Intel trade secret stealer sent down for two years
PrintPrison term for engineer who took Itanium plans to Sun
Posted in Business, 14th December 2001 16:02 GMT
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A former Intel engineer was yesterday sentenced by the San Jose District Court to two years for stealing details of the chip giant's Itanium processor.
Say Lye Ow, 31, was found guilt last September of misappropriating Intel trade secrets in violation of the Economic Espionage Act of 1996.
The engineer left Intel three years ago, but decided to hang on to details of the not yet announced Itanium chip. His act was discovered when the information turned up computers belonging to Sun, his new employer.
Investigators found no evidence that Ow had attempted to pass the information on to Sun - instead he had used the information for his own reference. Just as well, since his punishment was directly related to any financial loss Intel may have suffered as a result of his act. Had such a loss been shown, Ow could have faced up to 30 years in prison and a $1.5 million fine. ®
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