Original URL: http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2007/12/03/geek_squad_porn_data/
A number of porn-obsessed Geek Squaders have come unstuck following a US-wide internal investigation by computer retail giant Best Buy.
The firm mounted the inquiry after the Consumerist.com (http://consumerist.com/consumer/investigations/video-consumerist-catches-geek-squad-stealing-porn-from-customers-computer-271963.php) published a video sting operation which caught a Best Buy employee stealing nudie pictures and MP3s from their computer.
Not liking the unwanted attention generated by coverage of the Geek Squadder, Best Buy came down heavy on its staff.
One man, a Geek Squad supervisor who lost his job over the whole debacle, told the Consumerist his story.
He reckoned in his store alone three people, including himself, had been fired following the investigation.
Unsurprisingly, he also insists that he was innocent of any wrongdoing. He lost his job over his awareness of a non-copyrighted CD being copied and failing to "provide the proper example of leadership".
The unidentified ex-Geek Squader also claims that Best Buy has clamped down all over the US, sacking employees in an attempt to be seen to be doing the right thing.
He concludes that: "Best Buy believes that by launching this investigation they will repair their image. They have betrayed their customers for years, and now they are starting to betray their employees."
In July, the Consumerist carried out its sting op (http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2007/07/09/geek_squad_sting/) and Best Buy responded robustly at the time to claims that the problem of user data being half-inched by its techies could be a widespread problem.
Back then, Geek Squad CEO Robert Stephens, said: "If this is true, it's an isolated incident and grounds for termination of the agent involved."
But insiders at the firm had been telling Consumerist a different story.
It claimed it had reports coming in from all over the US about Geek Squaders filling their boots with porn, music and pictures from customers' computers in California, Virginia, New Jersey, Texas, and elsewhere.
Perhaps it's no surprise then to see Best Buy taking a heavy-handed approach.
The ex-Geek Squad supervisor's story can be read in full here (http://consumerist.com/consumer/insiders/leaks-how-geek-squad-investigated-its-own-porn-thieves-328654.php). ®
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