I assume this has been investigated but it's difficult to believe this stopped at one pair of critics. There are plenty of people online critical of eBay. Were they running similar campaigns on anyone else?

> Seven members of eBay’s security team, including former police captains, “worked together to harass and intimidate the Steiners”, according to prosecutors.

I hope someone's looking into the careers of the "former police captains" here. Again, difficult to believe they just woke up one day and decided to fly cross-country to vandalize someone's house with no prior history of intimidation.

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12_throw_away 2 days ago | parent | next [-]

From the facts that came out at his trial [1], it seems like Baugh, the guy who ran the operation, was basically feral. At one point during his cross-country trip to harass these people, he was also trying to organize a blackmail campaign (with eBay personnel and resources) against a prosecutor in Arkansas who was charging his father with something? [2]

[1] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/18602070/united-states-...

[2] Page 19, https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mad.227...

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Zigurd 2 days ago | parent [-]

Corporate security is the most sought after gig for cops. It attracts the best of the best. Certainly the most ambitious.

If someone were to ever dump the texts and emails of a major city PD, it would open a lot of eyes.

	▲	psd1 2 days ago \| parent [-]
		It might do, if that city had some level of public trust in its police. I don't know what, say, Los Angeles coppers could commit to record that might lower opinions. Beating confessions out of golden eagles? Cannibalism? The mark of the beast? Everyone already assumes they do this.

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glenstein 2 days ago | parent | prev [-]

I think you're right that there's no principled or well-reasoned stopping point that aligns the behavior with any notion of consistency. But I think for a case like this no further answer is necessary then that people and circumstances and the variables that drive them to be motivated and to lock in on a special case, are sometimes simply idiosyncratic.

So I'm ready to believe it might have only been one. Although it naturally raises the question. You can't imagine they would volunteer data on additional harassment campaigns.

	▲	evan_ a day ago \| parent [-]
		It does seem like they were treating it as a team-building exercise almost. Which just makes me wonder because my first impulse would have been to go to an escape room or ropes course or something like that.