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Comment by null_object | Hacker News Reader

> We should put CEOs in prison

So in an obscure settings toggle, in one version of iOS that was immediately fixed, some developer probably unknowingly set a toggle default to a setting that contravened an EU law… and you think Tim Cook should go to prison??

I just finished reading a book where one of the chapters was about factories in north New York where the executives covered-up systematic leaking of dioxin into the local environment for decades.

But sure - Tim Cook should go to prison to appease your Apple hatred.

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I'm responding from an iPhone, as it happens. I'm not super fond of Apple, but there are far worse actors out there.

This specific case may not warrant prison, but CEOs are in a problematic space: They get massively well paid to make decisions that they suffer no ill effects for. They reap the rewards of success but do not face any repercussions if they do something wrong. They won't get fired, and they won't face penalty for illegal actions. Even if they make a decision that hurts the business financially, it tends to be other employees who get let go.

We should hold CEOs personally liable for the violations of the law of their companies, because it's the best way to ensure CEOs are motivated to ensure their companies behave legally, not just profitably.

CEOs being held personally liable might not fix anything - one goes to jail, the board hires the next. And before you say “CEOs just won’t agree to do risky things”, if they won’t, they get fired, and some other CEO will. Same as what happens with programmers that refuse to do unethical work. They’ll just get replaced.

The company goes on as normal. The issue is harder to solve than “just arrest the CEO”. But I’d like to see it solved, too.

If CEOs reliably expect to go to jail for doing illegal things, boards will have a hard time finding a CEO who will do it. If you still feel this is not a solution, perhaps we add holding the board personally liable for the actions of the company, and see if that helps. :)

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