New in OS X: Get MacRumors Push Notifications on your Mac

Resubscribe Now Close

Three People Sent to Prison in China Over iPad 2 Leaks

Wednesday June 15, 2011 12:46 pm PDT by Eric Slivka

The Wall Street Journal reports that three people have been sent to prison in China over their roles in facilitating leaks of information on the iPad 2 prior to its release.
The court announced the decision Tuesday in statements on its official account at Sina Weibo, a Twitter-like microblogging service in China. It said that Xiao Chengsong, general manager of Shenzhen MacTop Electronics Co., had offered 20,000 yuan, or about $3,000, plus discounts on MacTop products to a former Hon Hai employee named Hou Pengna, for information about the iPad 2. The court said Ms. Hou then paid Lin Kecheng, a Hon Hai research-and-development employee, to get digital images of the device's back cover from last September, six months before the iPad 2 was publicly announced.
The three people were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 12 to 18 months and are subject to fines ranging from approximately $4,500 to $23,000.

Cases for the iPad 2 began appearing on Chinese supply sites four months ahead of Apple's official unveiling, and it was revealed in late April that three workers had been arrested in connection with the leak soon after those initial cases appeared. The employees cited in that report had been claimed to be Foxconn employees and are presumed to be the same ones sentenced to prison in the new report, although only two of them were actually Foxconn employees while the the third was manager of the case manufacturing company that solicited the information.

Related Roundup: iPad
Buyer's Guide: iPad (Don't Buy)
[ 175 comments ]


Top Rated Comments

(View all)

Avatar
bbeagle
100 months ago

I dont know, but being imprisoned for anything but a violent crime seems overly harsh to me.*


How about someone like Bernie Madoff who ruins thousands of people's lives by stealing all their retirement money?
Rating: 26 Votes
Avatar
levitynyc
100 months ago
Do they jail US Apple employees for leaks?

I'd hate to be in a Chinese prison for any duration.
Rating: 13 Votes
Avatar
wikus
100 months ago

I dont know, but being imprisoned for anything but a violent crime seems overly harsh to me.*

* Of course, this is not the way most governments, including the U.S. government, see it. But I beg to differ.


USA still has the death sentence. I'd be very careful with comparisons.
Rating: 11 Votes
Avatar
Gamoe
100 months ago

I'd hate to be in a Chinese prison for any duration.


I dont know, but being imprisoned for anything but a violent crime seems overly harsh to me.*

* Of course, this is not the way most governments, including the U.S. government, see it. But I beg to differ.
Rating: 11 Votes
Avatar
gkarris
100 months ago
Backlight leaks = okay though... :eek:

;)
Rating: 11 Votes
Avatar
jhvander
100 months ago
Honestly, if Apple were really a great company, they'd build their hardware in countries that respect human rights. Yes, it would cost more. Think different.
Rating: 10 Votes
Avatar
seamuskrat
100 months ago

Honestly, if Apple were really a great company, they'd build their hardware in countries that respect human rights. Yes, it would cost more. Think different.


I have always wished companies would offer two versions. A cheap version to be competetive and a socially conscious green version. Some customers would pay more for a product that was environmentally friendly and socially aware.

Sadly, you would need two versions as some comptitor would just make it in the third world and undersell you.

But Apple has the cachet to pull this off and create some needed jobs and pay in needed areas.
Rating: 8 Votes
Avatar
Mattie Num Nums
100 months ago

There's gotta be a tasteless joke about organ transplants to be found here.


Really dude??? Come on man, have a heart! :mad:


:D
Rating: 6 Votes
Avatar
seamuskrat
100 months ago
The Chinese prison system is very different from what we know.

It is not uncommon to buy your way out. So if you are wealthy you may serve a few days and buy your freedom. For those on the lesser income curve, you may serve an extended sentence until your 'fines' are paid via labor.

Add into the equation about the quality and access to legal representation and th presumption of guilt and ability o procure evidence and you have a very different system.

That said, China has less people in prison per capita than the US, less violent crime per capita and less theft per capita. So something works.

That is just too extreme in my opinion.

"prison terms ranging from 12 to 18 months and are subject to fines ranging from approximately $4,500 to $23,000."

I cannot imagine these folks being able to come up with the cash to pay their fines if the fine is as much as $23,000.00 US. This is too severe a penalty in my opinion. As someone mentioned earlier, it isn't as though anybody was murdered. I guess this is just the way it is done in China. It is very sad though.

Rating: 6 Votes
Avatar
jeff33702
100 months ago
I can hear it now..

Police: "Who paid you money for the design details?"
"Yes."
Police: "Who paid you??"
"Yes, that's what I'm saying."
Police: "Did anyone else pay you"
"You."
Police: "Me?"
"Yes, he paid too."
.....
Rating: 6 Votes

[ Read All Comments ]