Re:Google almost convinced me to spend $400 on useless laser...
by mindslight on Wednesday April 27, 2022 @10:00AM
(#31179974)
Having an unexpected cost and thereby not making a profit isn't actually a punishment - it makes the risk calculus a tame "I probably won't get caught", while the expected value remains positive. I realize I'm criticizing our entire enforcement philosophy for white collar crime here. But still, unless there are actual routine-disrupting punishments like jail time for violating basic professional responsibilities, we would expect unethical behavior to just continue increasing.
And this goes double for setups to make such violations "nobody's fault" like the creation of perverse incentive structures. In the context of blue collar crime, that's called a "conspiracy".
They typically settle and sometimes pay a fine.
https://ag.ny.gov/press-release/2015/ag-schneiderman-announc...
I suspect they still make more profit than they lose in fines.