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by throwaway_9168 2604 days ago
Why does everyone talk about increasing fines? Wouldn't it be a far more effective deterrent to charge some FB exec team for breaking some law (haven't they already done that in the "friendly fraud" case?) and put them in jail?
3 comments

the main point of a corporation is a shield of liability. both morally and legally. In a corporation, nothing is anybody's fault. Everyone, even up to the CEO, is a process that runs a script commonly called a policy. So you can't even be a member of the corporation without "following policy". But following policy shields you from any blame or accusation of wrongdoing, because it is always acceptable to say "wasn't our choice we were just following policy". The policy just comes out of nowhere. Nobody puts their name on the policy and says "This is what you do because I say so". So you can never track down who created the policy. It was created by people, but those people quickly disbanded and are not traceable to its inception. The CEO has a policy which is simply a contract to "shareholders". But not any individual shareholder, even "the board" isn't accountable, because they "represent" the "millions of shareholders". So no, it wasn't their idea. And you can't hold millions of people responsible. So no, there is no such thing as holding a corporation responsible.
> the main point of a corporation is a shield of liability.

Of the shareholders. Not the executives.

Let's not forget board and large shareholders that shape direction for executives and the board.
Yes, let's see Facebook executives going to jail, with Mark first in line. The duration is almost irreverent, as they'd forever be labeled "ex-con". Plus the fine, too, needs to be real.