back to article Talk about Micron-aggression: US charges Chinese biz, staff over DRAM chip secrets theft

The US Department of Justice has unveiled charges against two companies and three individuals it says have been stealing trade secrets from American memory chipmaker Micron. The DOJ claims United Microelectronics Corporation and Fujian Jinhua Integrated Circuit – along with individuals Stephen Chen, JT Ho, and Kenny Wang – all …

  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    The real question

    Is can the Feds block UMC/Jinhua from exporting from China?

    1. Mark 85

      Re: The real question

      Given the current state of affairs in China, China doesn't recognize US patents or any other countries patents. Only Chinese citizens can file patents in China. However, that's part of the trade war (a small part) goals by the US.

      So the answer currently is a resounding "NO!!!".

      Update... should have read more comments before responding see Uncle Ron's comments below for more on this.

    2. Wzrd1 Silver badge

      Re: The real question

      In this idiotic environment, yes.

      Assuming the court allows such lunacy.

      More worrisome, the trumpism making its way that far down into the rank and file to actually get this filed with a court.

      I just had a foreign born, US Army war veteran employee report to me some support among junior civilian staff of Idiot in Chief's view that a Constitutional amendment could be overruled via an executive order.

      Our dislike rule by fiat is nearly equal to the UK's notion on the entire subject, the difference is, the populace is armed.

      And considering other issues that are also recent, alarming.

      Especially since, we're all working under the US DoD.

      Fortunately, the rank and file military are entirely Constitutionally driven.

      I'm actually growing alarmed.

      1. Jove Bronze badge

        Re: The real question

        ... and your point is?

  2. prismatics

    Price Fixing

    TBH with this DRAM prices and lack of action towards improving supply one might call it extortion, or price fixing.

    I’d be happy to see Jinhua to be able to end this finally, for the good of all DRAM customers.

    1. kcblo

      Re: Price Fixing

      Ending price fixing by stealing other people's intellectual properties, I cannot agree to that by any count.

  3. Uncle Ron

    Culture

    Feel free to flame me at will, but I have been to China on business multiple times and I can tell you that my experience is that Chinese culture simply does not recognize an outsider's intellectual property, as, well, property. Chinese culture looks upon anyone outside their culture as, well, not real people. It is not wrong to take whatever you can get your hands on from any outsider. They do this freely and openly (music, movies, books, designer labels, designs and processes, and more) and think nothing of it, in the streets and in offices and factories all over the country. It is not stealing when you are stealing from foreigners. Even among each other, there are concentric circles of honor and the farther one is (Chinese or otherwise) from their own center circle, the less honor there is between them.

    A few years ago someone (who apparently didn't have any babies in his own circle) actually made baby formula with no protein but was filled with some (cheaper) substance that -tested- as protein to the food safety people. Hundreds or thousands of babies died from malnutrition.

    The Chinese are not going to change thousands of years of cultural inheritance in only a few decades. The only way to get them to stop screwing us is to slap them as hard economically as we possibly can. Even if it means we suffer a bit too.

    The farther you are from the Chinese border, the less your property means to them. We are the 'tribe over the hill' and we have no intellectual property or rights. None. That's my $0.02 worth.

    1. I3N
      Pint

      And demand reparations ...

      Sir Ron ... you undervalue your worth ... the contravening side gets $0.50 ...

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Culture

      this sounds VERY much like the US are you sure you got the cuntrys right

  4. _LC_
    Stop

    Now the mob will try to extort more and more...

    After their first extortion attempt* worked out superbly, this was to be expected.

    This is really an old rule when dealing with criminals: If the mob tries to extort money from you, NEVER pay them off or they'll be coming back for more.

    When it comes to the USA and people – allegedly – stealing information from them, I have to laugh bitterly.

    Already at a time long before the Internet was born, when we had nothing but fax-machines, they were stealing information from their allies under the pretext of protecting us from the Soviets. I remember cases, where they had patented technology invented in Germany, in the USA. Some were even patented using the original drawings from the faxes they had intercepted. The swindle was obvious, as the Germans had plenty of proof that this was THEIR invention. Yet, US courts usually ruled that "their" patents were in order. The Germans ended up paying fees for the usage of their own inventions...

    ===

    * China's ZTE agreed to pay US $1bn

    1. Missing Semicolon Silver badge

      Re: Now the mob will try to extort more and more...

      There's a certain amount of whataboutery in that. Yes, the USA have behaved shoddily. But the Chinese attitude to non-Chinese IP is baked into the law.

      1. _LC_
        Paris Hilton

        Re: Now the mob will try to extort more and more...

        It is funny how those guys have to use the terms handed to them. "Whataboutery" - is that considered undercover now? *lol*

        And why is it, that we're always being asked to forget about "the bad things" the USA did? It's not that they have ever stopped.

    2. HmmmYes

      Re: Now the mob will try to extort more and more...

      Not even close.

      US and west sniff around intelligence.

      Us leaves non military tech alone.

      China looks to rob everything and tutn the ip into a profit centre for the red army.

  5. Jove Bronze badge

    Chinese readers ...

    ... The Reg seems to have suddenly acquired a lot of readers in China.

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