Should he go to jail? Idk. But stealing food from a grocery store isn't perfectly analogous to stealing IP. Bringing his knowledge to uber doesn't mean google can't use it. The same is true for digital piracy. Maybe it should be illegal, but it's not exactly the same as stealing an object.
A 10- or 100-millionaire stealing IP to get an n^th bomb-ass house/yacht/whatever might be heavily deterred by prior examples of imprisonment. Or, at least, certainly more deterred than a hungry thief.
If he goes to jail, people might be deterred from this particular type of anti-social behavior.
Why? They can be convinced that fame/n^th houses/yachts is not life.
But! If a food thief goes to jail, no one is deterred.
Why? Food is actually literally fucking life. You cannot deter someone from anti-social behavior that results in a cessation to hunger.
So, respectfully, I think you have things exactly the wrong way around here. Jail is a GREAT deterrent for white-collar crime, but a TERRIBLE deterrent for a many other crimes. We need fewer poor people in jail for sure, but we also probably need more rich people in jail.
You can go to jail in the US for stealing stuff with almost no value. A pack of Tampax, a bottle of water, some expired food they were going to throw out -- it doesn't matter.
Frankly he got off lightly. He was in a position of trust (and leadership) and he stole the crown jewels, and if he'd been successful it is very definitely eating Waymo's lunch.
If he had violated the CFAA to steal the documents he'd be up for considerably more time.
Not for any other IP violation. I could steal a Marvel movie and make millions of dollars illegally showing it in theaters, and I would only get fined. I could copy the formula of a patented drug and produce it illicitly, undercutting the patent owner, and I would only get fined. I could start a fast food business called "McDonalds" in blatant violation of a trademark, and I would only get fined. Trade secrets are the only intellectual property you can be thrown in prison for violating (and they are the only type of intellectual property that lets you keep an legally untouchable monopoly for all eternity).
>Bringing his knowledge to uber doesn't mean google can't use it
There were hundreds of engineers who worked on the technology that Levandowski stole. Let's not entertain this narrative that it's his work and talent alone.
It’s not like he was a whistleblower or something.
Should he go to jail? Idk. But if stealing food from a grocery store can put you in jail, then a ten/hundred millionaire stealing IP should as well.