Former Employee Stole Ford Secrets Worth $50 Million

chicksdaddy writes "A ten year veteran of US automaker Ford pleaded guilty in federal court on November 17 to charges that he stole company secrets, including design documents, valued at between $50 million and $100 million, and shared them with his new employer: the Chinese division of a US rival of Ford's. Xiang Dong ('Mike') Yu admitted to copying some 4,000 Ford Documents to an external hard drive, including design specifications for key components of Ford automobiles, after surreptitiously taking a job with a China-based competitor in 2006. Yu, who took a job for Beijing Automotive Company in 2008, was arrested during a stopover at Chicago in October, 2009. The FBI seized his Beijing Automotive-issued laptop, and an analysis found 41 stolen Ford specification documents on the hard drive. He faces five to six years in prison and a $150,000 fine (PDF)."

Comments

Re:Wake up, people.

[toastar]

Good. And before we judge if that seems too harsh a punishment, I would ask if anyone knows what the Chinese government would do to an American engineer who did the same thing to a Chinese company.

8 years

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/07/04/chinese-court-sentences-geologist-tortured-state-security-agents-years-jail-1624851947/

Re:Why

[SydShamino]

When trade secrets are involved it's called theft, not copyright infringement.

"Theft" is when the original owner is deprived by the action. In this case, the trade secrets were stolen, because the original owner was deprived of the secret (as its not secret any more).

Re:Wake up, people.

[wvmarle]

Maybe not american, still accusation is theft of state secrets: 10 years prison.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/mining-energy/rio-tintos-stern-hu-jailed-10-years/story-e6frg9df-1225847088979