TSMC Trade Secrets Stolen - Former Engineer Arrested In China

[Raevenlord]

In the highly competitive, high-stakes scene of the business world - and particularly so in the silicon giants of the era - trade secrets, specifications, and protecting one's intellectual property that give the leg-up on competitors is key towards success. And while most companies work within the meanders of law (even if sometimes skirting it ever so lightly), some don't. And things like this happen: the steal (or purported steal, because no one has been convicted yet) of trade secrets by former employees is one of the most dreaded occurrences in the tech world - remember Zenimax and Carmack's "dovetailing"?

Chinese manufacturers are looking to enter the high-performance computing market with their own products, designs, and manufacturing capability. In this case, former TSMC engineer Hsu is being accused of stealing proprietary information and other materials related to the foundry's 28 nm process technology. The goal would be to pass them to China-based Shanghai Huali Microelectronics (HLMC), with which he accepted a job offer, according to the Hsinchu District Prosecutors Office. Digitimes reports that HLMC had been aggressively headhunting for talent to kick start its 28 nm manufacturing process, though if true, this sound like a little too aggressive of a headhunting.



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[natr0n]

Another day of China doing what they do best.

 

[Ferrum Master]

Another day of China doing what they do best.

That's not only in china... it actually happens everywhere.

 

[Captain_Tom]

This may turn into an excellent test of if China's ready to enter the modern business world, and if the "fair" players will put up with their BS.


I expect TSMC and other applicable parties (AMD/Nvidia) to sue any company that makes use of these illegal actions, and then I wonder if China will finally start recognizing international law...

 

[xkm1948]

People steal trade secrets all the time. We have agents from Monsanto around our lab all the time trying to bag away our lab notebooks or engineered seeds. Multile million dollar business so people will do crazy shit to get what they want.

 

[eidairaman1]

This may turn into an excellent test of if China's ready to enter the modern business world, and if the "fair" players will put up with their BS.


I expect TSMC and other applicable parties (AMD/Nvidia) to sue any company that makes use of these illegal actions, and then I wonder if China will finally start recognizing international law...

I think AMD needs to have their fabs in house again, so aka Germany, Fab51 anyone?

 

[arterius2]

Another day of China doing what they do best.

So in the case of Waymo vs Uber (Otto) is just another day of what America doing what they do best? The hypocrisy is unsettling here.

 

[yogurt_21]

28nm? why not steal the 14nm stuff? stupid amateur tech thieves.

 

[arterius2]

28nm? why not steal the 14nm stuff? stupid amateur tech thieves.

Because he/they were being realistic, China does not currently have the fab. capability to produce 14nm even if they have the tech.

 

[RejZoR]

That's not only in china... it actually happens everywhere.

Lets be honest here, while China has some innovative tech companies, majority of China's production of everything is based on copy copy copy steal steal steal. It's so deeply ingrained in their culture they don't know anything else.

 

[thesmokingman]

Next stop, cheap chips.

 

[Ferrum Master]

Lets be honest here, while China has some innovative tech companies, majority of China's production of everything is based on copy copy copy steal steal steal. It's so deeply ingrained in their culture they don't know anything else.

Won't happen...

China still has no hight tech skill really... nor metallurgy nor semiconductor, no matter how they try to spy.

 

[erocker]

That's not only in china... it actually happens everywhere.

China is notorious for it. Back in the 80's when China was just ramping up its industrial era my father worked for a large US corporation. Chinese spy's were found on a weekly basis.

 

[Ferrum Master]

China is notorious for it. Back in the 80's when China was just ramping up its industrial era my father worked for a large US corporation. Chinese spy's were found on a weekly basis.

That's the industry as such... There are Russian, Israeli, Italian, French etc spies... everywhere where some kind of military tech is developed such passionate charades happen, It's an old cold war tradition.

 

[Bansaku]

Another day of China doing what they do best.

Yup! I am surprised we don't hear of more stories like this coming out daily!!

 

[xkm1948]

Lets be honest here, while China has some innovative tech companies, majority of China's production of everything is based on copy copy copy steal steal steal. It's so deeply ingrained in their culture they don't know anything else.

Wow, talking abou "culture" and ignorence. China was the central hub of science and culture of the world until 19th century.

 

[arterius2]

China is notorious for it. Back in the 80's when China was just ramping up its industrial era my father worked for a large US corporation. Chinese spy's were found on a weekly basis.

Really？ you are using the 80s as basis for your prejudice? In case you didn't know. Alot has happened in those 30-40 years

Won't happen...

China still has no hight tech skill really... nor metallurgy nor semiconductor, no matter how they try to spy.

Sorry but China is actually at the forefront on it. You must have been living behind a rock.

 

[erocker]

Really？ you are using the 80s as basis for your prejudice? In case you didn't know. Alot has happened in those 30-40 years

Where is my prejudice? I stated a fact, nothing more. Surely one can express a statement one way or the other without being vehemently against one or another? Can you point out anywhere in my statement where I'm blind to what's happened in the past 30 years? Is there a statute of limitations where you're from in regards to information and time?

 

[Frick]

Wow, talking abou "culture" and ignorence. China was the central hub of science and culture of the world until 19th century.

In China, elsewhere it was the Arab world.

 

[xkm1948]

The ignorance level at TPU is truly amazing. At scientific research Chinese has been advancing faster than any other nation on this planet and yes that is including the good old USA. Our funding for scientific research has been horrible for quite some time. NIH, NSF and DOE haven't seen much budget increase for a very long time. A lot of labs have been closed due to lack of funding. While at the same time China has been recruiting loads of foregin and domestic talents to work on cutting edge research.

Stop living under rocks, they may still be trailing US now. With the current state of US (bat shit crazy liberals, shrinking public funding for scientific research) it will be a lot harder to say 20 yrs down the road.

 

[Prima.Vera]

In China, elsewhere it was the Arab world.

Before retarded Religious or Political indoctrination, all of those countries were the main sources of inventions, culture and progress. Now.....no comment.

 

[xkm1948]

Before retarded Religious or Political indoctrination, all of those countries were the main sources of inventions, culture and progress. Now.....no comment.

China/Japan/Korea still is. The other one, well, not so much.

 

[laszlo]

hmm... as i know China has all the needed tech and all they need is the "brains" to move forward

is easier to "hire" someone with knowledge (secrets) than learning from scratch...

 

[RejZoR]

Wow, talking abou "culture" and ignorence. China was the central hub of science and culture of the world until 19th century.

That's a fact, not something I made up or because I'd secretly hate Chinese. Chinese would do ANYTHING to make a business. Copy, steal, go the shortest shortcuts one can make to create products etc. And yes, that IS for a fact so deeply ingrained in their culture it's basically impossible to root it out now. Or ever probably. Don't mix in ancient China to Communist China. It's not related to one another AT ALL. What we're talking here is China of today and that's their global MO. Especially for companies that operate within China only because global laws pretty much don't apply to them. And this doesn't just go for our beloved electronics, they even do it for example growing of vegetables. They'll pour whatever chemicals and fertilizers they can get to make the thing grow at maximal rate regardless of how toxic and harmful it is to the end consumer. It's just business business business.

Only time Chinese companies have to actually begin obeying business laws and practices of the west is when they go global. Because they are simply forced into this. But having such massive market as China, basically anyone good enough at stealing and copying can become big to enter global markets. And it's easier to start doing that when you're already big than for example European or American startups that have to start from zero in a proper way without just copying someone's design and learning from that pretty much for free.

You can call me racist or Chinese hater, but that's all a fact, I'm more surprised you're not aware of it...

@laszlo
There is a difference between lending your excellent engineering skills and just plain handing them over the blueprints...

 

[DeathtoGnomes]

That's a fact, not something I made up or because I'd secretly hate Chinese. Chinese would do ANYTHING to make a business. Copy, steal, go the shortest shortcuts one can make to create products etc. And yes, that IS for a fact so deeply ingrained in their culture it's basically impossible to root it out now. Or ever probably. Don't mix in ancient China to Communist China. It's not related to one another AT ALL. What we're talking here is China of today and that's their global MO. Especially for companies that operate within China only because global laws pretty much don't apply to them. And this doesn't just go for our beloved electronics, they even do it for example growing of vegetables. They'll pour whatever chemicals and fertilizers they can get to make the thing grow at maximal rate regardless of how toxic and harmful it is to the end consumer. It's just business business business.

Only time Chinese companies have to actually begin obeying business laws and practices of the west is when they go global. Because they are simply forced into this. But having such massive market as China, basically anyone good enough at stealing and copying can become big to enter global markets. And it's easier to start doing that when you're already big than for example European or American startups that have to start from zero in a proper way without just copying someone's design and learning from that pretty much for free.

You can call me racist or Chinese hater, but that's all a fact, I'm more surprised you're not aware of it...

@laszlo
There is a difference between lending your excellent engineering skills and just plain handing them over the blueprints...

Not everyone will see China like that, but thats the truth of the matter, many are just have blinders on and ignore the pettiness China brings to the table now. They want the upper hand at everything and WILL stab you in the back to get it. "Sorry, nothing personal, just business." its a motto thats being inbreed into every business deal in the pretty much all the Asian markets since WWII. The next best thing to "knowledge is power" is "money buys power", some countries just take that to a whole new level.