Interesting People mailing list archives
IP: "Bomb" is at the bottom...
From: Dave Farber <farber () central cis upenn edu>
Date: Fri, 01 Mar 1996 22:39:47 -0500
"Bomb" is at the bottom... _______________________________________________________________________ (Reuters, 2/28/96, "FBI director warns of economic espionage") Economic espionage by foreign countries and firms against U.S. companies is a growing threat to national security, FBI Director Louis Freeh warned Congress on Wednesday. "The problem involves billions of dollars, thousands of jobs and the health of our national economy," Freeh said at a hearing of the Senate Intelligence Committee. "Current FBI investigations reflect 23 countries engaged in economic espionage activities against the United States," Freeh added. Freeh did not identify any of the countries, but other witnesses told of incidents involving companies and individuals from China, Germany and Japan. Chairman Arlen Specter, a Pennsylvania Republican, said Russian President Boris Yeltsin recently ordered the use of industrial intelligence to close the technology gap with Western nations. "I think it's an ominous sign," Freeh said of Yeltsin's statement. "They (foreign countries) certainly have increased their activities in the United States." Because of the threat, Freeh said the Federal Bureau of Investigation established a counterintelligence programme in 1994 to detect and stop foreign economic espionage. Specter said the White House had estimated that U.S. businesses were losing $100 billion a year to foreign spying. He said at least 51 countries had spies in the United States trying to steal economic information. A recent report by the General Accounting Office, the congressional investigational agency, said some U.S. allies were trying to steal American military technology. The report did not identify the countries. Freeh said the problem was becoming more difficult because of the greater importance of advanced technology and the increased access to electronic information on computers. He said some countries use their students studying in the United States as intelligence agents or pay employees of U.S. companies to obtain economic secrets or proprietary information. Freeh said current laws on theft and fraud often could not be used in industrial spying cases because no physical property was actually stolen. "For example, if an individual downloads computer programme code without permission of the owner, has a theft occurred even though the true owner never lost possession of the original?" Freeh asked. He urged Congress to pass laws which deal specifically with economic espionage. Among the legislation being considered is a bill that would make theft of proprietary information a federal crime punishable by up to 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for individuals and to $10 million in fines for companies. (end) _______________________________________________________________________ Seems to me that liberal ...er... illiberal but loose ... definitions of "theft" and "proprietary information" could make info-terrorists. of us all. Brad
Current thread:
- IP: "Bomb" is at the bottom... Dave Farber (Mar 01)