Re: Hi Tech Espionage Case - China USA - Lan Lee, Yuefei Ge NetLogic MicroSystem
- From: bmoore@xxxxxxx
- Date: 22 Jun 2006 12:49:05 -0700
ppp@xxxxxxxxx wrote:
On 19 Jun 2006 05:52:09 -0700, "drydem" <walter_lee@xxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
Spy Charges In High-Stakes Microchip Race--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By JOSH GERSTEIN - The New York Sun. June 19, 2006
http://www.nysun.com/article/34620
excerpts.....
SAN FRANCISCO - China's effort to acquire secrets from Silicon Valley's
high-tech industry is facing renewed scrutiny after federal prosecutors
filed new charges of economic espionage in the high-stakes race to
improve microchip design.
Lan Lee, 42, of Palo Alto, and Yuefei Ge, 34, of San Jose, were
arrested Friday after a grand jury charged them with theft of trade
secrets and conspiracy. The two men allegedly conspired to steal
technical descriptions of a chip in development by their employer,
Net-Logic Microsystems of Mountain View. The pair also is accused of
swiping chip design software from the Taiwan Semi-Conductor
Manufacturing Company, which has facilities in San Jose.
Looks like the American are using the Chinese method of punishing a
few examples severely, never mind if they are guilty of little more
than carelessness, to scare the shit for the rest.
What in the article gave the impression that "they are guilty of little
more
than carelessness"?
More than that, the US is trying to build a case of a broad Chinese
government plan to "cheat and steal" on technology development. There
is no such plan as China can buy the same technologies elsewhere.
Where can anyone buy the design for a high-tech chip that has the
potential to make its creators a lot of money?
I have no idea if there is a "broad Chinese government plan," as you
put it, but there are certainly plenty of people in China and the world
over who would love to get their hands on proprietary IP like chip
designs.
There are lots of companies, other than US companies, eagerly lining
up to sell to China.
They might sell chips but not their chip designs!
There are many on-going high tech projects in
China, very few of which are American origin because of the US export
bans. And increasingly China is going it alone, especially in large
infrastructure projects, after learning from the initial
technologies-transfer joint projects.
Page 3: However, Mr. Fink said the American government's overall track record at punishing and preventing economic espionage is weak. "The government has not effectively and not successfully prosecuted these cases," he said. "Most of these cases end in plea bargains. Take a look at what the original charges were and what sentences were received. In almost every case, they are slaps on the wrist."
Mr. Fink said the new chip-theft charges are reminiscent of a case filed in New Jersey in 2001 against three men accused of stealing sophisticated computer software developed by Lucent Technologies for handling voice calls over the Internet. The program, called PathStar, was reportedly generating $100 million in annual sales for Lucent shortly before the alleged theft.
The PathStar case, which was announced with great fanfare, has since petered out. One of the defendants, Hai Lin, jumped bail in 2004 and, according to prosecutors, has probably returned to China. Last year, the charges against the other two defendants, Kai Xu and Yong-Qing Cheng, were dropped, after the technology firm the trio founded agreed to pay a $250,000 fine.
"Do the math," Mr. Fink said. "Look at the potential versus the risk. It's worth it."
While Messrs. Lee and Ge were charged under the Economic Espionage Act, passed in 1996, they were not charged under a provision that applies to crimes that "benefit any foreign government, foreign instrumentality, or foreign agent."
Mr. Fink said the State Department has discouraged use of that provision, which carries harsher penalties, perhaps for fear of causing diplomatic upset.
If convicted on all charges, Messrs. Lee and Ge face the possibility of up to 60 years in prison and fines of up to $1.5 million. However, the men would likely be sentenced in accordance with federal guidelines that provide for more lenient punishment in most cases.
Joshua Ramo's "Beijing Consensus" has the line about US hi-tech
employers being at odds with their US State Department and INS over
the importation and employment of engineers. The tech companies are
very keen to employ Chinese engineers in their R&D. These China
engineers work on leading edge stuff, which if made, will not be
allowed to be exported to China. Meanwhile once these engineers have
completed their stint (no green card) they were only too eager to go
back to China and use their new found skills. They thus become
competitors to their former employers and industry sector instead of
being contributors to the global competitiveness of American
industry. Its called shooting yourself in the foot.
Our ambitious "spies" should have taken the plunge and set up shop in
China instead. By staying in the US and hoping to make money selling
insider information they are trying to have the cake and eat it too.
Their "crime" may be trivial in a court, but they get no sympathy from
anyone for being stupid and greedy.
.
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