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Chinese-Canadian indicted in alleged plot to sell U.S. military secrets
Placed in WoT because the game against Golden Dragon HS has already begun, whether officially acknowledged or not, IMO.
.SAN JOSE, Calif. — A Chinese-Canadian engineer was charged Thursday with stealing trade secrets from a California company that made military training software and attempting to sell them to Asian governments.

Xiaodong Sheldon Meng, 42, a Chinese national with Canadian citizenship, was indicted on 36 felony counts, including the rare charge of economic espionage to benefit a foreign government and various violations of military technology export laws.

Prosecutors said Mr. Meng stole the code for software made by his former employer, Quantum3D Inc., that's used to train military fighter pilots and tried to sell it to the Royal Thai Air Force, the Royal Malaysian Air Force and a company with ties to China's military.

Under U.S. law, anyone attempting to sell such information overseas must first obtain a licence from the U.S. State Department and is subject to strict regulations. Mr. Meng never applied for such a licence.

No foreign government or agent was named as a conspirator in the case and prosecutors declined to discuss whether any of the secrets were sold or whether any foreign officials or agents knew about the alleged scheme.

In economic espionage cases, the law does not require proof of complicity by a foreign government and investigators often don't know the extent of foreign involvement.

Mr. Meng's case marks only the third time in a decade prosecutors have charged someone with economic espionage to benefit a foreign government, the most serious crime under the Economic Espionage Act of 1996. A conviction carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison.

Mr. Meng's defence lawyer, Angela Hansen, called the charges “baseless” and said in a statement the government has “misinterpreted innocent acts.”

U.S. Attorney Kevin Ryan said the case highlights the threat U.S. businesses face from thieves looking to sell hard-won intellectual property overseas. Few cases allege intent to benefit a foreign government because it's difficult to prove but he said U.S. companies are frequently targeted by overseas concerns.

“Silicon Valley understands full well the threat they are faced with here,” he said. “It's not only a threat to the economic value of the products being produced, but in some cases it's a threat to our national security and military infrastructure."
Posted by: .com 2006-12-15
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=175179