U.S. Accuses Harvard Scientist of Concealing Chinese Funding; The New York Times, January 28, 2020

Ellen Barry, The New York Times; U.S. Accuses Harvard Scientist of Concealing Chinese Funding


“Charles M. Lieber, the chair of Harvard’s department of chemistry and chemical biology, was charged on Tuesday with making false statements about money he had received from a Chinese government-run program, part of a broad-ranging F.B.I. effort to root out theft of biomedical research from American laboratories.
 
Dr. Lieber, a leader in the field of nanoscale electronics, was one of three Boston-area scientists accused on Tuesday of working on behalf of China. His case involves work with the Thousand Talents Program, a state-run program that seeks to draw talent educated in other countries.

American officials are investigating hundreds of cases of suspected theft of intellectual property by visiting scientists, nearly all of them Chinese nationals or of Chinese descent. Some are accused of obtaining patents in China based on work that is funded by the United States government, and others of setting up laboratories in China that secretly duplicated American research.”

US hammers Huawei with 23 indictments for alleged trade secret theft, fraud; CNet, January 29, 2019

Abrar Al-Heeti, CNet; US hammers Huawei with 23 indictments for alleged trade secret theft, fraud

"The US Department of Justice on Monday charged Huawei with theft of trade secrets, wire fraud and obstruction of justice.

A 10-count indictment alleges that China's Huawei stole trade secrets from US carrier T-Mobile beginning in 2012. Huawei also allegedly offered bonuses to employees who stole confidential information from companies. In addition, a 13-count indictment charged four defendants, including Huawei and Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou, with financial fraud. The indicted defendants also include affiliates Huawei USA and Skycom.

"The charges unsealed today clearly allege that Huawei intentionally conspired to steal the intellectual property of an American company in an attempt to undermine the free and fair global marketplace," said FBI Director Christopher Wray in a statement. "To the detriment of American ingenuity, Huawei continually disregarded the laws of the United States in the hopes of gaining an unfair economic advantage.""

FBI Agent Points to Need for Protecting Intellectual Property From Theft; KTIC Radio, August 22, 2018

Chris Clayton DTN Ag Policy Editor, KTIC Radio; FBI Agent Points to Need for Protecting Intellectual Property From Theft

"HIGH-PROFILE AG THEFTS

Agriculture has seen its share of high-profile thefts, some coming out of labs, while others come right out of cornfields. Nichols pointed to the case of Mo Hailong, who was sentenced in 2016 to three years in federal prison for stealing biotech corn seeds from DuPont Pioneer and Monsanto in the Midwest.

As DTN has reported in the past, before Hailong was caught, FBI agents said he shipped over 340 pounds of corn seeds from Iowa to his home in Florida. Authorities aren’t certain where the seeds went from there, but it was easy to conclude the seeds were sent to China. The FBI also recorded some of Hailong’s phone calls back to China, in which he and a Chinese plant breeder talked about “using the foreigners’ technology to beat them.” Citing the need to boost biotechnology in China, one of Hailong’s co-conspirators said, “There is a serious need for a national hero.”"

Economic Development: Intellectual property must be protected from theft; Billings Gazette, April 2, 2017

Dena Johnson and Jennifer Webber, Billings Gazette; 

Economic Development: Intellectual property must be protected from theft

"Rising "intellectual property crime in the United States and abroad threatens our public safety and economic well being.” US Department of Justice.

What does this mean for Main Street businesses? Are they at risk? Or is intellectual property (“IP”) protection only a concern for larger companies? The answer? IP should be a priority for every business owner no matter the size. Your company should “protect the programs and systems that support what makes your company successful and unique.” Federal Bureau of Investigation.

We interviewed attorney Jennifer L. Webber of WEBBERpllc (www.webberpllc.com) to learn more."

Kim Dotcom extradition to US can go ahead, New Zealand high court rules; Guardian, February 19, 2017

Eleanor Ainge Roy, Guardian; 

Kim Dotcom extradition to US can go ahead, New Zealand high court rules

"The high court in New Zealand has ruled Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom can be extradited to the United States to face a multitude of charges including money laundering and copyright breaches.

US authorities had appealed for Dotcom’s extradition to face 13 charges including allegations of conspiracy to commit racketeering, copyright infringement, money laundering and wire fraud."

Kim Dotcom: Police Cut Way Into Mansion To Arrest Megaupload Founder; Reuters via HuffingtonPost.com, 1/21/12

Mantik Kusjanto, Reuters via HuffingtonPost.com; Kim Dotcom: Police Cut Way Into Mansion To Arrest Megaupload Founder:

"New Zealand police on Saturday revealed bizarre details of the arrest of the suspected kingpin of an Internet copyright theft case against the James Bond-like backdrop of a country mansion hideaway with electronic locks, a safe room and a pink Cadillac.

German national Kim Dotcom, also known as Kim Schmitz, was one of four men arrested on Friday, a day before his 38th birthday, in an investigation of the Megaupload.com website led by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The group was accused of engaging in a scheme that took more than $500 million away from copyright holders and generated over $175 million in proceeds from subscriptions and advertising."

FBI shuts down Megaupload file-sharing site; ComicBookResources.com, 1/20/12

J.K. Parkin, ComicBookResources.com; FBI shuts down Megaupload file-sharing site:

"The U.S. Justice Department and the FBI on Thursday shut down the popular file-sharing site Megaupload, seized $50 million in assets and charged its founder and six others with running an international enterprise based on Internet piracy that’s cost copyright holders at least $500 million in lost revenue...

News of the shutdown was met with retaliation by the hacker collective Anonymous, which attacked the websites of the Justice Department and the Motion Picture Association of America."

‘X-Men’ Piracy Investigation Leads F.B.I. to Arrest Man From the Bronx; New York Times, 12/16/09

Brooks Barnes, New York Times; ‘X-Men’ Piracy Investigation Leads F.B.I. to Arrest Man From the Bronx:

"After a nine-month hunt, Federal Bureau of Investigation agents arrested a Bronx man on Wednesday suspected of posting an unfinished version of the 20th Century Fox movie “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” on the Web before it was released in theaters.

But the investigation into the source of the piracy, to find out who actually took the copy of the movie from the studio, is continuing and more arrests are possible, according to Laura Eimiller, an F.B.I. spokeswoman.

Gilberto Sanchez, 47, was arrested at his home at about 6 a.m., according to Ms. Eimiller. Mr. Sanchez was indicted last Thursday by a federal grand jury in Los Angeles on charges of uploading the unfinished copy of the movie to a Web site, Megaupload.com, last spring.

If convicted, Mr. Sanchez faces three years in prison and a $250,000 fine or twice the gross gain or gross loss attributable to the offense, whichever is greater, according to the United States attorney’s office in Los Angeles. Lisa E. Feldman, an assistant attorney from that office’s Cyber and Intellectual Property Crimes unit will prosecute the case. She said that Mr. Sanchez has been released on bail.

The unfinished version of “Wolverine” — missing many special effects and using temporary sound — was leaked to the Internet on March 31. Within hours, the $150 million movie, set to open on May 1, had been watched by thousands of people online, setting off a panic inside Fox about the potential box office impact.

Ultimately, Fox estimated that the file was downloaded 15 million times."

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/17/business/media/17pirate.html?_r=1&hpw

FBI arrests New York man for `Wolverine' piracy; Associated Press, 12/16/09

Associated Press; FBI arrests New York man for `Wolverine' piracy:

"The FBI has arrested a New York man indicted for illegally distributing pirated copies of the movie "X-Men Origins: Wolverine."

FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller says in a statement that Gilberto Sanchez was arrested at his Bronx home early Wednesday without incident. The 47-year-old Sanchez was indicted Dec. 10 by a Los Angeles federal grand jury for violation of federal copyright law.

He's expected to appear Wednesday before a U.S. magistrate judge in New York.

The indictment, unsealed after Wednesday's arrest, says Sanchez uploaded the copyrighted "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" to an Internet site last spring. He faces a possible three years in prison and a $250,000 fine, or twice the gross gain or gross loss attributable to the offense, whichever is greater."

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jOwTp8ZWeiOljaF5_3FFE_f3s4AQD9CKGLJ80

FBI called in over Wolverine leak, BBC News, 4/3/09

Via BBC News; FBI called in over Wolverine leak:

"The Hugh Jackman film was downloaded an estimated 100,000 times from file-sharing websites on Tuesday.

20th Century Fox confirmed the copy had now been removed and the FBI informed.

The studio behind Wolverine stated: "The source of the initial leak and any subsequent postings will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."

"The courts have handed down significant criminal sentences for such acts" the studio noted...

Fox called the leaked movie a "stolen, incomplete and early version"...

The studio added that because their content is forensically marked they should be able to trace the person who uploaded it."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7978379.stm

Chinese Court Convicts 11 in Microsoft Piracy Case, New York Times, 1/1/09

Via New York Times: Chinese Court Convicts 11 in Microsoft Piracy Case:

"A court in southern China convicted 11 people on Wednesday of violating national copyright laws and participating in a sophisticated counterfeiting ring that for years manufactured and distributed pirated Microsoft software throughout the world...

Some legal specialists consider the case to be a landmark because it involved a joint antipiracy effort by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Chinese Ministry of Public Security. Law enforcement officials said it was also notable because the group operated like a multinational corporation, producing and distributing high-quality counterfeit software that was created and packaged almost identically to the real products, despite Microsoft’s antipiracy measures...

American politicians and corporate executives have been pressing China for years to crack down on piracy and intellectual property rights abuses that included music, film and expensive software products. Software piracy is rampant in China, where about 80 percent of computers are believed to use counterfeit software, according to the Business Software Alliance."

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/01/business/worldbusiness/01soft.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=piracy%20china&st=cse

Tough sentences in China over huge piracy ring: Microsoft, Sydney Morning Herald, 1/1/09

Via Sydney Morning Herald: Tough sentences in China over huge piracy ring: Microsoft:

"The sentences were the "stiffest ever meted out for intellectual property rights violations in China," said a report on the verdicts by the popular Chinese Internet portal Sina.com...

Washington filed a case in April 2007 at the World Trade Organisation over widespread copyright piracy in China, a practice that US companies say deprives them of billions of US dollars in sales each year.

In November, China's assistant commerce minister Chong Quan told US industry and government officials at a gathering in Beijing that Washington must take into account its difficulties as a developing country in tackling copyright breaches.

But China also has recently touted tougher anti-piracy laws as evidence of its resolve to crush such violations."

http://news.smh.com.au/world/tough-sentences-in-china-over-huge-piracy-ring-microsoft-20090101-78dk.html