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Feds Bust Chinese Firm's Hybrid Car Data Heist
coondoggie writes "An FBI investigation has led a Michigan couple to be charged with stealing hybrid car information from GM to use in a Chinese auto outfit. A federal indictment charged Yu Qin, aka Yu Chin, 49, and his wife, Shanshan Du, aka Shannon Du, 51, of Troy, Michigan with conspiracy to possess trade secrets without authorization, unauthorized possession of trade secrets, and wire fraud. One of the individuals was also charged with obstruction of justice, said Barbara McQuade, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan in a statement. GM estimates that the value of the stolen documents is over $40 million."
Yu got served.
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Way to go, FBI. We're already trying our best to fight the Chinese government's dragging their heels on environmental reform. Now we want them to do it without stealing any green technologies?
DRM: Terminator crops for your mind!
Umm, don't we want China to steal all the GM tech they possibly can, so they won't be competitive either?
sooner or later this "secret" would have ended up at the chinese manufacturing plant.
No, they would be busting the US (and other entities) of their segment of the Chinese and Asian markets.
For instance, Buick is a huge brand in China
Bit of a joke? What exactly would that be?
http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/environment/2008-05-11-hybrids-gas-prices_N.htm
I've owned a 2006 Civic Hybrid for the past four years and calculate the savings based on my driving habits and the cost of gas every year. It recouped its cost over a year ago and has currently saved me well over $1000. It also pollutes less. So...why is this a joke?
This story is tagged "patents", but it's not about patents. The copied data was a trade secret. Patents are by definition publicly published information. Trade secrets are different. Patents are easily abusable government monopolies that often violate free speech. Actual industrial secrets are essential to remaining competitive, as this case demonstrates. It's cheaper, faster and less risky for a Chinese (or any other) corporation to copy the data that GM (or anyone else) produced over a period of time and at a significant cost, than it is for that competitor to produce its own. The secret was violated by violating agreements and other deception.
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make install -not war
Ah yes - the Dust to Dust report by marketing agency CNW. Debunked in many places, one of them here: http://www.pacinst.org/topics/integrity_of_science/case_studies/hummer_vs_prius.pdf
Those who can, do. Those who can't, sue.
WRONG!
http://www.toyota.co.jp/en/environment/recycle/battery/index.html
The "Big Honkin' Battery" you refer to is fully recycled. Perhaps research a bit before spouting off?
The Japanese arent stupid enough to let it happen. Only in America do we open our doors to anyone and give everything away.
"Men willingly believe what they wish." - Julius Caesar
Because it was a 30,000 dollar car, and I can but a ton of gas for 15,000 dollars.
Also - my 04 Civic Coupe gets 45+ miles per gallon the freeway.
Right. Because manufacturing isn't dirty. And construction isn't dirty. And transportation isn't dirty. Newsflash: You can have processes that aren't that environmentally friendly, but with proper toxin containment and material handling procedures, still operate in an environmentally responsible way.
they flew all the way from China to America to steal hybrid plans.
They could have just gone to Japan and stole from Toyota, much closer to home....
In America, hiring Chinese people is not unusual. In Japan, it is. Americans view racism as a very bad thing, mostly due to our history of slavery. Japan is not the USA.
"You want to know how to help your kids? Leave them the fuck alone." -George Carlin
Hybrids are a bit of a joke, efficiency wise so I have my doubts about a domestic market for them in China.
Hybrids are pretty damn impressively efficient if applied to a medium-small vehicle used mainly in city and near-by suburbs. The joke is when you try to apply the same concept to a huge SUV. Or when the majority of your driving is out of the cities. One size does not fit all.
But you'd expect that they would get found out.
How? I'll remind a lot of readers here that these "secrets" are not always about the some new automotive technology. Manufacturers have huge teams of engineers that tackle many manufacturing processes as well. How do you increase the reliability of the manufacturing processes? How do you build more cars in the same plant in less time? How do you paint more cars with less wasted water? How do you automate lubricant application? How can you be sure the engine is ready to run at 8,000RPM right off the line without "breaking-in"? This is just the tip of the ice berg of what kind of "secrets" are out there, that would not be obvious just by looking at the car.
Risking jail time for a 'trade secret' (which seems to carry more weight than national secrets that might be protecting lives) seems to somewhat pointless. Why not just wait until GM implements whatever super-secret-mega-tech in a vehicle and then reverse engineer it? Once GM 'publish' it in this form without patent protection it seems to me it is fair game.
Patent litigation: A doctrine of Mutually Assured Destruction... in which everyone seems willing to push the button
Hiring an actual American worker .....now THAT'S unusual!!!!
Be sure to send all your money to Wall Street...
You think the Russians had spies? They're nothing compared to the Chinese.
This is not individual actors out for their own gain, this is a concerted effort over the last 30 years to get China on par with the latest tech, by hook or crook.
While there's nothing wrong with that per-se, the thing that everyone seems to be ignoring is that China is not an open society and all this maneuvering is to get more Geopolitical Power for the Communist Party. A non-representative, totalitarian regime bent on imposing its will across the region and the world. People assume once China is "caught up" they'll follow international rules and "play fair". This is a fairy tale, they are out to dominate.. and will take whatever steps necessary to make sure that happens, economic or military. Their own population is just a tool towards this endgame.
Ever wonder how Pakistan got nukes? China.
Wonder how North Korea got nukes through Pakistan? China made the intro.
That way, their hands were clean but they were able to create a permanent buffer zone on the Korean peninsula and pre-empt any German equivalent of reunification which would put a functioning democracy on their doorstep.
China is playing a dangerous game and people who think prosperity will make them fat and happy are completely mistaken.. the economy is a tool for them both to placate their population and to wield as a weapon on the international stage.
Bit of a joke? What exactly would that be? http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/environment/2008-05-11-hybrids-gas-prices_N.htm I've owned a 2006 Civic Hybrid for the past four years and calculate the savings based on my driving habits and the cost of gas every year. It recouped its cost over a year ago and has currently saved me well over $1000. It also pollutes less. So...why is this a joke?
Except if you're calculating the savings based on cost of gas and driving habits alone, you're missing a major part of the equation. Did you include the $23000 it cost you to buy a new car, as opposed to continuing to maintain/repair and feed gas into your old one? Or if this was your very first car, did you do the calculations for getting a cheap used car vs new car, and take the price difference into account?
If you absolutely had to get a new car, did you look a the 2006 Civic -- 10-12k cheaper than the Hybrid, with gas mileage that's not appreciably worse? Did you take into account that 10-12k price difference in your calculations?
When you look at the miles you drive without taking into account the base cost, you're only seeing part of the picture needed to determine if you recouped your cost. And unless you drive a 40-50k miles a year, your costs have not been recouped. (I did a breakdown of the math in a comment some time back, and showed that it would take gas in the range of $8-9/gallon to recoup costs over a five year period at 12k a year; or $5-6/gallon to recoup them if you assumed you had to buy a new car and calculated based on price difference.)
Probably just a list of what "Made in China" parts to use from what supplier and how to put them together. :)
Asians eh? Warning, you prejudice might be showing. I'm an "Asian" but I am not offended by your comment. This is because, until very recently in human history, copying what others created is the norm. Be it in language, music, food, vehicles or weapons. You after all got the Chinese to thank for gunpowder, among other things. I don't recall Europeans paying the Chinese any royalties on that.
Gas mileage is horrible in small turbo diesels. Have you ever tried running them on gas? Terrible.
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But for some strange reason, Chevloret, Rincorn and Chlysrel aren't.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."