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Gov't to check laws to prevent technology leaks(Japan Economic Newswire Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) The Japanese government said Friday it will investigate potential flaws in the country's legislation concerning leaks of domestic technology following the revelation that a former engineer illegally gave Toshiba Corp.'s flash memory research data to a South Korean company. "It is often said that Japan's legislation intended to prevent leaks lags behind other countries...If necessary, I think there could be a revision of related laws," economic and fiscal policy minister Akira Amari told a press conference. Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Toshimitsu Motegi told a separate press conference that it is important that Japan "strictly" acts against leaks of technology it should protect. "We need to consider (what to do) by referring to examples of foreign countries," he added, without elaborating. The remarks by the ministers came a day after Tokyo police arrested Yoshitaka Sugita, a former engineer at a semiconductor maker allied with Toshiba in flash memory production, on suspicion of illegally providing a South Korean company with Toshiba's technical data. It is rare for a technology leak to a foreign company to lead to a criminal case. Toshiba also said it filed a damages suit against SK Hynix Inc., the predecessor of which allegedly obtained the data from the suspect, asserting that the South Korean company wrongfully acquired and used its proprietary technical information. (c) 2014 Kyodo News |