"The software developer, in his 40s... six-figure salary..."

I thought for sure this was Draugnar until I got to the end and found that (contrary to the misleading OP) there was no mention of webdip in the entire story.

Not to mention I wouldn't have just pulled a 17 hour day if I was outsourcing (and I hate that most Asian developers can't think outside the box, especially the Indians and Chinese).

This dude's smart... gotta hand it to him there. Still, he fell to the awesome temptation that is cat videos.

@tolstoy - sorry for the misdirection : )

Smart? He left the invoices on his work PC! Didn't even try and cover his tracks. And let them connect from China into his work directly rather than going through his home PC.

He is as "smart" as someone that grabs some stuff from the gas station convenience store and runs out the door, and would be tracked down using the security camera footage that caught both his face and license plate number, except he also left his wallet with his drivers license on the counter.

I guess my standards are lower... I thought the idea was brilliant. The execution doesn't matter too much to me, but hey, I'm stupid, we already knew that.

Idea was creative. Depending on his employment agreement, it may or may not have been a violation. In some of my private business, I subcontract work to cheaper folks and bill at my rate, but I don't hide it from the client. they know they are getting my expertise if crunch time hits and my connections and reliable judgment in selecting a subcontractor when the sub is doing the work so they accept the upcharge. For my employer, however, that doesn't float as I am paid to lead projects which means attending meetings and making technological platform decisions and such, something that requires face to face and phone conferencing to nail down the details, so subcontracting to cheap and less experienced/qualified developers doesn't work, especially as they would need the expertise of the software manufactured by my employer that is getting integrated into the customers' systems.

@bo_sox, a clever idea with bad execution. I'll give you that.

yeah draug but you're just in an industry where that is the practice. its the same in construction, for instance. its the same as having employees, except, your industry just shifts them around more so its more practical for it to be based on sub-trades.

But, like, you do your due dilligence in selecting these people just as employers do when selecting employees. It's all the same.

Employees, however, by virtue of that status would never be allowed to "sub-contract" their work.

This guy is not the first person to try this. It probably was a clever idea, but I doubt anybody would really get away with that now.