AMD Employee Charged With Stealing Intel Secrets 212
IWonderWhatICanPutInThisFieldWithoutBeingDeleted writes "A man who once worked for Intel and then jumped ship to join AMD has been accused of stealing his erstwhile employer's chip secrets. Federal detectives allege they discovered 19 CAD designs and more than 100 pages of confidential Intel documentation."
... and AMD wouldn't even touch the info (Score:5, Interesting)
Usefulness? (Score:2, Interesting)
The guy says he copied of the documents "out of curiosity", which doesn't actually strike me as that implausible. I know I have copies of software packages being licensed for $500,000+ to my previous employer. It's not like I'm going to try to use it to make a profit, I just find it interesting stuff and want to be able to keep it.
Re:... and AMD wouldn't even touch the info (Score:5, Interesting)
The irony is that his new employer (AMD) would never touch the stolen info with a 10-foot pole.
It's not unlike the disgruntled Coca-Cola employees who took the Coke Zero formula to Pepsi. Pepsi wouldn't touch it with Dr. Pepper's 10-foot pole. They turned the disgruntled employees into the appropriate authorities, notified Coke and sent the formula back without breaking the seal.
Duh. The legal hassles alone aren't worth it.
Intel Pull a Ferrari? (Score:3, Interesting)
http://www.metro.co.uk/sport/formulaone/article.html?in_article_id=65980&in_page_id=58 [metro.co.uk]
crimes like this will have to become legal soon (Score:5, Interesting)
The sad thing is that such laws are only respected in countries like the US and UK.
Soon countries like China will be able to have much better technologies because they can take the best from all sides and create a super product. Even if the US and UK forbid the importation of such products, companies in the US and UK would be at a disadvantage selling inferior product to other countries.
Patents and copyrights will prove to be our downfall since they no longer encourage progress but prevent it.
One thing that has always irked me... (Score:4, Interesting)
Is that I frequently have ideas at home. And write them down. And later use them at work.
Would the discovery of these documents in my home constitute evidence of "stealing trade secrets" in the eyes of my employer? If I decided to leave my current employer and work for the competition, would those hobby projects of mine be a liability?
I'm just curious, because I do quite a bit of independent development, and from time to time, it becomes valuable at work.
Re:Alleged motive: to impress his new employer (Score:3, Interesting)
Interestingly, General Motors has done the opposite: paid their best employees to work for someone else [janegalt.net].
Re:... and AMD wouldn't even touch the info (Score:4, Interesting)
Kinda surprises me that we don't see more leaked info from anon disgruntled employees.
Would I be correct in in assuming that once something has reached the public that it loses it's "trade secret" status and can be used by anyone.
they'd have to be careful of watermarks etc though.
What if it's more sinister? (Score:2, Interesting)
Intel pays some guy under the table to "quit" and go work for AMD... oh, and take this envelope with you, hint hint nudge nudge.
Instant competition torpedo.
Re:... and AMD wouldn't even touch the info (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:... and AMD wouldn't even touch the info (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:... and AMD wouldn't even touch the info (Score:3, Interesting)
The basic formula is this: Low integrity loses you both customers and employees. That's not to say that you can't make a profit doing this, but it's the more difficult route.
Ahh, there's your flawed premise. "Low/Lack of integrity" doesn't lose you anything. What loses customers and employees is getting caught.
If you can go long enough without getting caught (as sibling said, to change companies, for example), being a scumbag can be incredibly profitable.