東芝技術流出 日本のもの作りが脅かされる

The Yomiuri Shimbun March 16, 2014
Leak of Toshiba secrets highlights threat to Japan’s manufacturers
東芝技術流出　日本のもの作りが脅かされる（3月16日付・読売社説）

Secrets of Toshiba Corp.’s cutting-edge semiconductor technology have been divulged to a rival South Korean company.
　東芝の最先端の半導体技術が、ライバルの韓国企業に流出していた。

How should Japanese manufacturers protect their core technological know-how, prized as the foundation of this nation’s production activities? Efforts must be redoubled to beef up arrangements to protect Japan’s technology from being leaked abroad.
　日本のもの作りを支える“虎の子技術”をいかに守るか。海外流出を防ぐ対策の強化が求められよう。

A former employee of the Tokyo-based Japan arm of a U.S. chipmaker that had a business alliance with Toshiba is suspected of taking research data out of the firm without permission, using a recording medium in 2008. He is accused of subsequently providing the data to SK Hynix Inc., a South Korean chip giant.
　東芝の提携先企業の元従業員が２００８年、研究データを記録媒体で無断に持ち出し、韓国半導体大手「ＳＫハイニックス」に提供した疑いが持たれている。

The Metropolitan Police Department arrested the man Thursday on suspicion of violating the Unfair Competition Prevention Law that covers the passing on of trade secrets.
不正競争防止法違反（営業秘密開示）容疑で警視庁に逮捕された。

The information stolen was Toshiba research data on NAND-type flash memory, a key semiconductor that is used in digital cameras, smartphones and other electronic equipment.
　狙われた技術は、デジタルカメラやスマートフォンなどに搭載されている主力半導体「ＮＡＮＤ型フラッシュメモリー」の研究データである。

After sneaking the data out of a Toshiba plant while assigned there by the chipmaker, the former employee began working at SK Hynix. Was the new job given in exchange for his promise to provide the South Korean company with the chip research data? The MPD must thoroughly uncover all aspects of the case, including the background against which the incident took place and the possible involvement of SK Hynix.
　元従業員は持ち出し後、ＳＫ社に入社した。データ提供と引き換えの転職だったのか。警視庁は事件の背景、ＳＫ社の関与などを徹底的に究明してもらいたい。

The global market for NAND-type flash memory has been growing rapidly. South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co. has the highest market share in NAND products, followed by Toshiba, while SK Hynix places fourth.
　ＮＡＮＤ型フラッシュメモリー市場は急成長している。韓国サムスン電子が首位、東芝が２位、ＳＫ社は４位で、

Competition has been increasingly fierce, with Chinese companies going all out to close the gap with industry leaders.
中国企業も追い上げており、競争が激しい。

If it is true that the former employee did illicitly take the cutting-edge technological secrets out of the firm to give them to a rival, this must be considered an incident that could shake the very basis of Japanese companies’ international competitiveness.
　そんな中、提携企業の元従業員が最先端技術を不正に持ち出し、ライバル企業に漏えいしたとすれば、日本企業の国際競争力の基盤を揺るがす事態と言える。

Tighten compliance

Toshiba says the damage involved is at least ¥100 billion and has filed a compensatory lawsuit with the Tokyo District Court against the former employee and SK Hynix.
　東芝は、被害は少なくとも１０００億円に上るとして、元従業員とＳＫ社に損害賠償を求める訴訟を東京地裁に起こした。

Instituting such a suit runs the risk of having the corporate secrets in question exposed.
　訴訟に持ち込めば、企業秘密が公になるリスクもある。

In light of the massive damage and the impact the incident will have on the country’s industrial sector, however, Toshiba seems to have decided to seek the rigorous, impartial judgment of a court in the matter.
だが、被害の甚大さや産業界に与える影響を考慮し、裁判所に厳正な判断を求めたのだろう。

In a similar case, Japan’s largest steel manufacturer, Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp., has been fighting a court battle against its South Korean rival POSCO, the largest steelmaker in South Korea. The Japanese company is seeking a massive amount of compensation on the grounds that one of its retired workers illegally passed on information about its state-of-the-art technology concerning high-performance steel plates.
　新日鉄住金も、退職した元社員が高性能鋼板の最先端技術を韓国鉄鋼最大手ポスコに流出させたとして、巨額の賠償を求めて法廷で争っている。

Among companies in such countries as China and South Korea, the head-hunting of technology experts has been intense, and there have been conspicuous moves to acquire information from both current and retired employees of Japanese companies.
　中国、韓国企業などでは、技術者の引き抜きが過熱しており、日本企業の社員や退職者から情報を得ようとする動きが目立つ。

About 10 percent of the approximately 3,000 Japanese companies that responded to a survey by the Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry replied that they had experienced leaks of their trade secrets. The poll also showed that only about half of the responding companies prohibited employees from leaking corporate secrets after retirement, exposing weaknesses in the companies’ systems to protect confidentiality.
　経済産業省が行った調査では、回答した３０００社のうち、約１割の企業が「営業秘密の漏えいを経験した」とした。従業員に退職後の秘密保持を義務づけていた企業は半数にとどまり、企業の防衛策の甘さもうかがえる。

Every company is urged to thoroughly review its arrangements for handling trade secrets, while at the same time strengthening steps to ensure that employees comply with rules and regulations.
　企業各社は改めて、最先端技術など営業秘密の社内管理体制を総点検するとともに、従業員のコンプライアンス（法令順守）の徹底を図らねばならない。

It is also problematic that penalties under the Unfair Competition Prevention Law are markedly lenient when compared to those in the United States and European countries.
　不正競争防止法の罰則が欧米などに比べて軽い点も課題だ。

Ways must be studied to effectively deter leakage of corporate secrets by making penalties heavier, comparable to those in other countries.
他国並みの重罰によって、犯罪を抑止する方策を検討すべきだろう。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, March 16, 2014)
（2014年3月16日01時42分  読売新聞）