Slashdot Mirror


CEO Catches Stranger After Hours, Prompting Espionage Charges (wsj.com)

An anonymous reader shares a report: Samuel Straface thought he was the last one out the door one recent evening at the medical-technology startup he leads in suburban Boston. But as he passed a glass-walled conference room on the second floor, Dr. Straface says he saw a man he didn't recognize, sitting by himself in front of two open laptops and a tablet device. He continued walking a few steps toward the exit, but then, feeling uneasy, he turned back (Editor's note: the submitted link could be paywalled; alternative source). The man was later identified as Dong Liu, a dual citizen of China and Canada. And his after-hours computing at Medrobotics is at the center of an economic-espionage case brought by U.S. prosecutors. Mr. Liu is in federal custody, charged with attempting to steal trade secrets and trying to gain unauthorized access to the company's computer system, prosecutors said. If convicted of both charges, he could face a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison. "Mr. Liu adamantly asserts his innocence and we fully expect he'll be exonerated after a careful review of the evidence," said Robert Goldstein, Mr. Liu's defense attorney. The U.S. attorney's office for the District of Massachusetts declined to comment on the case beyond details in court records. Before his arrest, police said Mr. Liu told them he was there to discuss doing business with the company -- but Dr. Straface says no one had scheduled a meeting with Mr. Liu.

242 comments

  1. Lock him up! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    China Bad!

    1. Re:Lock him up! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If it were a black man or an Arabic man, all of the SJWs would be screaming bloody murder. For some reason, it's totally OK to be racist and judgemental with a Chinese man though...

      As a Chinese person I find that very disgusting.

    2. Re: Lock him up! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Bad Canada!!!!!

    3. Re:Lock him up! by hidflect · · Score: 1

      You're assuming he was Asian. It doesn't say that anywhere. It says he was a citizen of China and his name was Liu. He might be black. Please don't be such a racist. See how that works?

    4. Re: Lock him up! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If he were a black man then the police would have shot him 11x.

    5. Re:Lock him up! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      LOL, how many black citizens do you think China has? 5? 20? Out of 1.4 billion. Of course he wasn't black.

  2. That CEO is a racist Xenophobe by CajunArson · · Score: 5, Funny

    "The man was later identified as Dong Liu, a dual citizen of China and Canada."

    As a non-American this Dong is obviously a victim of racism -- which only exists in America -- and should be given an award for liberating information that wanted to be free from the clutches of evil racists like that CEO who DISCRIMINATED against Dong by using his brain.

    You never discriminate against Dong.

    [P.S. --> If that fucker had been a Russian then executing him on the spot and using it as indisputable proof that Trump committed treason in the election would be cool though. Xenophobia is only bad against some foreigners based on political convenience after all]

    --
    AntiFA: An abbreviation for Anti First Amendment.
    1. Re:That CEO is a racist Xenophobe by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Man, people really do not get your sarcasm.

    2. Re:That CEO is a racist Xenophobe by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 5, Funny

      You never discriminate against Dong.

      Clearly that would be sexist as well.

      --
      Ezekiel 23:20
    3. Re:That CEO is a racist Xenophobe by tbuddy · · Score: 1

      The +1 funny is kind of dead around slashdot these days.

    4. Re:That CEO is a racist Xenophobe by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      i cant tell if you're being sarcastic or not

    5. Re:That CEO is a racist Xenophobe by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Funny until you had to throw some lame ass Trump comment in there.

    6. Re:That CEO is a racist Xenophobe by hackwrench · · Score: 1

      It's also hard to tell which way his sarcasm falls. Is he trying to say that espionage really happened, or merely that the CEO used his Spidey sense to catch a guy that wasn't supposed to be there.

    7. Re:That CEO is a racist Xenophobe by murdocj · · Score: 0, Troll

      Hard to avoid, everything trump says is lame ass.

    8. Re: That CEO is a racist Xenophobe by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm sorry, but I'm Canadian and you can't discriminate against Canadians.

    9. Re: That CEO is a racist Xenophobe by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Started post with "I'm sorry." Canadianism confirmed.

    10. Re: That CEO is a racist Xenophobe by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      We just ignore Canadians.

    11. Re:That CEO is a racist Xenophobe by bobbied · · Score: 1

      Little Kimmy, I mean "Rocket Man with a suicide mission", Is that you? I didn't know North Korean despots took time for Slashdot..

      --
      "File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
    12. Re:That CEO is a racist Xenophobe by s0nspark · · Score: 1

      If he'd been Russian, he wouldn't have needed to be onsite ;-)

    13. Re:That CEO is a racist Xenophobe by allcoolnameswheretak · · Score: 1

      Sarcasm is funny.

    14. Re:That CEO is a racist Xenophobe by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      another bought account trying to normalize interference by Russia.... cute.

    15. Re:That CEO is a racist Xenophobe by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2

      Man, people really do not get your sarcasm.

      I get what he is attempting but think it comes across as ham handed and unfunny.

    16. Re:That CEO is a racist Xenophobe by Austerity+Empowers · · Score: 1

      Xenophobia is only bad against some foreigners based on political convenience after all

      We're totally against those Canadian hosers.

    17. Re:That CEO is a racist Xenophobe by liquid_schwartz · · Score: 1

      [P.S. --> If that fucker had been a Russian then executing him on the spot and using it as indisputable proof that Trump committed treason in the election would be cool though. Xenophobia is only bad against some foreigners based on political convenience after all]

      It's OK for liberals to hate on Russia since Russians are largely white and must therefore be bad, evil, and racist as well as being single handedly responsible for all the ills ever done by any white people ever.

    18. Re:That CEO is a racist Xenophobe by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Crazy conspiracy theories from China haters. ae911truth dot org

    19. Re:That CEO is a racist Xenophobe by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And paranoid and delusional.

    20. Re:That CEO is a racist Xenophobe by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      He's a Dreamer... let him dream

    21. Re:That CEO is a racist Xenophobe by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Xenophobia against foreigners is a big no-no if they contributed to aiding your own party.

    22. Re:That CEO is a racist Xenophobe by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This has nothing to do with racism.

      If hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria didn't happen, Mr. Dong Liu would have been somewhere else.

      This is Climate Change people!!!

    23. Re:That CEO is a racist Xenophobe by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I can see why. Most retards in the ctrl-left/alt-right are willing to believe anything.

      And this was pretty good for a parody. Only slightly over the top.

    24. Re:That CEO is a racist Xenophobe by TheRealMindChild · · Score: 1

      How very... APKish

      --

      "When life gives you lemons, don't make lemonade. Make life take the lemons back!" -- Cave Johnson
    25. Re:That CEO is a racist Xenophobe by cayenne8 · · Score: 1
      Regardless.

      This china corporate spy was just plain "stupid".

      Why didn't he just RUN when he was caught.

      It's not like he had any deniability at all....

      Obviously he had no problems getting in, likely he could have run out as that it didn't sound like the guy who caught him had a gun or anything.

      If this guy had been any good, he'd have been able to hit a dead mans type switch on the hardware he had with him (if he couldn't grab it), and just run the fuck out of the building.

      I hate what he did, but geez....I really hate him worse for being stupid.

      --
      Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
    26. Re: That CEO is a racist Xenophobe by KGIII · · Score: 1

      They say he had no meeting scheduled, but the guy's company had really contacted the CEO and asked him if he wanted to see his dong. Simple miscommunication, really.

      --
      "So long and thanks for all the fish."
    27. Re:That CEO is a racist Xenophobe by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      [P.S. --> If that fucker had been a Russian then executing him on the spot and using it as indisputable proof that Trump committed treason in the election would be cool though. Xenophobia is only bad against some foreigners based on political convenience after all]

      It's OK for liberals to hate on Russia since Russians are largely white and must therefore be bad, evil, and racist as well as being single handedly responsible for all the ills ever done by any white people ever.

      Russia was only part of the problem, and I would hate any country that interfered in elections, or really any group, person, or guy from outer space that introduces lies as truth to change an outcome.

      The real problem was the anti-intellectualism in this country. Politicians love it, and particularly republican politicians. Being a liberal elite is bad cause they are um educated and smart. What this world needs is an ordinary fella to lead. Someone honest and trustworthy. Enough of the snark.

      We definitely need to get back to a world where a highly educated person is considered a better rather than a worse choice for leadership. It is even better if that person has a long paper trail we can examine.

      Of course all this will happen when our country values highly educated people more than say rock stars and lying sacks of shit, such as our current commander in chief.

    28. Re:That CEO is a racist Xenophobe by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "normalize interference by Russia"

      lol, you're a moron.

      Russia has been interfering since the 40s. China since the 50s. Europe since forever. Just like the US has been interfering in others. Middle East, Israel, etc. Everybody is interfering and being interfered with. That's reality.

      The idea that it's some new development that came about during the 2016 election is an infantile and obvious lie, made up to fool gullible simpletons into believing their propaganda that tries to connect Trump with Russian interference.

      In fact Russia did us a huge favor if they "hacked" Hillary and the DNC and cost her the election. Anybody whose information security is as weak and incompetent as theirs, has no business in government, let alone commanding the armed forces and intelligence agencies. Or did you think Russia planned to cease all their hacking of the DNC and Hillary if she had won? lol, idiot.

    29. Re:That CEO is a racist Xenophobe by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I feel like I've gone to another planet. My entire life conservatives have hated Russia. It was the example of what is wrong in the world. We fought multiple proxy wars against Russia. While said in jest, Reagan said, "My fellow Americans, I'm pleased to tell you today that I've signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes." The right still idolizes him as the man who brought down the Russian lead Soviet Union. Then suddenly in the last year, Russia and Putin are our friends according to conservatives. That's crazy! But instead of facing this fact, you've come up with a twisted narrative by which the left is going after your white privilege.

    30. Re:That CEO is a racist Xenophobe by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      lol you're a russian.

  3. Paywall. by Jahoda · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I don't understand why we have paywall-ed links on the front page.

    1. Re: Paywall. by ThePhish · · Score: 2

      Look how long it took them to fix the MDSolar problem, much more serious things like paywalls are bound to take decad...

      Nvm.

    2. Re: Paywall. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What happened with mdsolar?

      I know the guy was an inveterate anti-nook troll, but I hadn't heard they'd done anything about him/it.

    3. Re:Paywall. by Hognoxious · · Score: 0

      You don't understand what hyphens are for either.

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    4. Re:Paywall. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      For dicks to comment about, obviously.

    5. Re:Paywall. by rsmith-mac · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Because often those are the original source of a story, and when doing a meta-story like this it's good journalism (and manners) to acknowledge and link to the original source.

      If Slashdot doesn't link to the original source, then they're doing readers a disfavor by linking to a second-hand account. But at the same time if the original source is paywalled, then it's not going to be accessible to everyone. So linking to the original and offering an alternative link, they're both properly citing the original source and making sure a longer story is available to everyone.

    6. Re:Paywall. by Paradise+Pete · · Score: 2

      You don't understand what hyphens are for either.

      I thought he was just typing with an accent.

    7. Re: Paywall. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What happened with mdsolar?

      I know the guy was an inveterate anti-nook troll, but I hadn't heard they'd done anything about him/it.

      When's the last time you've seen anything here with his name on it?

    8. Re:Paywall. by dysmal · · Score: 1

      Except that the alternative link was also paywalled which is why a lot of people are grumbling (this time).

    9. Re: Paywall. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They nuked him

    10. Re:Paywall. by Jahoda · · Score: 1

      There was no alternative link. Now that is has been added, it is also behind a paywall. I cannot read the story. So, it's not good journalism. But I appreciate your condescending reply which was somehow modded "informative".

    11. Re: Paywall. by KGIII · · Score: 1

      Slashdot is not journalism. It never has been and criticizing them for that is just silly.

      It's not good editing, good presentation, or very helpful - that much is true. That it isn't good journalism is just silly, as this site doesn't have journalists.

      Don't be dumb.

      See? Now this is condescending.

      --
      "So long and thanks for all the fish."
  4. No pay wall here by siriuskase · · Score: 5, Informative
    --
    If you must moderate, please moderate as irrelevent, not something bad, because I'm sure someone will find this interest
  5. Non paywalled versions by jelwell · · Score: 5, Informative

    A couple of sources that aren't paywalled:
    https://execsecurity.com/news/...
    http://www.cetusnews.com/busin...

    1. Re:Non paywalled versions by ltcraben · · Score: 1
      --
      I had a sig once, but someone stole it.
    2. Re:Non paywalled versions by Tailhook · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The Internet perceives paywalls as damage and routes around them.

      --
      Maw! Fire up the karma burner!
  6. Re: Doesn't surprise me... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    A friend showed up at your job and you threw him off the premises? You are a bad friend lol.

  7. Re:Doesn't surprise me... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    he could walk into any boarding to look at electrical closets

    boarding: (n) long, flat, thin pieces of wood used to build or cover something.

    I wouldn't question somebody who repeatedly walked into piles of lumber mumbling about checking electrical closets, either.

    He even showed up at my job and I marched him off the property.

    Wow, not only do you provide janitorial services, you also do site security! Creimer, you truly are a renaissance IT guy. I mean, why would you call security and let them handle the matter, when you have creimer (a big boy - think football wrapped in bicycle tires, like the michelin man) to throw people out for you?

  8. Stop praising China for being smart by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    They will be less likely to cheat next time.

    1. Re:Stop praising China for being smart by TWX · · Score: 2

      I guess no one else found this funny but I chuckled.

      --
      Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
  9. Of course he was there for business reasons! by hyades1 · · Score: 5, Funny

    "Mr. Liu told them he was there to discuss doing business with the company..."

    Yes. Obviously. Exactly like a fox goes into a hen house to "do business" with the chickens.

    --
    I've calculated my velocity with such exquisite precision that I have no idea where I am.
    1. Re:Of course he was there for business reasons! by Tjp($)pjT · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Yes, as people often do business with a company by hiding in a bathroom with their feet on the toilet seat, waiting for the lights to go off, then making their way to a room with good guest WiFi, other networking and power easily accessible when they suspect no one is left in the office. Then we set up shop and probe their networks and download information, solely to prepare to do business with them. And bright and early the next day we'll be there waiting to start work with them! Yes, that has to be it!

      People need to have their WiFi, and general network to offices cut-off when it is after hours. Heck, cut power to conference rooms after hours. We have sufficiently smart devices that swiping an access card could turn on lights to your office, and the power and network outlets in your office. WiFi is one of the biggest vulnerabilities to data security. Guest WiFi even more so as it is often left without a password requirement or the password is posted in conference rooms for all visitors to easily use. And often seldom if ever changes. Work smarter people. Intellectual property is one of the major items America still has significant "wealth" and contributions to the GDP.

      --
      - Tjp

      I am in wallow with my inner money grubbing capitalistic pig. ... Oink!

    2. Re:Of course he was there for business reasons! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sank yu Mr Crinton, for open door in 1993. Sorri wife candirate no win even help of our millions.
      Western industry has been mass raped by espionage in the name of doing business.

    3. Re:Of course he was there for business reasons! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      There is no reason to turn off the network during off hours, instead you need to implement sane security policies. At our company we have two wireless networks, internal and external. The internal requires 2F VPN and is available 24 hours. The external is treated as a DMZ which cannot access corporate resources, is only available 6AM to 6PM, and requires a random password which is handed out to visitors when they register at reception. The wired network only allows company issued devices; foreign devices are detected and the switch will disable the port.

    4. Re:Of course he was there for business reasons! by tsstahl · · Score: 1

      Clearly you do not work for Equifax.

      Arya hirin?

    5. Re: Of course he was there for business reasons! by KGIII · · Score: 1

      If it is vulnerable after hours, it is vulnerable when people are there. This isn't the movies, they don't have a dedicated staff member there observing all connections and traffic in real-time.

      This is pretty basic stuff, so basic that even I know it. Turning off the network is just stupid. In fact, when nobody is there its quite responsible for the computers to be doing other work, such as updating or serving outbound requests, catching email, etc... This isn't your home computer.

      You're a developer, aren't you? *sighs* I'd not be surprised if you even added 'engineer' to your title.

      --
      "So long and thanks for all the fish."
    6. Re: Of course he was there for business reasons! by tsstahl · · Score: 1

      Whoosh! Unless you were replying to higher in the thread.

    7. Re:Of course he was there for business reasons! by hyades1 · · Score: 1

      Well said. At least force the spy to remove data from the facility physically.

      --
      I've calculated my velocity with such exquisite precision that I have no idea where I am.
    8. Re: Of course he was there for business reasons! by KGIII · · Score: 1

      It may be a valid whoosh. I was assuming your post was serious.

      --
      "So long and thanks for all the fish."
    9. Re:Of course he was there for business reasons! by Gussington · · Score: 1

      People need to have their WiFi, and general network to offices cut-off when it is after hours. Heck, cut power to conference rooms after hours.

      Powering off and on creates too many issues. Much easier to simply log activity and alert when use is not expected.

  10. "There for a meeting" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The article I found on it (not WSJ) didn't give a time but it sounds like it was fairly late, and this guy is sitting alone in a conference room with multiple devices downloading files from the corporate network. I don't think the "I was just there for a meeting" defense is going to go very far.

    1. Re:"There for a meeting" by dysmal · · Score: 4, Insightful

      https://www.csoonline.com/arti...

      As the article stated, the CEO (Straface) was the last one out of the building which implies it's late (7pm? 8pm?). Regardless, if you're in an office to meet with someone and you notice that no one else is around after 2.5 hours, that's usually a sign that your meeting has been canceled!

    2. Re:"There for a meeting" by bobbied · · Score: 2

      The article I found on it (not WSJ) didn't give a time but it sounds like it was fairly late, and this guy is sitting alone in a conference room with multiple devices downloading files from the corporate network. I don't think the "I was just there for a meeting" defense is going to go very far.

      This is horrible security on a number of levels...

      Physical - How does an unauthorized person even get past the reception lobby and into a conference room? For Pete's sake people, don't let strangers wonder around the office by themselves. It's dangerous on sooo many levels.

      Network - What kind of network security do you have? NOBODY, including your own employees should be able to just walk in and plug something into your network and get anything beyond an internet connection (if that). Personally, I'd dump any rouge device that pops up on my corporate LAN into purgatory. No connection for you! Beyond the "guest" network, I'd require authentication for network access.

      If this story is true, this company has some serious security holes.

      --
      "File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
    3. Re:"There for a meeting" by TWX · · Score: 2

      I'm curious what security camera footage, if any, will reveal about the defendant's arrival and movements through the building.

      If he took advantage of the bustle at the end of the workday to slip-in and then hid for a time where he would be unlikely to be stumbled upon then he's screwed.

      --
      Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
    4. Re:"There for a meeting" by AntronArgaiv · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Except...they caught the guy. Might actually help us learn more about how the Chinese do economic espionage, because they got his computers, too.

      15 years max sounds on the light side. But it's Federal, which means no parole. This is totally theoretical, anyway, since if Dong is convicted, the Chinese will immediately arrest and convict a random US diplomat and then swap him for Dong.

    5. Re:"There for a meeting" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      It's just common curtesy to break into a company and take up residence in the meeting room. That way you'll be instantly available to reschedule at your business partner's leisure.

    6. Re:"There for a meeting" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      How does an unauthorized person even get past the reception lobby and into a conference room?

      I've worked at plenty of companies where the receptionist is the last one to arrive in the morning (9:30-ish) and the first one dashing out the door (4:00-ish). Don't forget that the reception area is also unguarded during lunch and frequent pee-breaks.

    7. Re:"There for a meeting" by dysmal · · Score: 1

      Linkedin says the company has 113 employees listed. If they really are that size (they were described as a "startup") then it's very realistic their security is that informal/lax.

    8. Re:"There for a meeting" by bobbied · · Score: 1

      Caught him? After he likely had 2 hours of unfettered access? AND the CEO admits that he just about didn't do anything...

      Sure, they caught him, but it seems like they got lucky. If you are counting on getting lucky for your security systems to work, you have a security hole big enough to fly a fully loaded 747 though upside down....

      --
      "File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
    9. Re:"There for a meeting" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "and then swap him for Dong." Oh man I needed that laugh. Thanks

    10. Re:"There for a meeting" by MightyMartian · · Score: 1

      I'm assuming they have also gone through the server logs to determine what his activity exactly was. If it was late (as it sounds like it was) and he was downloading a bunch of material off of file servers, then that's sure going to look like data theft to me, if not outright espionage. They may throw the harder charges at him and then accept a plea deal. At least the guy was caught, so that's something, but it also suggests that the company needs to work with their security to make sure it isn't just an almost-accident that catches someone doing nasty things on the company network.

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    11. Re: "There for a meeting" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I worked there and I am surprised how this happened.

    12. Re: "There for a meeting" by KGIII · · Score: 1

      I figure they'll swap him for yuan, dong is Vietnamese.

      --
      "So long and thanks for all the fish."
    13. Re: "There for a meeting" by TWX · · Score: 1

      I'm more surprised with the venue that he chose in which to work, especially if he managed to get onto the company's wireless network and to reach sensitive stuff.

      It's almost amateurish to actually sit there. He could have set up an old laptop with both an integrated Wifi controller and a PCMCIA Wifi device and used it as a wireless bridge into their network, set up shop somewhere that wasn't company premises, and then just formatted the old laptop once he was done, abandoning it in place. Hell, he could have even left it in the conference room sitting in a corner next to company equipment and probably no one would have paid it any mind, and may have even disposed of it for him ("what is this still doing here? I thought we got rid of these, must've missed one") and no ne would have been the wiser.

      --
      Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
  11. I'm normally against overcharging by DeplorableCodeMonkey · · Score: 5, Interesting

    But I think it's pretty clear from some of the stories about Chinese espionage that the only way we can disincentivize civilians from doing stuff like this is to completely upend their existence. Ex charge this guy with economic espionage, violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and whatever else, then throw everything from criminal trespass to theft of services (if he's on the company's network).

    1. Re:I'm normally against overcharging by tietokone-olmi · · Score: 1

      Yeah, right. Then the next time around, when questioned the spy will pull a gun, or a plastic knife that didn't show up in a metal detector. Two days later he's a different Dong Liu in a different part of the country, still a Chinese Canadian...

    2. Re:I'm normally against overcharging by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      You watch too many movies.

    3. Re: I'm normally against overcharging by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Also, you Guys jump to the conclusion that all of IT IS true. The gobbermint would never lie.

      Except when they want to agitate the sheeple into another war or Something of the Like. See wmd iraq.

    4. Re:I'm normally against overcharging by Solandri · · Score: 5, Interesting

      It's worth pointing out that corporate espionage is not frowned upon in the East the way it is in the West. The prevailing attitude in East Asian countries (slowly changing) is that if you didn't take sufficient measures to safeguard your company's secrets and they got stolen, it's your own damn fault. In fact, employees are often expected to steal from competing companies when they can, and can be fired if they're ordered to conduct corporate espionage and they refuse.

      This is why piracy is so rampant in East Asian countries. The concept of media being protected by law even though they lack any real protection, is foreign (again, slowly changing).

      When Western countries were tripping over themselves to help China build high speed trains eagerly agreeing to conditions like doing the fabrication in China, I just shook my head at their naivete. And predictably, after China had gleaned enough knowledge to build the trains themselves - either by direct observation of the construction machines and plans, or by outright theft - they booted the Western companies out and began building the trains themselves. The Western reaction is "that's not fair!". The East Asian reaction is "how stupid can these guys be?"

    5. Re:I'm normally against overcharging by BlueStrat · · Score: 3, Insightful

      If he is actually in the employ of the Chinese state and is an illegal agent it's a fair bet the Chinese will do anything and everything to get him back...

      Why would you think they'd do that? It's not like the Chinese value individual lives a great deal.

      More than likely they'd either leave him to twist in the wind if he knows little that could hurt the Chinese government, or they'd simply have him killed while in custody by someone who has access to him and something to be blackmailed with or also otherwise in the Chinese government's employ.

      Strat

      --
      Progressivism (aka US 'Liberalism'): Ideas so good they need a police/surveillance-state to enforce.
    6. Re:I'm normally against overcharging by liquid_schwartz · · Score: 5, Insightful

      When Western countries were tripping over themselves to help China build high speed trains eagerly agreeing to conditions like doing the fabrication in China, I just shook my head at their naivete. And predictably, after China had gleaned enough knowledge to build the trains themselves - either by direct observation of the construction machines and plans, or by outright theft - they booted the Western companies out and began building the trains themselves. The Western reaction is "that's not fair!". The East Asian reaction is "how stupid can these guys be?"

      To be fair most citizens and employees fully expected the Chinese to steal the plans and copy the trains and were generally these deals. The CEOs who got paid well to sell out the company are almost as guilty as the Chinese. Certainly accomplices. The politicians who turn a blind eye to forced technology transfers should be punished as well.

    7. Re:I'm normally against overcharging by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      It's not just corporate espionage. Outright theft is acceptable. A few years back, a family friend and his colleagues had developed a legitimately revolutionary material for a certain market. A giant Chinese conglomocorp expressed interest, them being the largest producer of goods for that market. They inked a 7 figure deal, contracts and all, and promptly fucked off back to China, leaving a fraction of a percentage of the purchase price behind. Everything had been done properly in terms of the contract and legal stuff. When confronted, they said 'what contract?' and had their in-house government stooge tell my friend to go fuck himself and good luck suing us, a multi-billion corp partly owned by the Chinese gov't. 7 figures, gone, with no recourse.

      China is nobody's friend.

    8. Re:I'm normally against overcharging by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They should have just Seth-Riched the guy. Harsh but effective: there haven't been any DNC email leaks since...

    9. Re:I'm normally against overcharging by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      if you didn't take sufficient measures to safeguard your company's secrets and they got stolen, it's your own damn fault

      Well that's true - if you don't properly safeguard your crap, you're dumb as shit. But the party stealing the info is still a douchenugget.

    10. Re:I'm normally against overcharging by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But it is not just corporate espionage--the Chinese are also doing most of the military espionage in the US

    11. Re: I'm normally against overcharging by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Plastic knife? Unlikely. A spork or maybe some chopsticks... Now that I could see.

    12. Re:I'm normally against overcharging by Koreantoast · · Score: 1

      It's worth pointing out that corporate espionage is not frowned upon in the East the way it is in the West.

      Actually, the West is also heavily engaged in economic espionage. Many Western intelligence services, perhaps most notoriously the French, view economic espionage in the name of giving French industry an advantage, is a core national mission. Nearly every other nation engages in this. The United States tends to be shier about this than others given national laws against corporate espionage, but that doesn't mean it doesn't flirt in the gray areas of this as well.

    13. Re:I'm normally against overcharging by Obfuscant · · Score: 1

      The prevailing attitude in East Asian countries (slowly changing) is that if you didn't take sufficient measures to safeguard your company's secrets and they got stolen, it's your own damn fault.

      This is a common attitude among many people who use the Internet. If you let something appear on the Internet for any reason at any time, behind a paywall/login or otherwise, even by accident or as the result of a simple hack, it is public domain.

    14. Re:I'm normally against overcharging by St.Creed · · Score: 1

      He is very unlikely to be employed by the government (motive?). I find it much more likely he's just a freelancer who thought he'd try this too since all his friends said it was easy money to walk in on a tech company and get some data.

      Must read Neuromancer again... I think Gibson described professions like this, actually.

      --
      Therefore, by the (faulty) logic you're using, you're just a cow with a keyboard - osu-neko (2604)
    15. Re:I'm normally against overcharging by harvey+the+nerd · · Score: 1

      Time for the Chinese to put Bill/Hill back on retainer. They'll know who to call...

    16. Re:I'm normally against overcharging by Trogre · · Score: 1

      If that is true, then remind me why we do business with them at all?

      --
      "Nine times out of ten, starting a fire is not the best way to solve the problem." - my wife
    17. Re:I'm normally against overcharging by Obfuscant · · Score: 1

      If that is true, then remind me why we do business with them at all?

      Because of the lure of cheap labor, the common idea that "it won't happen to me", and/or the product is short-lived anyway and by the time the Chinese start flooding the market with cheap clones you'll have made all the money you are going to from that fad.

      Or you count on the fact that the Chinese cheap clones are cheaply made and people will still buy your better quality product. People still do buy Yaesu ham radios even though Baofeng and Wouxon and others have clones. Some people don't want to have to open up a brand new radio to drill out the tiny hole for the microphone that is almost obscured in the cheap Baofeng casting, or they prefer not to have marginally legal radios, for example.

    18. Re:I'm normally against overcharging by Gussington · · Score: 1

      This is why piracy is so rampant in East Asian countries. The concept of media being protected by law even though they lack any real protection, is foreign (again, slowly changing).

      I don't know why it would change, this is how it should be. The whole 'intellectual property' thing is a scam by rich people to oppress everyone else. Information wants to be free. Go China!

  12. Computer security. by Gravis+Zero · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Honestly, if you are in a field that is competitive enough where others would want to copy your work, you should at least take the proper measures to ensure that somebody cannot just walk in the building and access your data. Your drives should be encrypted at the very least.

    --
    Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
    1. Re:Computer security. by networkBoy · · Score: 1

      And if you're going to do something like this, for gods sakes don't do it in a glass walled conf room!

      --
      whois gawk date unzip strip find touch finger mount join nice man top fsck grep eject more yes exit umount sleep dump
    2. Re:Computer security. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Read TFA:

      "He gave inconsistent answers when questioned by police about how he got into the building, which is secured 24 hours a day and requires a key card to gain entrance, court papers said."

    3. Re:Computer security. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you want to get away with something, try an IT storage closet.

      Especially if what you want to get away with is copying files.

    4. Re:Computer security. by tietokone-olmi · · Score: 0

      The presented scenario also seems highly unlikely. A competent spy (or one that had competent handlers) with access enough to linger around for too long (by accident, supposedly) would just leave a thumbdrive-sized wi-fi bridge in the physical network and download from the parking lot at his leisure. Risk of detection is 100% eventually, but with proper op-sec such as not leaving fingerprints or DNA evidence on the device, that should be no issue at all.

      I'd wager what happened here is that there was a gap in communication in the company, some bigwig got scared and overreacted, and now they're sticking with it out of embarrassment and liability. I mean, the guy's been in a federal pound for a while, for what looks like Red Peril once again.

    5. Re:Computer security. by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 1

      I can't speak to Silicon Valley, but - most of the reasonably recently-built conference rooms I've seen have either glass walls or large windows.

      However there are also blinds, which means the design was more of an architectural design choice than anything else.

      --
      #DeleteChrome
    6. Re: Computer security. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So they we're too greedy to hire proper human Security...

    7. Re: Computer security. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They also Claim China has this Ninja Hacker army. If true, why physical Access ?

    8. Re:Computer security. by TWX · · Score: 1

      The archetypical story I've heard over the years was someone walking in on a manager banging his secretary on the conference table. [...] If you want to get away with something, try an IT storage closet.

      And supervisors wonder why I leave the closets with the cutoff ends from terminating copper and fiber cable, plus an (un)healthy dose of crumbled ceiling tile and jagged-edged conduit sticking out.

      --
      Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
    9. Re:Computer security. by AntronArgaiv · · Score: 1

      My company recently moved into a new facility. It has a large, glass-walled conference room. Very impressive. Whenever a client comes in, and they're going to discuss anything confidential, they tape large sheets of paper over the glass. Not so impressive.

    10. Re:Computer security. by edtice1559 · · Score: 1

      I don't know. His sitting in the glass conference room looking harmless almost worked. The CEO almost walked past. In fact if you have a shirt and tie, except in the smallest of companies, you could probably occupy a conference room all day and not draw any attention.

    11. Re:Computer security. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The archetypical story I've heard over the years was someone walking in on a manager banging his secretary on the conference table. [...] If you want to get away with something, try an IT storage closet.

      And supervisors wonder why I leave the closets with the cutoff ends from terminating copper and fiber cable, plus an (un)healthy dose of crumbled ceiling tile and jagged-edged conduit sticking out.

      No judging, but not my thing.

    12. Re:Computer security. by mikael · · Score: 1

      Just call the telephone at the conference room, claim to be delivering pizza and don't hang up the phone.

      --
      Vintage computer adverts: http://www.vintageadbrowser.com/computers-and-software-ads
    13. Re:Computer security. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Jeez creimer, is this only in Silicon Valley?

      Anyway, those walls must be just as fragile as your siblings heads:
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

      It is no wonder where they got their heads from:
      https://school.discoveryeducat...

    14. Re:Computer security. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      My my my, the karma on your new ID is going down fast!

    15. Re:Computer security. by Darinbob · · Score: 1

      He had on his possession several storage devices, disk drives, multiple phones, SD cards, and a digital video camera. It was clear he was not just trying to crack into the network. If you have access in the building after everyone is gone, you can just take pictures of papers lying about and end up with a lot of corporate secrets. The drawback of startups is that the staff is short handed and there's no regular security.

      The fact that the CEO was the last to leave sounds fishy to me.

    16. Re:Computer security. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Indeed, indeed, if you see him, could you please give him this message? He doesn't reply to me anymore.

      Also, do you happen to write click script? I am sick of phyton and would prefer a real language like java, C or C++.

      Message to creimer:
      Shut up you disgusting fat sexist tube of lard!

      I told you I was out of meds yesterday and you didn't even care to contact me you lazy fucker.

      How many time do I have to express the emergency of the situation??????

      The python click script you wrote for my pheromone revenue stream web site suddently stopped to work!!!!!!

      You fucking incompetent python script writer!!!

      When it works, I get 4000+ clicks a day on my pheromone revenue stream web site but only 5 or 6 without it!!!!

      Now, it seems like you dont care and that you have abandoned me you heartless fucking pig!

      Bonus:
      Here is a story that creimer told me when convincing me what a hard life he had:

      The tree was him and the tree knot was his butt hole!

      So, his uncle packed his fat ass with lard and with his cock! Not that it makes much of a difference but anyway, there it is!

      Signed:
      The girl that used to love you and now hates you, burn in hell where you belong you sexist pig!

    17. Re:Computer security. by tietokone-olmi · · Score: 1

      In the laptop I carry in my bag most times I have a mSATA SSD and two hard disk drives. My work requires me to have the "office phone" in my pocket during office hours, which puts it next to my own phone, for two total. My everyday digital camera is next to the computer, and has two SD cards in it while not being downloaded. I also have extra cards in a bag next to a ND filter, a polarizing filter, and a gorillapod. The digital camera will take video if you press the button with a red dot in the center.

      I'm no spy, but if what I've got on me is sign of espionage, then I could easily pass for a non-spy with less gear.

      Heck, every cellphone has a video camera. Regular cellphone cameras are used frequently for scanning and mailing documents instead of telefax. None of the stuff you mention is in any way requisite, or preferable, for corporate and/or industrial espionage -- unless the spies are technologically underskilled mooks, which ain't the way this stuff's being billed.

    18. Re:Computer security. by St.Creed · · Score: 1

      In this case I haven't read the court papers, but the facts of the case are pretty fishy:
      - He didn't have an appointment as claimed
      - The company he claims to work for denies knowing him
      - He had a video camera that he had used to video the public displays in the hall (corporate info, not that interesting, but still)
      - He had two laptops, a tablet, multiple external harddrives, and USB-sticks with him. He could give no reason why.
      - He's an IP lawyer (he claims), which means he needs to be shot at dawn no matter what.

      --
      Therefore, by the (faulty) logic you're using, you're just a cow with a keyboard - osu-neko (2604)
    19. Re:Computer security. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Of course! It took a while, but to get a sain /. again, people realized that it would be much easier and technically feasible to get rid of creimer and that nothing of value would be lost.

    20. Re:Computer security. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Important information about whales, Christopher Dale Reimer and autistic people:

      Autistic people have obsessions about things normal people don't care. For example, one of our autistic patient went haywire when he realized that there was a penny missing in his pocket change.

      To calm him down, one of our educator pretended to have found it on the floor and gave a penny to him.

      The autistic patient condition went even worse because he realized it wasn't the same penny!

      Chris has an obsession with budgeting every penny. He doesn't understand that most people do not budget to the penny and have a flexible amount they allow for miscellaneous items.

      I am Nancy Guerrero and I am Director of Special Education for the Santa Clara County Office of Education. We use Chris' (a.k.a. creimer,cdreimer) picture in our document because he is the hardest case we have ever had to handle:
      http://www.sccoe.org/depts/stu...

      Our artists were inspired by the low carb diet that Christopher follows scrupulously for the small lunch box and by the picture linked below for the rest. I am sure that you will notice the similarities such as the bump on the side of his chest and more:
      https://www.cdreimer.com/slash...

      Please be easy on Christopher although, I am aware that some of our staff handling Chris post joke comments here and obvoiusly, the Santa Clara County Office of Education disapprove that behavior vehemently:
      https://school.discoveryeducat...

      But it isn't Chris' fault if he is the way he is. We do the best we can do with him and he is partially integrated into society. We try to cure his abnormal need for attention but he is kind of stubborn and won't listen to anybody.

      Thank You dear users,
      -Nancy Guerrero

    21. Re:Computer security. by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 1

      Or dress up like an FTD guy and deliver a big bouquet of flowers with a walkie-talkie inside the arrangement!

      --
      #DeleteChrome
    22. Re:Computer security. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The big dummy probably meant "apocryphal". But what do we know, he's a Stephen King level wordsmith.

    23. Re: Computer security. by KGIII · · Score: 1

      You're probably not sitting alone, after hours, in a conference room, without an appointment, and scouring the network.

      If you are, it's reasonable to suspect you of nefarious activities. That's what a trial is for, to prove your guilt beyond reasonable doubt. We shall see.

      --
      "So long and thanks for all the fish."
    24. Re:Computer security. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Of course! It took a while, but to get a sain /. again, people realized that it would be much easier and technically feasible to get rid of creimer and that nothing of value would be lost.

      Keep patting yourself on the back. The only you did was drive creimer into becoming an AC — and he's making more money from affiliate sales than before.

    25. Re:Computer security. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "The only you did was drive creimer into becoming an AC"

      creimer-like grammar detected. I thought creimer doesn't post AC. Another lie?

      " making more money from affiliate sales than before"

      Strange, his own figures show a steep decline. Except his physical figure, of course, which shows a marked increase.

    26. Re:Computer security. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Strange, his own figures show a steep decline.

      That was before he went AC.

    27. Re:Computer security. by ILoveFatCashews · · Score: 0

      creimer-like grammar detected.

      Still fixated on your favorite fuck toy? You need to give up fat porn.

    28. Re:Computer security. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So the sales figures you posted *yesterday*, are already significantly different *today*?

      Fist bump, bro!

      Good old creimer, fertilizer salesman extraordinaire!

    29. Re:Computer security. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Creimer, you were the one saying you were "enjoying" playing with your trolls for literal months. What happened?!

    30. Re:Computer security. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
  13. It's a cold call by WillAffleckUW · · Score: 1

    And it's all part of the new Cold War III we're in right now.

    Security is a myth. Computer security doubly so.

    --
    -- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
    1. Re:It's a cold call by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No its part of the narrative that China is at war with America and cannot be trusted. Period.

    2. Re:It's a cold call by WillAffleckUW · · Score: 1

      We have always been at war with Narnia.

      --
      -- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
  14. Re:Doesn't surprise me... by GameboyRMH · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Came here to post that he wouldn't have got a second look if he was wearing a hardhat and reflective vest. Yes, even on the computers.

    --
    "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
  15. Funny by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    They need to zip up their security. This clearly went beyond a yellow warning and into the red. Their IT security learning slope is a bit too steep, I think they have a chink in their physical armor.

    1. Re:Funny by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm sure someone is going to mistakenly think you're being racist.

  16. Re:Subscribe to read more! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    Yeah both links supplied by the editors are paywalled. I found this though:

    http://www.cetusnews.com/business/CEO-Catches-Stranger-After-Hours--Prompting-Espionage-Charges.HJg30svCq-.html

  17. Newspaper Headline by TexasDiaz · · Score: 2

    Am I the only one who can foresee the best newspaper headline: "Chinese Dong caught 'doing business' behind Laptop" I'm just saying...

  18. Dong Liu... by sacrilicious · · Score: 1

    ... PERFECT name for a porn-film body double.

    --
    - First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then ???, then profit.
  19. Dual citizen of China & Canada? by thomastan · · Score: 5, Interesting

    You cannot get dual citizenship with China. Is this article accurate/believable?

    1. Re:Dual citizen of China & Canada? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

      are you sure?

      From wikipedia(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nationality_law_of_the_People's_Republic_of_China#Loss.2C_termination_and_renunciation_of_nationality):

      "Also, Article 9 explicitly states that only Chinese nationals residing abroad who voluntarily acquires another country's citizenship shall be deemed as forfeiture of Chinese nationality. As a result, a Chinese national residing in China with no permanent residency in any foreign countries who obtains economic citizenship in another country does not lose Chinese nationality."

      meaning if you buy your 2nd nationality then you do not need to forfeit your chinese nationality.

      also for example: http://ipdpropertygroup.com/ci...

    2. Re:Dual citizen of China & Canada? by AntronArgaiv · · Score: 1

      The guy's a spy. His Canadian passport is either an excellent fake, or completely genuine and authorized by the Chinese government.

    3. Re:Dual citizen of China & Canada? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      more than likely its genuine, Canada offers economic citizenships

      "Also, Article 9 explicitly states that only Chinese nationals residing abroad who voluntarily acquires another country's citizenship shall be deemed as forfeiture of Chinese nationality. As a result, a Chinese national residing in China with no permanent residency in any foreign countries who obtains economic citizenship in another country does not lose Chinese nationality."

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

    4. Re:Dual citizen of China & Canada? by thomastan · · Score: 1

      I stand and glad to be corrected then. Thanks!

    5. Re:Dual citizen of China & Canada? by QRDeNameland · · Score: 1

      To get "economic citizenship" in Canada, you still must be a permanent resident in Canada for 4 years before you can actually become a citizen. According to the law you cite, one could not do that and remain a Chinese national.

      I don't know what loopholes there may be in the Chinese law, but it not nearly as simple for a Chinese national to 'buy' dual Chinese/Canadian citizenship as you suggest, especially since Canada has radically curtailed its investor visa program in the past few years.

      --
      Momentarily, the need for the construction of new light will no longer exist.
    6. Re:Dual citizen of China & Canada? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      IAAL but posting anonymously because I live in China.
      China does not permit dual citizenship. But they do not always find out if someone has a new citizenship.
      Canada permits dual citizenship.
      Both Chinese lawyers and patent attorneys must be Chinese citizens. This person apparently claims to be both, so he has a problem in China even if he overcomes this.
      It is unusual for a real Chinese spy to be caught because China relies on citizen spies.

    7. Re:Dual citizen of China & Canada? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You are also forgetting the usual way people become dual citizens....birth. If his parents were Chinese citizens who happen to be in Canada when he was born, he would hold citizenship in both countries. China may not recognize the other citizenship as being valid, but Canada would.

    8. Re:Dual citizen of China & Canada? by Gussington · · Score: 1

      You cannot get dual citizenship with China. Is this article accurate/believable?

      Is your uncited comment accurate/believable? I have a friend who is a Chinese dual citizen, so...

  20. Re:Doesn't surprise me... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Security is everyone's business. Perhaps you missed that slide during the new hire orientation?

    By which they mean, "if you see something, call security." Not, "put somebody in an armbar and walk them out on your own."

    Not every company is big enough to have rent-a-cops on duty. If you want to have someone bounced off the premises, you pick the guy who looks like he moonlights as a bouncer.

    oh, but creimer, you only work for large enterprises, you've already told us that. And for government offices, I'm quite certain they have dedicated security personnel.

  21. Re:Doesn't surprise me... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I call shenanigans. You have no friends.

  22. Re:Doesn't surprise me... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Pacific Gas & Electirc"

    If only web browsers had a spell check. If only.

    "I had a friend"

    BAHahahahahahahahaaaa!!! Right! Sure you did!

  23. Misread Title by Herkum01 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Looking at the title I read it as CEO was caught downloading "Stranger After Hours" as a TV show being leaked online.

  24. No more business as usual by LeftCoastThinker · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The US needs to make China aware that this state sponsored economic terrorism will no longer be tolerated. I vote that every time there is a theft of US technology, we VOID $10 billion (minimum) of US treasuries held by China. Make it $50 billion if it is a military contractor. If they want to steal our technology, they are going to pay out the ass for it. If they run out of US debt, start putting a 1% tariff on all goods imported for a year, per incident. Watch companies start to flee China as the cost of producing goods there to import to the US skyrockets while the Chinese economy craters.

    We cannot survive as a nation with the parasite of China continuously stealing our manufacturing, manipulating trade deficits and now stealing our technology. We either have to change or we are going to collapse.

    And to all you globalists out there rooting for the US to fail, I hope you like living under a jack booted dictatorship with zero freedom and can speak Russian or Mandarin, because that is what will happen to you about 10 days after a US collapse.

    --
    If you disagree, please post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like
    1. Re:No more business as usual by wickerprints · · Score: 5, Insightful

      While I agree with the principle of some form of financial/economic penalty along the lines of what you propose, I am unclear as to how this could be implemented effectively.

      The problem with simply voiding any US debts to China (or any other sovereign nation) because we catch their agents committing corporate or military espionage, at least in my own naive understanding, is that it basically sends a signal to the world that the repayment of our debts is conditional and uncertain: should the US government simply decide "we don't like something you're doing so we will refuse to pay you back," this would have clear repercussions with respect to the ability for the US to borrow money. It's a bit like saying that because Volkswagen was caught manipulating vehicle emissions in some of their models, you don't have to pay back the loan on your vehicle whose emissions are compliant and therefore whose market value was not affected. There's no contractual basis for that unilateral decision on the borrower's part.

      But again, I absolutely agree that such flagrant actions (and let's be real here, there is and has been widespread and pervasive and extremely successful corporate espionage committed by China for decades) should be punished so severely that it should cost significant amounts of money to ensure mere compliance. I just don't know how it could be done.

    2. Re:No more business as usual by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Do you wear a cape when you leave the house?

    3. Re:No more business as usual by bluefoxlucid · · Score: 1

      Theft is now terrorism?

      Trade secrets aside, manufacturing relocation and trade deficits don't work the way most people think.

      There's this thing but I think the numbers are slightly-off. 18% is a lowball figure for payroll costs (usually taxes and benefits are more like 40%-60% of payroll; wages make up the rest).

      The tl;dr is that cutting off Chinese manufacture and producing (in this example) trousers in the United States would create few net jobs if wages were very low in the factories; loses more jobs as wages go up (quickly causes a net-loss of American jobs); and, in any case, permanently makes Americans poorer.

      That's because Americans will have to buy the locally-manufactured good at a price representing more of their working-hours. It's the same proportional difference at any income level for the consumer; higher-income consumers are looking at a smaller absolute increase in hours worked to purchase thing. Because this exchanges for labor-hours at the factory and the number of factory workers at maximum would represent some 0.1% of the employed labor force (178k / 158,000k), most consumers get poorer, which is why you so-quickly go from a small net-gain of jobs to a net-loss.

      Further, the labor force expands in abundance and stagnates or contracts in scarcity. You can see the response in the civilian labor force on the BLS, although that's a result of many factors and not a strong argument. During the height of the recession, there was news of people retiring earlier and of college students going to grad school to avoid entering a bad employment market; during recovery, more college students dropped out early to get jobs, and more people worked later into retirement (bigger Social Security pension). The rate of immigrant labor also changes.

      That means that a gain or loss of jobs is a temporary thing, and quickly buffed out; while a gain or loss of poverty is just ... there. It's a matter of how much things cost, which has nothing to do with the unemployed population.

      The United States's biggest threat from China is that China will stop exporting to us, thus forcing us to make stuff here, destroying our buying power and decimating the retail and shipping industries by making the average American far too poor to afford all the things we used to buy (meaning jobs go away).

      China's biggest threat from the US is that we'll learn to build great big automated factories with very few humans before they can offer us lower prices using the same technology paired with greater manufacture expertise and lower wages. In such a situation, China's economy would lose the capacity to sell its labor, and would collapse under the pressure of extreme poverty. In theory, Chinese wages will rise with technology, e.g. the tech makes stuff for half as much and they pay workers just under twice as much and so the price still goes down. Even if so, losing a big chunk of their export market will collapse their economy.

      Both sides benefit from trade. Exports are great for the economy; so are imports. It's not a balance, where one hurts us and the other helps us.

    4. Re:No more business as usual by swb · · Score: 2

      The sword of Damocles works because it hangs, not because it falls.

      The *potential* for voiding Chinese holdings of US treasuries should be held over them not because it's effective in any small case, but because it's an existential threat against any large-scale Chinese sell-off or other manipulation based on them.

      We could void them selectively if we wanted, but ultimately the market would just price in that risk and raise interest rates.

    5. Re:No more business as usual by tlhIngan · · Score: 3, Insightful

      The sword of Damocles works because it hangs, not because it falls.

      The *potential* for voiding Chinese holdings of US treasuries should be held over them not because it's effective in any small case, but because it's an existential threat against any large-scale Chinese sell-off or other manipulation based on them.

      We could void them selectively if we wanted, but ultimately the market would just price in that risk and raise interest rates.

      That's exactly what happens. Right now, people love US debt because in general, the US is a very trustworthy country that will repay the debt.

      Threaten to invalidate that debt (i.e., fail to repay) and the US goes from "trustworthy" to "banana republic" - think of other countries failing to repay debt (like say, Greece). This means any time the US wants to borrow money, people will require a higher interest rate just because they're not sure the US will repay it.

      It's just like a credit rating - most first world nations are generally quite good - AAA+ or so, which means they're low risk, and thus low interest. But it's a great place to park money you're not using - a safe investment and it also gets money flowing and economy humming. But do something like fail to pay a debt, or threaten to do so and you lose the nice credit rating and creditors will demand more money to cover the risk.

      Yes, even personal loans work this way - that's why there are companies like Equifax making lots of money storing your credit history - the repayment rate is what determines if the bank will let you have the loan.

    6. Re:No more business as usual by swb · · Score: 1

      I'm not entirely sure it would *ruin* Treasuries to void select quantities for specific political reasons (versus other reasons for non-payment). One other reason they're popular is its a nearly bottomless well of liquidity that cash can be pumped into and back out of.

      It's an open question whether it's seen as a bottomless pit of liquidity because we don't play games with our bonds or because the US economy and government is such a giant player that there are no other equal places to put cash.

      The Euro was starting to look like an alternative, but between the debt crisis, the migrant crisis, the Brexit crisis, the Europeans just don't look quite as ready to provide that kind of economic stability. The Chinese can't quite be trusted, and after that there's nothing else large enough to sink excess cash into.

    7. Re:No more business as usual by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And to all you globalists out there rooting for the US to fail, I hope you like living under a jack booted dictatorship with zero freedom and can speak Russian or Mandarin, because that is what will happen to you about 10 days after a US collapse.

      Don't be a drama queen.

    8. Re:No more business as usual by chadenright · · Score: 1

      Don't think your logic parses, Bluefox.

      US stops trading with China and nets a bunch of crappy low-wage jobs making things the chinese currently make for cheap.

      Price in US market for certain goods goes up because US has labor laws and minimum wage, which result in more expensive products. Consumers get poorer because they can no longer buy cheap plastic toys and baby food with lead additives.

      Therefore US loses jobs? This does not follow. Your argument fails and you're trying to hide your BS logic in a wall of BS text. Are you running republican?

    9. Re:No more business as usual by Brockmire · · Score: 1

      Canada better fucking rescind his Canadian citizenship and take a look at all parties involved in his application. It's one thing for CSIS to monitor them, it's another to let them get away with shit.

    10. Re:No more business as usual by sfcat · · Score: 1

      The US needs to make China aware that this state sponsored economic terrorism will no longer be tolerated. I vote that every time there is a theft of US technology, we VOID $10 billion (minimum) of US treasuries held by China. Make it $50 billion if it is a military contractor.

      You do realize that this would likely destroy the US's ability to raise capital (sell t-bonds) internationally. Not sure your plan would work as you envision.

      --
      "Those that start by burning books, will end by burning men."
    11. Re:No more business as usual by tlhIngan · · Score: 1

      I'm not entirely sure it would *ruin* Treasuries to void select quantities for specific political reasons (versus other reasons for non-payment). One other reason they're popular is its a nearly bottomless well of liquidity that cash can be pumped into and back out of.

      It's an open question whether it's seen as a bottomless pit of liquidity because we don't play games with our bonds or because the US economy and government is such a giant player that there are no other equal places to put cash.

      The Euro was starting to look like an alternative, but between the debt crisis, the migrant crisis, the Brexit crisis, the Europeans just don't look quite as ready to provide that kind of economic stability. The Chinese can't quite be trusted, and after that there's nothing else large enough to sink excess cash into.

      No, it' won't ruin treasuries, at least not at first.

      But you have to remember investors are generally a very skittish bunch - even the mere talk of non-payment as punishment will create a flight of capital. Sure today it may be industrial espionage, but tomorrow? Maybe Trump says "I don't like you. I'm not going to honor your bonds. Too bad!"

      Once it does happen though, for seemingly arbitrary reasons, the US will be seen as a banana republic - this is exactly what leaders of such countries do. Not being able to pay is one thing. Not paying because you don't feel like it is another.

      And once it happens, the bottomless pit of liquidity will suddenly dry up. The Euro right now is not seen as a model of stability, but that's because there are so many factors affecting it. The key though is if it weathers through it just fine despite all these problems. It's why the US Dollar is still regarded as a reserve currency - the US, despite its many problems, is still around and the government is stable and functioning economically (no matter who is actually in charge).

      The only other reserve currency around is gold.

      You know, perhaps the better thing (though somewhat inhuman) is to simply parade the guy around and make him a celebrity. Why? Because you're advertising to the world what happened, and show off all the evidence you have - all the information still contained on the laptop and other storage devices.

      The key is to expose them, and let the Chinese government think of its next step. Perhaps they would engage in a policy of "disappearing" - disavow the guy, invalidate his citizenship, make his family "disappear", etc. (That's the inhuman part). In other words, make it so the Chinese government won't protect their spies and get them demoralized. Family is important, but if you screw up and get them killed, will that make you work twice as hard or perhaps just defect and try to get the US government to extract their family out of China. You want to embarrass the Chinese government

    12. Re:No more business as usual by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Believe it or not, repayment has nothing to do with your credit rating. Most of your rating is based simply on how much debt you have and whether or not you have collections against you. The more debt and extended you are, the higher your score. I'm not joking at all, this is literally how it works. If you pay off a loan your rating goes DOWN, not up.

    13. Re:No more business as usual by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If 100 people have $100 to buy $20 widgets, but then the price of the widget increases to $25, you've just dropped the purchasing power of those 100 people by 25%. So instead of producing 500 widgets to meet demand, you only need to produce 400 widgets to meet demand.

      Now lets say some jobs were added and now there's 10 extra people who have $50 to buy widgets. Your production capacity only needs to be 420 still.

      Should I keep around enough people to keep producing 500 widgets which will pile up in inventory? Or cut the workforce to meet the 15% reduced production?

      It's really not a hard concept to understand.

    14. Re:No more business as usual by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How about demanding that China pay back Dollars instead? http://americanbondholdersfoundation.com/

      From 1900 to 1940, the Chinese Government issued millions of dollars in sovereign debt, most notably, a large tranche of £25,000,000 issued at 5% in 1913 set to mature in 1960. This massive bond funded the modernization of China's infrastructure and was widely acquired at the time by governments, banks, and investors across the globe. However, in 1938 China defaulted on its "binding engagement upon the Government of the Republic of China and its Successors," leaving millions of global creditors unpaid. In accordance with the terms of the bond, successor government doctrine, and accounting standards, the United States can and should hold China accountable to its obligations.

    15. Re:No more business as usual by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They will have altered the deal. Pray they do not alter it further.

    16. Re:No more business as usual by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      First off: even assuming the suspect is guilty, there is still no mention of any shred of a vestige of evidence linking him to the Chinese government. So "state-sponsored" is a completely unsupported assumption on your part.

      Second: "economic terrorism"? What the fuck does that even mean?

      Third: "theft of US technology" - again, what does that mean? Again, in so far as technology "belongs" to anyone, it belongs to the holders of patents and trade secrets. Not to "the US".

      Fourth, if you start voiding US government debt, that is exactly equivalent to defaulting on payments, and will trigger the same consequences - including, most notably, an immediate and sharp increase in the rate of interest the US will have to pay in future when it borrows money from anyone (not just China). And given that the US government borrows, on average, about $1 million per minute (thank you Rand Paul), that would have quite a noticeable effect, quite quickly.

      Nose, face.

    17. Re:No more business as usual by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's funny that you think the credit rating of the US means anything when it controls the creation of the currency its debt is issued in.

    18. Re: No more business as usual by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      French here, married to a Chinese.
      I cannot agree more.
      Another thought I had during this summer in China: technology is everything. Without it oil, iron, concrete has not the same value. With it (automation), human resource can be an order of magnitude more valuable.
      If we continue to give our technology away (trains, cars, IT, ...), we will be at the mercy of their financial ability which is not weak.
      I ask for reciprocity which EU cannot even defend (iron dumping better handled by the Americans, for instance)

    19. Re:No more business as usual by geekymachoman · · Score: 1

      > We cannot survive as a nation with the parasite of China continuously stealing our manufacturing, manipulating trade deficits and now stealing our technology. We either have to change or we are going to collapse.

      Your consumer, debt-based, buy shit i don't need with money i don't have economy cannot survive without China and it's DIRT cheap crap they export to you.
      China can survive without you considering how massive China, and Asia in general is, and how less they care for you.

      This is why the west will never punish China for anything.
      But you can go around thinking it's because your government is stupid and/or inefficient or whatever other excuse you have lined up... if that makes you feel better.

      > And to all you globalists out there rooting for the US to fail, I hope you like living under a jack booted dictatorship with zero freedom

      This shows just how little (western propaganda material) you know about the world. I bet you never even been to Russia, but you been spoon fed media bullshit about how horrible every country except US is.

      You are free to do and say whatever you want in Russia, unless you go to a church and start humping the Christ statue and screaming about your pussy.
      In which case, you should be put on a knee and spanked as a spoiled little brat you really are.

    20. Re:No more business as usual by LeftCoastThinker · · Score: 1

      Maybe try learning to write in complete sentences, and the difference between your and you're? They make your post very difficult to read.

      The majority of stuff we buy from China falls into two categories, cheap garbage that just ends up in the landfill in less than a year that has preexisting higher quality/higher cost alternatives made in the US/Europe already. The other category is things designed in the US that we have China manufacture for us (i.e. the iPhone, microchips, etc.) because it is cheaper there and they have minimal environmental regulations. On both counts, we would actually benefit on both the consumer and GPD sides from pulling those back to the US and manufacturing them here with greater automation. The entire trade relationship with China was intended to liberalize and eventually democratize the country as individuals become more powerful and less reliant on the government. It has worked to a degree, but over the last 20 years or so, the Chicom government has figured out how to game this arrangement to their advantage.

      Regarding the rest of the world, much of it is horrible, rampant with disease, malnourishment, war, sectarian violence, criminal gangs etc. I don't have to visit someplace to know about it, and I know that both Russia and China are demonstrably less free than the US or Europe and both have intentions to take over the world if they think they can get away with it. If you think otherwise, you might want to educate yourself a bit on the topic, maybe ask the people in Crimea and Taiwan for a reality check...

      --
      If you disagree, please post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like
    21. Re:No more business as usual by LeftCoastThinker · · Score: 1

      Yes and no. The risk to an individual investor or bank in say Europe or Canada that his/her US treasury will be voided is nil, and thus the treasury rates wouldn't be affected, since good faith investors would not have any additional risk. However in the case of government level investment for the purpose of manipulation, like China, it flips the risk/reward for corporate espionage and the original intent of buying US treasuries (to have leverage over the US government/economy).

      OTOH, an automatic 1% import tax on items from China for a year cumulative per incident (5% for military contractors) would also decimate the Chinese economy in short order and they would have to decide if they like trading with the US or stealing our trade secrets, because it would rapidly become mutually exclusive.

      --
      If you disagree, please post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like
    22. Re:No more business as usual by LeftCoastThinker · · Score: 1

      Except that unlike debt, this is a state taking money from another state based on a defined law to penalize and recover damages for state sponsored stealing. The analogy would be if you borrowed $100k from a bank and then 3 weeks later the bank employees come to your house and steal your car (and in China's case, your boat, your RV, your motorcycle, the solar panels off your roof, the siding off your walls and damn near everything else that isn't bolted down).

      You take them to court and get the value of the stolen property plus punitive damages awarded to the tune of $60k, which is then taken off of your bank debt by the court. In this case, both the court and the victim of theft are the US citizens, but right now there is no mechanism to recover against China for their rampant state sponsored theft, and that must change. The scenario above would not affect the borrowers credit rating, nor would the US voiding treasuries issued to China for their acts of stealing against US companies affect the US bond rates. It is a clearly defined cause and effect outside of the credit ratings purview that only put investors at risk if they engage in corporate or state espionage against the US.

      --
      If you disagree, please post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like
    23. Re:No more business as usual by LeftCoastThinker · · Score: 1

      Because who besides China and Russia are investing in US treasuries while simultaneously engaged in state sponsored corporate espionage against US firms with no laws against such activity?

      If you are a country of moral laws (i.e. it is illegal to steal other people's shit) you have nothing to worry about. If China and Russia stop stealing our shit, they have nothing to worry about. Make nice with everyone or get the shaft, that is the way the world works everywhere else...

      Really, it is either this approach, or every time it is 50 cruise missiles spread over every internet backbone facility and server farm within 1000 miles of the origin of the hack...

      --
      If you disagree, please post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like
    24. Re:No more business as usual by LeftCoastThinker · · Score: 1

      You are assuming that we do things the same way in the US that they do in China where labor is cheap. If US companies lose China as a source of cheap labor, they will hire a big team of engineers to design and build the robotics/automation necessary to make their goods economically in the US. Quality goes up, global pollution goes down, the jobs created are fewer than in China, but high paying engineer jobs, middle class wage technicians and operators, final cost of goods actually goes down, since robotics have better yields, lower amortized production costs than Chinese labor even now, don't make mistakes, get sick, need to sleep, commit suicide, etc.

      Cheap Chinese labor has somewhat circumvented this process, but there is no reason that it cannot pick up where it left off as more manufacturing is on-shored.

      The net result is cheaper, higher quality products, more high paying engineering jobs, more middle class technician/maintenance jobs, a net positive for the consumer and for the US job market.

      --
      If you disagree, please post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like
    25. Re:No more business as usual by bluefoxlucid · · Score: 1

      It's not just that. You only have to ship 400 widgets, and you can carry 100 on a truck. 4 trucks instead of 5. You can retail-scan 100 widgets an hour. 4 cashiers instead of 5.

      Trucks can carry about 2,000 pairs of pants, and Wal-Mart claims 980 retail scans per hour out of a good cashier. Then you have shelf stockers (unload the trucks, stock shelves) and the like. With fewer things vended, you can aggregate fewer stores, meaning you don't even need the people running them (loss prevention, merchandising, managers, the like), and don't need the infrastructure (power, water) to run them, which aggregates just a hair less coal or oil and thus fewer jobs there.

      Tiny, tiny losses in one place or another. It's a salami slicing attack, but nobody gets the slices when we're done.

      The guy says the "logic doesn't parse" because he's thinking in trickle-down terms: if we beef up the supply side, it'll trickle down productivity. I'm thinking in demand-side terms: jobs are created by consumer buying power. So he figures, hey, we'll just open a factory making 2,000,000 pants here instead of in China, and that's jobs making 2,000,000 pants--except, as you pointed out, it isn't.

    26. Re:No more business as usual by bluefoxlucid · · Score: 1

      You are assuming that we do things the same way in the US that they do in China where labor is cheap. If US companies lose China as a source of cheap labor, they will hire a big team of engineers to design and build the robotics/automation necessary to make their goods economically in the US.

      You assume China isn't doing things as cheaply as possible. China is highly-interested in and heavily-invested in the forefront of manufacture technology, and wants to automate their factories as soon as the technology is cheaper than labor.

      If you don't automate your factories because your labor is $3/hr and the automation is equivalent to $7/hr, then moving the factories to an $8.25/hr-plus-benefits (about $11.50/hr) labor country and automating means you're running at the equivalent of $7/hr labor. That's more-expensive.

      Quality goes up

      Hah, no. We're not skilled at cutting corners efficiently here, and the brands are racing to the bottom on price. The Chinese can make to any quality level you want; our American importers ask for cheap and they get cheap. For the Americans to squeeze out those last few dimes, they have to cut entire limbs instead of just corners, because we're not skilled at this--not like China, anyway. So either prices go way the hell up or quality goes down.

      robotics have better yields, lower amortized production costs than Chinese labor even now, don't make mistakes, get sick, need to sleep, commit suicide, etc.

      No, because whenever that's true, China starts implementing the new technology to cut back on labor. That's what's actually happening. It's what global economists are talking about. It hits the news now and then, but nobody except economy nerds cares, so it quickly goes away.

      The net result is cheaper, higher quality products, more high paying engineering jobs, more middle class technician/maintenance jobs, a net positive for the consumer and for the US job market.

      If that were true, we'd already be manufacturing these things in the United States, selling them cheaper, and undercutting the idiot Chinese importers who were bringing in highly-expensive products. The first company to push Made in America and Cheaper than China would practically corner the market and become a multi-billion-dollar megacorporation like Disney.

      Your tone isn't one of facts and strong economic arguments; it's one of conjecture and magical thinking. You've got an imaginative view of how the world works, and it's cute, but it's wrong!!!! .

    27. Re:No more business as usual by bingoUV · · Score: 1

      No, because the bank would disown its employees. China would disown its "agents" which are dual citizens, sympathizers or mercenaries.

      Now if you could prove beyond doubt that the bank's management was instrumental in sending the employees for stealing any car, it might work. But you'll have to do it in a court of law of which the bank falls under the jurisdiction.

      That doesn't work against China because they do not fall under any court's jurisdiction. ICJ is a joke. You could sue China in Chinese courts, but that sounds funny to my ears, not sure about yours.

      --
      Bingo Dictionary - Pragmatist, n. A myopic idealist.
    28. Re:No more business as usual by Gussington · · Score: 1

      The US needs to make China aware that this state sponsored economic terrorism will no longer be tolerated. I vote that every time there is a theft of US technology, we VOID $10 billion (minimum) of US treasuries held by China.

      Cool then they withhold $10B in exports. How is that plan working out now?

      If they want to steal our technology, they are going to pay out the ass for it.

      This is exactly what is wrong with the USA today. You are not the boss of the universe...

      And to all you globalists out there rooting for the US to fail.

      "Globalists" aren't rooting for US failure they are rooting for the US to behave less like a petulant child and more like part of the community. The west needs a strong US, but it needs a strong and considerate and mature US, not a childish bully like your post suggests.

    29. Re:No more business as usual by LeftCoastThinker · · Score: 1

      OK, so you think one country stealing from another is cool as long as you don't like the country. Good to know that you have no morals, not really much point talking further to you after you established that...

      If you think the US behaves like a petulant child, you are completely ignorant of reality and have experienced only first world problems in your life.

      --
      If you disagree, please post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like
    30. Re:No more business as usual by LeftCoastThinker · · Score: 1

      News flash: Companies and governments, including banks, are liable for what their employees do. The US doesn't need to prove that China is actively stealing IP from the US, there is literally a mountain of evidence, you only don't know this if you have been hiding under a rock for the last 20 years. In many cases there is direct evidence tying the theft to the Chinese government.

      You are right, China doesn't fall under any court jurisdiction, so we are left with ICBMs or financial penalties. I outlined to methods for inflicting financial penalties. Hopefully that will get them to stop before we have to take drastic action.

      --
      If you disagree, please post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like
    31. Re:No more business as usual by LeftCoastThinker · · Score: 1

      Your argument is so full of fallacies, erroneous generalizations and just plain ignorance.

      1. Automation requires more highly skilled engineers and technicians to design, build, implement and maintain. The engineers that design the automation are in the US, the engineers that design the products are in the US, the technicians who service the automation are in the US. The cheap unskilled labor doesn't enter the automation picture period full stop.

      2. A US automation engineer and product engineer are VASTLY more skilled at cutting cost than a bunch of unskilled workers in China, especially when it comes to automated manufacture. So no, just flat wrong all the way around. There is a nearly continuous shitstorm for US engineers from Chinese contract manufacturers substituting alternative materials and parts which are not equivalent to save a few pennies per product, scrapping thousands of units in the process and causing delays, or worse, large numbers of defective returns.

      3. It takes time for companies to shift manufacturing lines to different locations due to logistics, inertia and sunk cost, it usually doesn't happen until a new line is opened, but we are seeing it start to happen already as companies start to onshore manufacturing coupled with automation.

      The two things China has going for it are very minimal environmental regulations and cheap, unskilled labor. Automation requires semi and highly skilled labor and engineering, neither of which are a strong selling point for China.

      --
      If you disagree, please post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like
    32. Re:No more business as usual by bingoUV · · Score: 1

      News flash: Companies and governments, including banks, are liable for what their employees do

      Ok, one at a time, and with proper definition of "liable".

      1. Bank employee commits a murder for personal purposes. Are you saying the Bank will be tried for murder, and in death penalty states an electric chair be invented for the "Bank" ?

      2. Citibank employee steals data from State Bank of Pakistan for personal purposes. Citibank says sorry, we have fired him. Under what law will Citibank be "liable" above saying sorry? And "liable" means Citibank will be fined for the expected value of the data stolen by the now ex-employee plus punitive damages?

      3. Citibank employee steals data from ING for personal purposes. Citibank says sorry, we have fired him. Under what law will Citibank be "liable" above saying sorry? And "liable" means Citibank will be fined for the expected value of the data stolen by the now ex-employee plus punitive damages?

      4. Citibank employee steals data from ING , acting for Citibank. But ING or anyone else cannot prove that Citibank made the employee do that, and the employee didn't act on his own. As far as "proven beyond reasonable doubt" measure of criminal law, this case 4 is indistinguishable from case 3 above.

      Citibank says sorry, we have fired him. Under what law will Citibank be "liable" above saying sorry? And "liable" means Citibank will be fined for the expected value of the data stolen by the now ex-employee plus punitive damages?

      The US doesn't need to prove that China is actively stealing IP from the US, there is literally a mountain of evidence, you only don't know this if you have been hiding under a rock for the last 20 years. In many cases there is direct evidence tying the theft to the Chinese government. In many cases there is direct evidence tying the theft to the Chinese government.

      Evidence under which epistemology ? If under all epistemologies , call up the high-commissioner or envoy of China and ask for damages. If under only your own epistemology, how is it relevant outside of your dreams ?

      The question is : can you convince China that they did it and that they should pay damages ? If yes, there is no problem. If not, you have no solution.

      I outlined to methods for inflicting financial penalties. Hopefully that will get them to stop before we have to take drastic action.

      No you didn't , except a thoroughly debunked initial post. Au contraire, you expressly stated : "but right now there is no mechanism to recover against China for their rampant state sponsored theft".

      If you are now talking about some "now" that is not exactly "right now", give me the argument. Though the nows that are not exactly right nows could be your dreams, so one can never know what that entails.

      You have not explained properly why the US credit rating will not be affected, and how China will be convinced that this is legitimate confiscation of their property.

      --
      Bingo Dictionary - Pragmatist, n. A myopic idealist.
    33. Re:No more business as usual by bluefoxlucid · · Score: 1

      Automation requires more highly skilled engineers and technicians to design, build, implement and maintain.

      The entire point of technology--of automation--is to reduce the total cost of each unit made. That's only sustainable when that cost is reflected in labor time (it is in the long run; in the short run, it's wage-labor cost).

      So yes, you have to pay a $150,000 engineer instead of a $20,000 fry cook; and you pay 20,000 hours of $150,000 engineer time instead of 2,000,000 hours of fry cook time ($3 mil instead of $40 mil). In other words: 10 jobs to replace 1,000 jobs.

      A US automation engineer and product engineer are VASTLY more skilled at cutting cost than a bunch of unskilled workers in China, especially when it comes to automated manufacture.

      Your source for this? Because part of working with Chinese manufactures is the Chinese sitting down with US engineers--mechanical engineers, electronics engineers, etc.--and telling them how to alter their designs to achieve the same thing but be much more manufacturable. These changes both reduce the amount of labor (cost) in making each product unit and reduce the number of defects from mismanufacture.

      In other words: part of the service provided by Chinese manufacturing firms to American engineering firms is that the Chinese will improve the American engineers's designs so they can be manufactured at lower cost and with greater success. You're claiming directly the opposite of what actually happens when American and European product engineers work with Chinese manufactories.

      It takes time for companies to shift manufacturing lines to different locations due to logistics, inertia and sunk cost, it usually doesn't happen until a new line is opened

      The comparison will, thus, be between the economy at the time the factory is open versus the economy as it would be if you hadn't on-shored. You're essentially trying to argue that we'll experience economic growth and spend (waste) it on local manufacturing instead of spending it on making Americans wealthier and actually growing our economy.

      we are seeing it start to happen already as companies start to onshore manufacturing coupled with automation

      Some, but not all, of those companies are doing so because of the political atmosphere and the fear of possible sudden costs by administrative actions (e.g. tariffs).

      Some, but not all, of those companies are doing so because "Made in the USA" has a high marketing value now, and they can charge higher prices at higher margins: even with the cost being higher, they can jack it up even further and extract money, reducing the number of jobs by concentrating wealth even further.

      Some, but not all, of those companies are doing so because local and state governments are paying them (Foxconn!), and many economists are predicting the states are going to lose out severely in the end. There's actually an argument for doing it, though: even if it's bad for America, you're damaging your neighboring states's employment markets to expand your own; and the short-term gain in local jobs is good politics even if it has shitty costs in local retained tax revenue and wealth.

      Some of them are just small, and can't take advantage of economies of scale.

      You're, again, stating a bunch of flat-wrong ideals, making conjectures with no factual basis, and looking myopically at what's in front of you. By "Myopically at what's in front of you", I mean a guy gets a job at MakeJeansCorp and you say, "Oh! A job was created! More jobs!" while not noticing that the condition of creating that job is a reduction in American buying power such that three guys at SellFluffyWidgets a half a state a way lost their jobs. If it's not directly, tightly bolted together, such that you can yank one and watch the other move, you simply act as if it's not there.

      Your arguments are pred

    34. Re:No more business as usual by Gussington · · Score: 1

      OK, so you think ...

      No, but don't let that stand in the way of you little rant...

    35. Re:No more business as usual by LeftCoastThinker · · Score: 1

      OK, so you think ...

      No, but don't let that stand in the way of you little rant...

      AKA your position is indefensible and when pointed out you go smartass rather than admitting that you are wrong.

      --
      If you disagree, please post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like
    36. Re:No more business as usual by LeftCoastThinker · · Score: 1

      I was going to try to reply to this, but it is just not worth it. My previous post stands. It is based on my 20 years of observation and first hand experience with Chinese manufacturing and dozens of companies that manufacture products in China.

      Your position is based on supposition and conjecture that show you may have some experience in business or economics, but no direct experience with the challenges vs benefits of manufacturing in China, or in fact manufacturing a physical product at all. Nearly every single one of you statements is a generalization based on zero evidence on topics that you clearly have no direct experience in.

      --
      If you disagree, please post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like
    37. Re:No more business as usual by LeftCoastThinker · · Score: 1

      Let me spell it out for you since you are clearly logically challenged and/or incapable of grasping basic concepts:

      If a business or country hires/pays/blackmails/threatens a person to steal for them and then that entity receives the stolen goods, then that entity is morally and legally guilty of the theft. However, in the case of China, they literally don't give a shit what the rest of the world thinks or demands or what is legal/illegal, unless it actually costs them money or power in some way. The US has mountains of evidence from our counter espionage against China that they have stolen US IP hundreds if not thousands of times in the last 20 years. Evidence like photographic evidence of the thief dead dropping the data to a Chinese diplomat, electronic evidence of payouts to the thief from a Chinese state backed entity, testimony from the thief that his family back in China was under threat, etc.

      You might want to do a little light reading, maybe have a few of the facts before you start making a fool of yourself. http://www.ipcommission.org/re...

      Some other pertinent information:
      http://thehill.com/blogs/pundi...
      https://www.nytimes.com/2017/0...
      http://www.sciencemag.org/news...
      http://www.politifact.com/pund...

      --
      If you disagree, please post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like
    38. Re:No more business as usual by bluefoxlucid · · Score: 1

      Your response is silly. "It looks like you know what you're talking about, but don't know what you're talking about; and you're still wrong." You also behave like a microeconomist, which is a type of economist who routinely builds up complex explanations for how the world works only to find out the macroeconomist has the bigger boot when his toys get stomped into the ground.

      My main interest is in project management. You're right about the indirect experience: I like to read books full of actual things that happened in businesses, or follow kickstarter projects that publish in excessive detail (e.g. Kokoon.io). I like to see how things happened, what went wrong, what went right, and how the people involved responded; that's information that I can recall when facing similar problems so as to better-evaluate and develop an appropriate strategy.

      How much of your experience with Chinese manufacture is in the modern frame (post-2005--should be most of your experience) and in the development of high-quality products, rather than simply a low-cost alternative product? People economize, and so we have the well-understood race-to-the-bottom in which we want to market a product-shaped object at the lowest price so that people buy it. A $30 Toys-R-Us bike isn't a $2,000 Trek bike; on the other hand, a $400 GT Tachyon is pretty decent (made in Taiwan, using Shimano parts made in China--so does the Trek).

    39. Re:No more business as usual by Gussington · · Score: 1

      AKA your position

      You mean you poor interpretation of my position

      is indefensible

      Only if you never understood what the position was in the first place. Which is quite obvious based on both your first response and this one.

      and when pointed out

      The only thing pointed out was your poor comprehension skills

      you go smartass

      You're an idiot, you got he response you deserve.

      rather than admitting that you are wrong.

      Right. You knew what I was thinking more than I did. This is what you believe?
      Go back to Reddit...

    40. Re:No more business as usual by bingoUV · · Score: 1

      Ok, glanced through it, not sure what it is supposed to contribute to this discussion. Same old - Americans and their puppets saying China did this and that. What matters is what China says China owes to the US of America due to the "theft of the intellectual property".

      Are you going to answer the questions in my points 1, 2, 3 and 4 above ? Mostly yes / no questions , others merely a less vague restatement of your own assertions. E.g. if you are sure of liability, it should not be difficult to name the law that causes the said liability in a specific example when presented with specific evidences, right ?

      I do see that now you mention "morally and legally guilty", so you are not really as sure as you need to appear to be.

      --
      Bingo Dictionary - Pragmatist, n. A myopic idealist.
  25. Re:he was helping! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I don't often crack a genuine smile over satirical posts on /., you did great.

  26. Re:Doesn't surprise me... by ILoveFatCashews · · Score: 0

    "Pacific Gas & Electirc"

    If only web browsers had a spell check. If only.

    "I had a friend"

    BAHahahahahahahahaaaa!!! Right! Sure you did!

    Do you want some spam-flavored macadamia nuts with your whine?

  27. You only catch the bad thieves. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Sneaking in at night and accessing multiple laptops leaves you massively exposed for a long period of time.

    The smarter thief would leave a small innocuous device with cell phone access plugged into the network. Then access the device at leisure, and remove the next day or two. Better yet (obviously) is infect a PC with phone-home software. Then there's no physical device to remove.

    This plan was just stupid.

  28. I half expected it to be... by Palmateer · · Score: 1

    (IMAGINE THE FOLLOWING IN ALL CAPS) We stayed overnight in a medical-technology startup! BIG MISTAKE... youtube.com/tfil

  29. Dong Liu's alibi by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You got the wrong Liu, Mister. I was here to deliver some General Tso's spicy chicken. We have been using tablets and laptops for some time now, to reduce errors in delivery, and so on. I was told to bring the food up here in the conference room.

  30. Originally September 1st... by WhiteDragon · · Score: 1

    Source https://www.bostonglobe.com/me... (paywall link) (disclaimer, I work for The Boston Globe)...

    --
    Did you mount a military-grade, variable-focus MASER on an unlicensed artificial intelligence?
  31. Chinese "immigrants" are the bestest! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Another HIGHLY SKILLED immigrant brought to you by Stephen Harper's cash for citizenship whoring of Canada. BRILLIANT!

  32. Re:Doesn't surprise me... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So you came to post that you're an idiot?

    Ok then.

    No you did it for him, loser. HE"S RIGHT, guys in offices and on the street in hard hats and reflective vests are usually given a pass because people think they are working on something.

    I realize WORK IS A FOREIGN SUBJECT FOR YOU.

  33. Chinese dual citizenship by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Fyi, If the second nationality is an economic citizenship then a Chinese citizen will not lose their original citizenship. Economic citizenships are available to purchase through many countries, even Canada.

    "Also, Article 9 explicitly states that only Chinese nationals residing abroad who voluntarily acquires another country's citizenship shall be deemed as forfeiture of Chinese nationality. As a result, a Chinese national residing in China with no permanent residency in any foreign countries who obtains economic citizenship in another country does not lose Chinese nationality." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

  34. Related to Long Duck? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    He's three sheets to the wind!

  35. paywall by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    both links are paywalled... well done!

  36. Because that wouldn't change anything by H3lldr0p · · Score: 1

    The problem here is that this is a state actor being caught out. The effective kinds of penalties in this situation would be tantamount to self harm. That is, the only thing that would stop China from doing this would be to cut economic ties with them. Of any kind. And that is literally cutting our nose off to spite our face. We and by this I mean the global community are tied too deeply to one another economically to try and isolate a nation as large and as prosperous as China currently is. It's also of dubious use as a way to change regimes. Look at N. Korea or Iran for examples. While Iran has seen some positive democratic reforms in the past decade, it was only after a certain amount of trade was normalized that it happened.

    The only level one has left then is an individual one. To make it too costly for an individual to be caught to make it worthwhile. In order to make this effective, one would have to up regulations so that your own country's infrastructure and business practices are able to catch them. Which isn't going to happen while the current political regime reigns in DC. If anything, President Stupid is going to make it easier for this to happen for his Russian buddies who are busy doing the same thing China is doing, just in different industries.

  37. Re:Doesn't surprise me... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Here to confirm it does work. I have actually done the same. Pulled it off last week to keep a project moving along rather than waiting 6 hours for the actual person in hard hat to show up.

  38. failed analogy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The sword of Damocles works

    your analogy fails, the sword of Damocles does not harm its owner

    in this situation the falling sword kills both opponents

    the market would just price in that risk and raise interest rates.

    or better yet why not just avoid doing business with americans who can't even make proper analogies?

    1. Re: failed analogy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      After you, when you get off this American site.

  39. No, that would be an economic dumpster fire. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    China currently owns about 5.5% of all US T-Bills which doesn't sound like a lot but it's roughly $1.1 Trillion (thousand-million). Voiding their debt would cause two problem:

    • China can fight back by dumping T-Bills and driving the price down on the market. No one would want to buy new T-Bills when they can buy them off China at a cut rate. China would take a hit financially but so would we (and by voiding any amount we've already shown them that their T-Bills could be worthless anyway).
    • Once you establish that T-Bills are subject to the political whim of the US, their rating/worth will plummet. Are you going to buy bonds from a company that can just decide "f*ck it, we're not going to pay you"?

    Tanking the T-Bill market like this would also piss off Japan (as well as other allies) which is currently our strongest ally in that region of the world. Japan currently holds over 7% of US T-Bills (more than China) and if we deliberately took actions that would wipe out their investment they're going to be pissed. We do enough trade with them that this could also have serious repercussions.

    So while this might seem like a good idea at first glance, it's not and would end up sparking an economic world war and economic wars have a way of turning into shooting ones (people tend to get angry when you screw with their finances).

    1. Re:No, that would be an economic dumpster fire. by QRDeNameland · · Score: 1

      it's roughly $1.1 Trillion (thousand-million)

      Check your math; that doesn't even work in long scale.

      --
      Momentarily, the need for the construction of new light will no longer exist.
    2. Re:No, that would be an economic dumpster fire. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      OP: *doh* thousand-billion. But the $1.1 Trillion is correct (as of Aug 2017)

  40. Re:Doesn't surprise me... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Security is everyone's business. Perhaps you missed that slide during the new hire orientation?

    Unless it can come back to you it's really best to just do your job. Don't ever take what HR tells you at face value.

    Fuck man how have you not figured this out yet?

  41. Meh, Infowars=national enquirer by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Not a real good source of real news. Stop polluting your brain.

  42. Scarface? by Quirkz · · Score: 1

    Am I the only one who keeps reading the CEO's name as Scarface? Because we know how that guy welcomes unexpected visitors, by introducing them to his little friend.

  43. Re:Doesn't surprise me... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I totally agree with you; Security is everyone's business!

    Speaking of which, those King's horses and King's men could raise their security level when taking care of your siblings (I hear you are the father and your mother the mother, which makes them your brothers):
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

    It is obvious they are your siblings when we look at your picture:
    https://school.discoveryeducat...

  44. Re:Doesn't surprise me... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Information about Christopher Dale Reimer and autistic people:

    Autistic people have obsessions about things normal people don't care. For example, one of our autistic patient went haywire when he realized that there was a penny missing in his pocket change.

    To calm him down, one of our educator pretended to have found it on the floor and gave a penny to him.

    The autistic patient condition went even worse because he realized it wasn't the same penny!

    Chris has an obsession with budgeting every penny. He doesn't understand that most people do not budget to the penny and have a flexible amount they allow for miscellaneous items.

    I am Nancy Guerrero and I am Director of Special Education for the Santa Clara County Office of Education. We use Chris' (a.k.a. creimer,cdreimer) picture in our document because he is the hardest case we have ever had to handle:
    http://www.sccoe.org/depts/stu...

    Our artists were inspired by the low carb diet that Christopher follows scrupulously for the small lunch box and by the picture linked below for the rest. I am sure that you will notice the similarities such as the bump on the side of his chest and more:
    https://www.cdreimer.com/slash...

    Please be easy on Christopher although, I am aware that some of our staff handling Chris post joke comments here and obvoiusly, the Santa Clara County Office of Education disapprove that behavior vehemently:
    https://school.discoveryeducat...

    But it isn't Chris' fault if he is the way he is. We do the best we can do with him and he is partially integrated into society. We try to cure his abnormal need for attention but he is kind of stubborn and won't listen to anybody.

    Thank You dear users,
    -Nancy Guerrero

  45. All the storage by T.E.D. · · Score: 1
    The thing I found interesting is that when they searched his car, the guy seems to have had one of every kind of storage device known to man in it. Now I'm a professional software engineer, and yes, when I travel on business I travel with gear, including usually one or two USB sticks and a laptop, but this was ridiculous:
    • 128GB USB Ram stick
    • Another thumb drive of unreported size
    • 10 SIM cards
    • 1 SD card
    • 2 Micro SD cards
    • 2 portable hard drives
    • *TWO* digital camcorders
    • Is there an engineer here who can honestly say they've ever traveled with that full a panoply of recording media on them? Oh, wait, he wasn't an engineer either. He said he was a lawyer...

      Whatever he was doing, it wasn't engineering as I know it, and he seemed almost comically concerned about being able to record data no matter what media hardware he bumped into on his trips (or even if none were accepted, he had camcorders).

      Add to that his cover story when challenged involved name-dropping an out-of-town engineer, and then the CEO himself (the last was clearly a lie), and there aren't a lot of other conclusions one could come to.

    1. Re:All the storage by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      probably not but it's quite reasonable as a toolkit for an industrial spy I bet

  46. Re:Doesn't surprise me... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    creimer is such a goof and a chronic liar!

    He claims he works in a highly secured 3 letter agency premise but still, people would be able to walk around as long as they wore a hardhat.

    Now, one has to guess which is the truth...

    Nice links about creimer:

    His family:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

    Himself:
    https://school.discoveryeducat...

  47. Really? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You want to carry on your anti-PC diatribe based upon racism??

    How about we make this simple for you. The Right likes to carry on about individual responsibility, and it's a defensible political philosophy, if a bit broadly applied. Anyhow.

    Western democrats hold Russia, Russians, and Russian proxies responsible for their actions. Just like the Right would like, you would think, in accordance with right wing politics.

    Except no. The Right has to deny that there was any Russian involvement at all, or they say the Russians didn't attack voting machines so it doesn't count, or they pretend that Donald Trump didn't encourage Russian hackers to hack more. Frankly I don't even know what field we're playing anymore because the Right has moved the goalposts so often. It's all about denying the truth because the truth doesn't look good. It doesn't look good on Trump and it doesn't look good on the Right.

    Regardless of what your politics are, this was encouraging crime, encouraging a hostile foreign power, undermining democracy and encouraging a lack of accountability for actions. Actions by the hackers and actions by Trump.

    Your attempt to link Russian hacking to racism just smacks of desperation, arrogance, or stupidity.

  48. Re:Doesn't surprise me... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Not every company is big enough to have rent-a-cops on duty. If you want to have someone bounced off the premises, you pick the guy who looks like he moonlights as a bouncer.

    First, I hear you work at a big governmental 3 letter/military agency so, how could the following sentence make sense?

    Not every company is big enough to have rent-a-cops on duty"

    Second, about

    you pick the guy who looks like he moonlights as a bouncer

    it is certainly not you because I saw in the video below that you don't bounce that well:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

    https://school.discoveryeducat...

  49. Re:Doesn't surprise me... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Security is everyone's business. Perhaps you missed that slide during the new hire orientation?

    You are obviously impossible to orientate. You always end up on the ground:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

    https://school.discoveryeducat...

  50. Re:Doesn't surprise me... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Notice about pachyderm-like Christopher Dale Reimer and autistic people:

    Autistic people have obsessions about things normal people don't care. For example, one of our autistic patient went haywire when he realized that there was a penny missing in his pocket change.

    To calm him down, one of our educator pretended to have found it on the floor and gave a penny to him.

    The autistic patient condition went even worse because he realized it wasn't the same penny!

    Chris has an obsession with budgeting every penny. He doesn't understand that most people do not budget to the penny and have a flexible amount they allow for miscellaneous items.

    I am Nancy Guerrero and I am Director of Special Education for the Santa Clara County Office of Education. We use Chris' (a.k.a. creimer,cdreimer) picture in our document because he is the hardest case we have ever had to handle:
    http://www.sccoe.org/depts/stu...

    Our artists were inspired by the low carb diet that Christopher follows scrupulously for the small lunch box and by the picture linked below for the rest. I am sure that you will notice the similarities such as the bump on the side of his chest and more:
    https://www.cdreimer.com/slash...

    Please be easy on Christopher although, I am aware that some of our staff handling Chris post joke comments here and obvoiusly, the Santa Clara County Office of Education disapprove that behavior vehemently:
    https://school.discoveryeducat...

    But it isn't Chris' fault if he is the way he is. We do the best we can do with him and he is partially integrated into society. We try to cure his abnormal need for attention but he is kind of stubborn and won't listen to anybody.

    Thank You dear users,
    -Nancy Guerrero

  51. Re:Doesn't surprise me... by JohnFen · · Score: 1

    With the uniform, badge, hardhat and clipboard, he could walk into any boarding to look at electrical closets and no one would question him.

    I can do you better than that. In a prior lifetime, I was a janitor. I learned that if you look dirty, harried, purposeful, and carry a mop and a big ring of keys on your hip (that part may have changed since then), you become entirely invisible and can wander anywhere without being challenged.

  52. Re: That CEO is a racist - better version by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Something, something something, Trump had nothing to do with it. Something, something, Hillary is just mad, something, something, something, white power, something, something, Mexicans in our country, something, something, he was caught committing a crime and was rightfully arrested....oh yea something, something, white power.

    I love it when they throw a shit load of nonsense in with one or two statements people will agree with. Too ez to control people nowadays

  53. Compatible with the Harvard Business School method by Ungrounded+Lightning · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The CEOs who got paid well to sell out the company are almost as guilty as the Chinese.

    It's right in line with a career building move for denizens of the C-suite (CEO, COO, CFO, CTO, ...) that is often attributed to the teachings of the Harvard Business School (though graduates of other business schools have also been seen to execute it). It works like this:

    1. Join the company as the new, or turnaround, CEO (or whatever). Get a big package of stock options (a "free" leveraged investment that pays off drastically if, and only if, the stock price rises.)
    2. Dump the R&D and other preparation for future products (and any personnel working on them). Perhaps also make some cuts in customer support for current products, cheapen the product, cut infrastructure maintenance, etc.. This drastically cuts expenses while not (initially) affecting revenue, boosting the "bottom line" of the financial statements.
    3. Announce the big boost in profits at a few quarterly reports and the investor/financial media phone conferences. The stock price soars, as does the executives' reputation as a corporate administration wizard.
    4. Select a successor (sucker), leave the company, and cash out the stock options. (PROFIT!) Of course cashing out when leaving is viewed as prudent, since the company will now be run by somebody else the way THEY feel like running it.
    5. Rinse and repeat at your next company. Meanwhile, your successor is in charge, and catches the blame, when the house of cards collapses.

    The scam depends on the benefits being immediate and the damages, though bigger, being delayed.

    Moving production to China (or some other offshore sites), with its far lower costs but track record of expropriation of trade secrets (which takes a while to spin up into a competing product) has exactly the same structure.

    Of course it's a breach of fiduciary duty for officers of a corporation to do this. But they can make it LOOK like they're being responsible by taking advantage of the drastically lower production prices to "maximize investor value".

    Until enough investors catch on to this, and both the markets and stockholder meetings shift to make this a losing strategy for executives (or regulators pick up on it ditto), expect it to continue.

    --
    Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
  54. No such thing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    There aren't Chinese dual citizens. To become a citizen of another country implies giving up your Chinese citizenship.

  55. Re: Doesn't surprise me... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    to be fair, creimer probably does look bouncier than the hired security.

  56. Physical Access is King by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This chinese guy is a security guru, he knows physical access to devices could defeat all security defences.
    Maybe he just wanted to instal a bitcoin miner, or probably download /etc/passwd or /etc/shadow file so he can crack it on his leisure time.
    This hacking trick was explained by Kevin Mitnick on one of his books, and his term for this is "tail gating" an emloyee during their cigarette break.

  57. Paywall by fedos · · Score: 1

    The backup link is also paywalled.