Another trade secrets case, this time Tesla

[Cmaier]

Tesla sues former engineer for allegedly stealing its supercomputer’s secrets

The engineer allegedly stored classified information on his computer.

www.theverge.com

From the article, it seems more like the guy was using his personal computer to do company work (for example, I don’t find it all that incriminating that he sent confidential information FROM his own email account TO his work account), but without knowing all the facts, I *shrug*

(also, what did he allegedly “steal?” Information about cooling a supercomputer? Very exciting stuff.)

 

[Andropov]

The whole story is bizarre. Using his personal computer for work stuff is not exactly a smoking gun. Same for providing a "dummy laptop" after Tesla asked for his personal computer to remove the allegedly stolen data. Personally, I'd bet that he just didn't want to give them their personal computer (for whatever reason) and tried to get an easy way out without plain refusing to comply. But maybe I'm just projecting. I know there's no chance in hell I'd ever in a million years give my personal MacBook to my employer.

 

[Cmaier]

The whole story is bizarre. Using his personal computer for work stuff is not exactly a smoking gun. Same for providing a "dummy laptop" after Tesla asked for his personal computer to remove the allegedly stolen data. Personally, I'd bet that he just didn't want to give them their personal computer (for whatever reason) and tried to get an easy way out without plain refusing to comply. But maybe I'm just projecting. I know there's no chance in hell I'd ever in a million years give my personal MacBook to my employer.

Not clear what evidence there is that it was a dummy laptop, or that he was under any obligation to give them his laptop. But as I read the article, at least, that was the only thing that stood out to me as maybe suspicious. Sure, using your personal computer for work may be a violation of applicable rules, but that’s not a crime. I guess I should pull down the Complaint and see what it actually says.

 

[Cmaier]

Very little in here.

 

[Andropov]

I bet the line "Defendant admitted to storing Tesla confidential information on his personal devices." from the complaint is what caused The Verge to write "Tesla claims Yatskov admitted to stealing the information". Which is a *very* different claim.

 

[Cmaier]

I bet the line "Defendant admitted to storing Tesla confidential information on his personal devices." from the complaint is what caused The Verge to write "Tesla claims Yatskov admitted to stealing the information". Which is a *very* different claim.

Yep. I’m sure the verge has good libel lawyers, though.