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A former US Navy Seal who wrote a bestseller about his role in the raid that killed Osama Bin Laden is to pay nearly $7m (£5m) to the government for violating non-disclosure agreements.
Matt Bissonette failed to get clearance from the Pentagon before the book No Easy Day was published in 2012.
He has agreed to forfeit all profits and royalties, as well as film rights and speaking fees.
In exchange, the government will dismiss other liability claims.
Source: BBC News
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Bin Laden Raid Bestseller's Author to Pay $7m for Violating NDA
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Remember Darwin; building a better mousetrap merely results in smarter mice.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by bradley13 on Monday August 22 2016, @02:08PM
He neglected to submit his book to the government, so that they could flag any inappropriate information. As far as I can tell, no one ever asserted that the book did contain classified information, only that he failed to submit it for review. Indeed, the fact that the prosecutors "ultimately agreed it wasn't criminal" [washingtonpost.com] tends to indicate that there was no problem with classified information.
So it comes down to a civil liability due to his violation of the NDA. I wonder: is it usual, in such a case, for the aggrieved party to claim the entire proceeds? According to a knowledgeable-sounding entry on reddit [soylentnews.org]:
For an NDA, only the actual and, depending on the nature of the information, speculative damages caused by the breach are generally enforceable. Courts won't enforce punitive damages on non-disclosures unless the conduct constituting the breach is extreme (malicious and done for personal gain) and falls under the Uniform Trade Secrets Act.
It's hard to imagine what $7 million of monetary damages the government could claim. It seems more likely that this was a case of blackmail: "accept this settlement, or we'll bankrupt you with legal fees".
Everyone is somebody else's weirdo.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 22 2016, @02:28PM
It's either gross negligence or gross incompetence on both the author and the publisher for not submitting the book. That is SOP and has been for decades. As a Special OPs guy, he should have known better, and the publisher really should have known better. Particularly after that whole Special OPs video game thing that happened not too long before.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 22 2016, @02:44PM
Maybe he got some hot chicks out of it. Lots of loudmouth guys in the bar claim they were SEALs and whatnot.
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 22 2016, @04:29PM
So it comes down to a civil liability due to his violation of the NDA. I wonder: is it usual, in such a case, for the aggrieved party to claim the entire proceeds?
That's the wrong question to ask. The correct question is "what was the NDA which was signed"?
The answer is this one. It says:
5. I hereby assign to the United States Government all royalties, remunerations, and emoluments that have resulted, will result or may result from any disclosure, publication, or revelation of classified information not consistent with the terms of this Agreement.
That seems fairly clear to me.
Just because a Reddit link sounds knowledgeable (I can't tell, your link seems to be broken) doesn't mean it is either knowledgably or correct. Such a statement could equally apply to my post, as IANAL/etc.