Google has reportedly fired one of its 20,000 employees for leaking a company-wide memo announcing 10 percent raises and better bonuses for all employees, according to Fortune.

Well, all except one.

The memo, sent Tuesday by CEO Eric Schmidt, quickly made its way into the hands of Silicon Alley Insider, among other publications, as is to be expected with any memo sent company-wide in a large organization. The move to give all employees and part-timers a 10 percent raise starting Jan. 1 was largely understood as Google's attempt to retain top employees who might otherwise be tempted to launch something of their own. (For instance: the recently departed Paul Rademacher of HousingMaps fame.)

Worse yet, they could head to Facebook for a smaller organization and the hopes of big money when or if it IPOs. (That most recently happened with Google Maps and Wave genitor Lars Rasmussen).

Evidently, the brain-drain threat isn't enough to keep Google from firing an employee for leaking the memo. But then again, the leaker could have been fired for simply not knowing how to leak to a reporter without getting caught.

Hints to future leakers: Cut and paste is your friend. Make sure enough other people have the means and motive to leak before you leak. Never use your work e-mail account, and avoid your primary personal account. Don't use your employer's computers or network. If you violate that rule, find a way to use a thumbdrive, SSL or a VPN to hide what you are doing. If you are a Googler, don't use Gmail to send off the memo. And finally, the first rule of leaking is never tell anyone you leaked.

Photo: Silent sign

Credit: Eric E. Castro

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