[zaroth]

I think the system did quite well with Gembe all things considered...

  The judge sentenced him to two years' probation, citing his
  rough childhood and the way he had worked to turn his life
  around as considerations when it came to deciding on the
  relatively lenient punishment.

The arrest at gunpoint sounds quite dramatic, but then again they let him stop for coffee and a cigarette on the way out, so this is not the typical SWAT. They did offer that it was a concurrent raid along with Sven Jaschan (author of Sasser) and they thought there was potential for a tip-off.

I was cringing the whole time reading about the interrogation. I can imagine this whole thing would have ended so much worse for Gembe if he had actually gone for that job interview. Just try and compare Gembe to Weev, you might start pining for good ol Schönau im Schwarzwald.

[ago]

You're completely right. The police were nice to me, probably because I was very cooperative. The team was about 15 people from the LKA, including the head of the cybercrime unit. I did cause a bit of a scare when I reached for the kitchen knife to cut some bread, but they quickly realized I didnt want to stab anyone. Of course I knew that I was far better off being in Germany than anywhere else, so I wasn't worried much. Overall I'm quite satisfied with how it went for me, even though it would be 4 years until the trial where I had to report to the police 3 times a week. I had the opportunity to turn my life around and get a good job. If I got put into jail neither me nor society would have been better off considering I paid a lot of taxes in the meantime and haven't done anything criminal since.

[Fuxy]

To be honest if find it kind of a dick move that Valve choose to have you arrested instead of making you work your ass off to make up for your mistake.

It is justified what you did was illegal and not cool but they had the chance to turn it into something positive.

[meowface]

I don't really think so. If I was working on a game for years, only to find out someone broke into my network, planted keyloggers on lots of my computers, and stole all of the source code for my game, I'd be interested in arresting the perpetrator as well. The game was practically Gabe's second baby.

Plus, there was no way Gabe could have known that Axel was 1) truly apologetic or 2) wasn't the one who also published the code publicly. And even if it was known, the fact that he shared it with friends showed that he didn't seem to care that much about protecting it.

That being said, I do work in the security industry and understand that Axel's motivations weren't evil or anything. Gabe still did what he should have done.

[Fuxy]

Well the damage was already there wasn't much he or anybody else could do about that so giving the guy a chance to make up for his mistake wouldn't have hurt.

Then again I'm sure he was really pissed so I can't blame him for doing what he did.

[CocaKoala]

I can definitely think of at least one way that hiring the guy who hacked into your company's computers, planted keyloggers, and stole the source code of your project could hurt. I thought of another while I was typing that sentence.

Maybe the kid who did it wasn't actually sorry; maybe he was hoping to get more access so he could steal more stuff. That's a way it could hurt.

Maybe bringing the kid who stole your team's work and demoralized everybody isn't going to do great things for the company morale; that's another way it could hurt.

Giving people second chances is great and all, but it seems silly to say "[it] wouldn't have hurt"; it could have very easily gone wrong.

[munificent]

> giving the guy a chance to make up for his mistake wouldn't have hurt.

That presumes you are 100% confident that the guy is completely remorseful and will no longer do anything wrong. Given past behavior, why should Valve have had that confidence?

[NoMoreNicksLeft]

I do not believe Valve had much control over that. They needed to report it (failure to do so might get them in trouble with regulators, insurance, and all that crap), and once they do they don't get any say in how the investigation or prosecution is handled. Even if Newell refused to testify, chances are this wouldn't hinder prosecution very much... plenty of other evidence to stick it to the kid.

[infinotize]

Should we not arrest master car theives because they are exceptionally talented? It's not unreasonable that their talent could be fit into some productive use. What about people who burglarize homes? Who fix soccer/football matches? Shoplifters? Assuming nonviolence in these cases. Would you preume perpetrators of all of those crimes just have to "work their asses off" to make up for "mistakes?" How do you arbitrarily draw a line and say such and such crime should not be punished or enforced and another should be?

[outworlder]

Nope, we should not just arrest them. However, they should all be punished in some way.

'prison' and 'punishment' aren't synonyms. Make someone work their ass off to repay a crime IS punishment. As is locking them up, but by doing that, you severely decrease the chances of that person ever being a productive member of the society again.

Of course, should that person break the terms agreed upon, then I guess prison time is warranted as an additional punishment. And even in this case, with non violent criminals, in a setting where they can still work.

[DanBC]

I strongly feel that those people should face some form of restorative justice rather than punitive fines or prison.

Prison is fantastically expensive, not particularly effective, and severely degrades the offender's life.

Restorative justice is much cheaper and more effective at fixing the offending behaviour, and the results of that behaviour.

Prison should be left for violent or unrepentant recidivists.

[PavlovsCat]

Did the leaking of the source code lead to competing games springing up, which cut into the profits of Valve, or any other damage?

[owlmanatt]

No, but it's easy to say that with the benefit of hindsight.

Nobody knew everything would turn out OK back before HL2 was released.

[enimodas]

if you were to enter the US now, would the police/fbi arrest you?

[gambler]

The arrest at gunpoint sounds quite dramatic, but

There are no buts here. Non-violent offenders shouldn't be arrested at gun point. And it's not just a matter of scaring someone, it's a matter of public safety. I don't get why whenever an issue like that comes out, there is always someone jumping to defend dangerous practices like that.