The former senior manager of special operations for eBay Inc.’s. global security team was sentenced Thursday in federal court in Boston for his role in a cyberstalking campaign that included sending a preserved fetal pig, a bloody pig Halloween mask and a book on surviving the loss of a spouse to a Massachusetts couple’s home.
Brian Gilbert, 56, of San Jose, Calif., was sentenced by U.S. Senior District Court Judge William Young to time served, one year of supervised release provided that he has no contact with either of the victims, and a $20,000 fine.
Gilbert and others targeted David and Ina Steiner, investigators said. The couple produced an online newsletter called EcommerceBytes that upset eBay executives with its coverage.
Gilbert is one of seven now-former eBay employees and contractors on the company’s security team who were charged and ultimately convicted for their roles in the cyberstalking campaign.
included sending a preserved fetal pig, a bloody pig Halloween mask and a book on surviving the loss of a spouse… Their home address also was posted online with announcements inviting strangers to yard sales and parties. Some of the defendants also sent private Twitter messages and public tweets criticizing the newsletter’s content and threatening to visit the victims … The third phase of the campaign involved surveilling the victims in their home and community. The victims spotted the surveillance and notified the Natick Police, who began to investigate. … also sent live spiders, cockroaches and other disturbing items to the couple’s home
Executives are involved in doing this, to silence the creators of an e-commerce newsletter.
Up to the previous CEO, who told his security team “to handle them.”
He managed to avoid jail time due to the ambiguity of his order, but was at least forced out because of it.
When people care more about their company then actual people there is a problem.
Sounds like an awfully light sentence compared with others I’ve been hearing about lately.
Sincerely hope the victims sue ebay and get a huge fucking payout or at bare minimum sue the shitbags directly responsible for their harassment.
