Despite all of the fury, light, heat and sound surrounding the McLaren spying affair and the involvement of former Ferrari employee Nigel Stepney, with the Italian legal system launching investigations, and threats of criminal charges against Stepney and McLaren employees, the investigations have apparently ended and the case will be settled via some McLaren personnel paying fines.
Any prosecution of Nigel Stepney risked embarrassment for Formula 1. Stepney was the Ferrari chief mechanic through the Schumacher years, and probably knows more than almost anybody else on the team what interesting, er, actions were taken by Ferrari in their interpretation of the F1 Technical Regulations. He had the potential to severely embarrass not only Ferrari, but F1 in general if he was to be cross-examined. Ditto Mike Coughlan, who Stepney was alleged to have funnelled information to concerning the design of the 2007 Ferrari.
The last thing F1 needed in an economic recession was more scandal, so it is no surprise to me that the case has been quietly settled.