was taken from her, despite no evidence the money she was accused of stealing ever existed in the first place. People lost their businesses and homes, were shunned by their communities and some committed suicide. And the Post Office knew from at least 2003 the software was broken.