Cory Doctorow:
Three Coca-Cola employees have been busted for trying to sell the Coke formula to Pepsi. I don’t really get the idea that there’s a “secret” Coke formula. The company bottle billions of gallons of battery-acid at plants all around the world. Surely each of those plants is full of people who know exactly what goes into Coke (and surely the mystery could be settled conclusively with a modern lab). In smaller countries, where Coke either imports its ingredients through public ports, or buys them from local suppliers, you could get at a good approximation through mere sigint. I always assumed that the “secret” was just a marketing gimmick, but it appears that there’s enough of a secret there to try to sell it to Pepsi. Some chem student should reverse-engineer the formula for an extra-credit assignment.
According to prosecutors, on May 19, PepsiCo — based in Purchase, New York — provided Coke with a copy of a letter mailed to PepsiCo in an official Coca-Cola business envelope.
The letter, postmarked from the Bronx in New York, was from an individual identifying himself as “Dirk,” who claimed to be employed at a high level with Coca-Cola and offered “very detailed and confidential information.”
Update: Matthew sez, “They were busted for selling trade secrets, including and especially information on product(s) under development.” Aha! They weren’t selling the Coke formula — they were selling the New Coke formula. No wonder Pepsi wasn’t interested.
Originally from Boing Boing
Police said they had identified a 26-year-old and a 29-year-old and had found a workshop in their apartment where they made the balls. The two are accused of causing serious physical injury, dangerous obstruction of traffic and causing injury through negligence, police said.