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US Accuses Huawei of Stealing Trade Secrets, Defrauding Banks (bloomberg.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Bloomberg: U.S. prosecutors filed criminal charges against Huawei, China's largest smartphone maker, alleging it stole trade secrets from an American rival and committed bank fraud by violating sanctions against doing business with Iran. Huawei has been the target of a broad U.S. crackdown, including allegations it sold telecommunications equipment that could be used by the China's Communist Party for spying. The charges filed Monday also mark an escalation of tensions between the world's two largest economies, which are mired in a trade war that has roiled markets. In a 13-count indictment in Brooklyn, New York, the government alleged Huawei, two affiliated companies and its chief financial officer of fraud and conspiracy in connection with deals in Iran. A 10-count indictment in Washington state accused the company of stealing trade secrets from T-Mobile and offering bonuses to employees who succeeded in getting technology from rivals.
T-Mobile sued Huawei and its U.S.-based unit, Huawei Device USA Inc., in 2014, and three years later, a federal jury in Seattle found Huawei liable for both breach of contract and misappropriation of trade secrets. A person familiar with the case, who sought anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak, said T-Mobile's claims regarding the theft of its technology caught the attention of federal authorities in the Western District of Washington. T-Mobile said Huawei sent its engineers to T-Mobile's Bellevue, Washington, facility to see a robot, called "Tappy," which simulates smartphone use. T-Mobile said in its lawsuit that Huawei was able to use stolen parts from the robot to "develop, improve and troubleshoot its own robot." Separately, Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou was arrested in Canada on allegations that she committed fraud to sidestep sanctions against Iran. "The U.S., which had requested Canadian authorities arrest Meng, must submit a formal extradition request for her by Jan. 30," Bloomberg reports. "Canada's justice minister then has up to 30 days to assess it. If she issues an 'authority to proceed,' that means Canada is officially moving to extradition hearings. If so, they would likely be scheduled months later."
T-Mobile sued Huawei and its U.S.-based unit, Huawei Device USA Inc., in 2014, and three years later, a federal jury in Seattle found Huawei liable for both breach of contract and misappropriation of trade secrets. A person familiar with the case, who sought anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak, said T-Mobile's claims regarding the theft of its technology caught the attention of federal authorities in the Western District of Washington. T-Mobile said Huawei sent its engineers to T-Mobile's Bellevue, Washington, facility to see a robot, called "Tappy," which simulates smartphone use. T-Mobile said in its lawsuit that Huawei was able to use stolen parts from the robot to "develop, improve and troubleshoot its own robot." Separately, Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou was arrested in Canada on allegations that she committed fraud to sidestep sanctions against Iran. "The U.S., which had requested Canadian authorities arrest Meng, must submit a formal extradition request for her by Jan. 30," Bloomberg reports. "Canada's justice minister then has up to 30 days to assess it. If she issues an 'authority to proceed,' that means Canada is officially moving to extradition hearings. If so, they would likely be scheduled months later."
Huawei won the race to 5G. Sure they might have had state backing.
But US companies had all the funds the Fed was shovelling for the last 10 years and they did nothing but sack their R&D, pay C-suite billions in bonuses, and fuck over customers with monopoly rates and shitty service.
US Capitalism elected to stand still for 10 years and shit themselves after Huawei pulled off a Sputnik-style vertical launch platform with 5G.
Yeah, NSA is mad, but deep down at the bottom of this is the simple truth that post-crisis US companies are unable to complete AT ALL and now need heavy handed Government proscription of competition to survive. This will extend to Japanese and EU companies as the US lead in technology falls as far behind as the US production base.
Not that you will ever hear about it in the media.
Selling stuff to Iran. Bypassing the embargos that Obama lifted that Trump reinstated. Among other crimes.
Corporatism != Free Market
I do recall that the NSA was intercepting Cisco hardware to install backdoors on those systems. https://arstechnica.com/tech-p... Obama was all about change so that is maybe why he didn't make a big deal out of those NSA changes.
And how can one file criminal charge when the claim cannot pass a civil suit?
"According to the jury’s verdict, T-Mobile was not awarded any damages relating to the trade secrets claim and there was no award of punitive damages. Although the jury awarded damages under the breach of contract allegation, the amount was a small fraction of what T-Mobile requested. Huawei is a global leader in innovation, and respect for intellectual property is a cornerstone value in our business,” Huawei said in a statement after the verdict in 2017.
China stealing IP from the NSA? sounds about right...
America has completely lost the 'ethical spying' moral high ground a long long time ago. This "scandal" is more likely about some billionaires pissing contest with another billionaire. States seem to only exist these days as a drama modifier in the battle between corporations. Which is really just the battle between rich individual actors and cabals, if you look at who is really in control of those nested corporations.
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“U.S. prosecutors filed criminal charges against Huawei, China's largest smartphone maker, alleging it stole trade secrets from an American rival and committed bank fraud by violating sanctions against doing business with Iran.”
The alleged trade secrets being a robot arm called tappy. They could have saved themselves the bother and bought one direct from Epson. The real story being this prosecution being used as a pretext to hinder Chinese firms doing business in the US. This prosecution being pushed by the corporate owners of America. Another sign that there is no one in the driving seat in Washington.
But the US asked us to. And for many decades that's all that's been required to get our government to fall all over itself to comply.
The Canadian people repeatedly tell the government they don't want us to roll over every time the US comes calling, however regardless of which party is in power, they always place US interests above those of our own country. Every single time.