back to article Ex-Broadcom engineer asks for house arrest over IP theft

A former Broadcom engineer who pleaded guilty to stealing his ex-employer's trade secrets has asked the court not to give him prison time, saying he stole the files for reference, fearing he would "be unable to keep up" with "more technical and younger engineers" at a new startup. According to the filing, Peter Kisang Kim …

  1. Mike 137 Silver badge

    Interesting assumption about competence

    "the files [...] would not have been practically useful because Broadcom appears to have used customized Perl scripts for its datacenter ASIC designs, where Mersenne's devs used Python"

    He's assuming there's nobody that can interpret a Perl script and replicate its functionality in Python? If so, it's a sad indictment of the state of developer expertise at Mersenne. Or is he just clutching at straws to get a lighter sentence? Three guesses probably unnecessary this time.

    1. Paul Crawford Silver badge

      Re: Interesting assumption about competence

      He's assuming there's nobody that can interpret a Perl script and replicate its functionality in Python?

      Not many with their sanity still intact, I suspect...

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Interesting assumption about competence

      6 months! Should have given him 5 years for using Perl.

      ;-)

      Honestly, I've done similar things "just in case" with no intention of stealing trade secrets, but just to literally jog my memory (this was before Stack Exchange was a thing). I also got caught, and got a very nasty legal letter and had to go into London and sign a document to say that I had destroyed everything. I think I got off lightly, it was a stupid thing to do.

  2. Snowy Silver badge
    Coat

    Assuming he is not lying

    Apart from being foolish did he even commit a crime

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Assuming he is not lying

      Theft of trade secrets is a crime generally, and made worse when it’s networking stuff as the govt’s ears perk up.

      I do feel some sympathy for him, having less years ahead in the field than behind. We all probably have some mild irrational fear of youngsters and their new technologies making us graybeards obsolete and unable to keep up.

    2. Ken G Silver badge

      Re: Assuming he is not lying

      Yes. He took confidential information with, if the US government aren't lying, potential vulnerabilities across all Broadcom devices. His reasons and what use he may or may not have made of it are irrelevant to whether it was a crime, though they should affect sentencing.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        What he said isn't relevant, what he did is.

        Possession of the information IS the crime. Selling it or marketing products based on it might be morally and legally worse, but they have him red handed.

        He took what he new to be trade secrets when he was leaving the company. It wasn't an accident. Then after he is caught and it was clear he'd lose at trial he changes his plea and begs for a slap on the wrist.

        So called white collar crime is an epidemic, and it's because despite being larger in both cost and impact then "blue collar" or petty crime, we allow a two tiered justice system that reward criminal behavior, just for certain classes of people. This guy has no right to expect better treatment then someone who stole a car or broke into a drug store in the middle of the night.

        1. nintendoeats

          Re: What he said isn't relevant, what he did is.

          I agree that white color crime needs to be treated more seriously, but (assuming his statements are truthful) I don't think this is the place to do it. Circumstances are generally taken into account when determining sentencing, including to people who commit robbery. Mercy IS (and should be) a part of the criminal justice system. If somebody does something stupid, for a stupid reason, and ultimately no harm comes of it...how does society benefit from imposing a punitive punishment. Some punishment of course, but what would be the value of ruining this person's life any more than it already has been?

          Showing mercy makes it all the more meaningful when you really bring the hammer down.

          (of course he could also be full of shit, I don't know)

        2. david 12 Silver badge

          Re: What he said isn't relevant, what he did is.

          When you steal a car, the car is gone. When you break into a drug store, the drugs are gone, the damage is probably greater value, and the drugs hurt addicts.

          Yes, victimless crimes like smoking weed, and stealing information for emotional support, should get 'better treatment', just like 'assault' gets better treatment than 'murder'.

        3. J.G.Harston Silver badge

          Re: What he said isn't relevant, what he did is.

          What if he took the information in his head? - like we all do when we leave a job.

          1. sundog
            Black Helicopters

            Re: What he said isn't relevant, what he did is.

            I would think that is called "experience", but what is to stop the ex-employee from spilling trade secrets that he carries in his head? Brings to mind the book "Snow Crash" where the government employees are given only small chunks of code to work on, and specifications to meet for it. No individual worker had the big picture, just a small part of it with no knowledge of how it interacts or relates to the others.

            Too much thought for a Friday. Back to my ticket queue. Black helicopter because I could imagine them chasing trade secrets in my own head.

            1. chivo243 Silver badge
              Coat

              Re: What he said isn't relevant, what he did is.

              No individual worker had the big picture... Daniel Jackson did this when he was uber-smart in one episode of SG-1, Sam caught him? Coincidence? Sam or Uncle Sam!

          2. chivo243 Silver badge
            Boffin

            Re: What he said isn't relevant, what he did is.

            "What if he took the information in his head? - like we all do when we leave a job."

            I thought the same thing when I left my previous employer 8 months ago. An ex-colleague and still very good buddy messaged me recently asking about something(now his responsibility) I worked with for 10 years, and could NOT for the life of me remember the answer he needed. Disheartening really... Perhaps it's because I'm in the same boat as the defendant, the years ahead are much shorter than the years behind, and as much as I would like to think it, the memory isn't what it used to be... The information I may reproduce may look like something out of the Telephone game.

        4. jvf

          Re: What he said isn't relevant, what he did is.

          jail time please.

        5. Aitor 1

          Re: What he said isn't relevant, what he did is.

          I doubt they even got prove that he had the files.

          But probably the offer is 6 months vs 30 years, and banruptcy if he wins. Such is the way of the US legal system.

  3. brett_x

    I get it

    I refer to my previous work all the time. So I can certainly understand if his claims are indeed true.

    However, I could probably always just go back to my original source... stack overflow ;)

    /s

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    His best defence...

    All he needs to do is claim that he declassified them himself, and that this is all just a Biden inflicted witch hunt.

    I hope the FBI didn't display those documents spread all over his nice tidy floor

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Doesn’t say much for Broadcom

    If he worked there for so long and still was so unknowledgeable..

  6. Dramoth

    The precedent...

    just claim that you took the documents for a book you're planning on writing that they were yours anyway.

    But with the way things are going... that isn't going to help the guy claiming it currently

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Straighten up and fly right …

    … to China.

    "Your story's so touching, but it sounds just like a lie."

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