Industrial Espionage: Not Just For China Anymore
By Edward NiedermeyerOctober 26, 2009
The recent arrest of a Ford employee on charges of industrial espionage may have been enough to scuttle Ford’s sale of Volvo to Chinese firm Geely. Or, as Bertel Schmitt reports, perhaps the spy story was just a convenient excuse to get more money out of the deal. But whether as a legitimate concern or strategic fearmongering, industrial espionage is hot right now. The Freep reports three former GM-Daewoo employees have been charged with spycraft, for allegedly transferring “critical GM technology” to Russian automaker tagAZ. The technology in question: engine and component designs for Daewoo’s outgoing (J-200 model) Lacetti, predecessor to the Cruze. And GM claims tagAz’s new C-100 sedan (above) looks a little too similar to the Lacetti in question. “It’s pretty close, if not dead on,” say GM-Daewoo spokesfolks. “The J-200 may not be a new vehicle for a lot of developing countries, but for a lot of emerging markets, it’s a very aspirational vehicle.” And it’s been a best-seller in Russia. TagAZ denies that it stole designs from Daewoo, saying it spent four years and $250m developing the C-100. But it also hired “a number” of former Daewoo engineers, according to GM, which is probably the most legitimate way to steal a good design. But with GM possibly wavering on the Opel deal, will this latest espionage raise doubts about the wisdom of selling Opel to another Russian firm? It probably should.
Posted in Design | Korea | Law and Order | News Blog | Overseas | 3 comments 
FBI Mining DMV Photos For Fugitives
By Edward NiedermeyerOctober 13, 2009
The AP [via Yahoo] reports that the FBI has begun using facial recognition software to dig through DMV photo archives searching for fugitives, causing new worries for privacy advocates. “Everybody’s participating, essentially, in a virtual lineup by getting a driver’s license,” the ACLU’s Christopher Calabrese explains. Drivers licenses, argues Calabrese are rapidly becoming more than, well, driver’s licenses. “Now you need them to open a bank account. You need them to be identified everywhere. And suddenly they’re becoming the de facto law enforcement database,” he says. State and Federal laws prohibit the FBI from collecting and storing DMV records as a law-enforcement database, so the pilot program in North Carolina is taking place within the state DMV with its full cooperation.
Posted in Law and Order | News Blog | 16 comments
Toyota Hybrids Facing US-Market Ban?
By Edward NiedermeyerOctober 6, 2009
Bloomberg reports that the US International Trade Commission has launched a probe of alleged patent violations which could result in the banning of all Toyota hybrids from the US market. Paice LLC won a 2005 civil suit against Toyota, in which Paice’s founder Alex Severinsky sought a court order banning the sale of Toyota’s Prius, Highlander and Lexus RX400h hybrids. Instead, an appeals judge awarded Paice $4.3m in damages, and ordered Toyota pay Paice a $100 royalty per hybrid sold in the US. In the current case before the ITC, Paice claims that Toyota’s Camry, third-generation Prius, Lexus HS250h sedan and Lexus RX450h are “are materially the same” and violate the same patents as those in its first case. If Paice can convince the ITC that Toyota indeed violated its patents, he will still need to prove that the little-known company has a market to protect. But Paice doesn’t actually want Toyota to be banned from selling cars. In the words of one spokesman, an “injunction would have given Paice strong leverage to negotiate a lucrative licensing deal with Toyota…Paice always felt that their technology was worth a lot more than [$100 per car] to Toyota.” (more…)
Posted in Hybrid | Law and Order | News Blog | Technology | 69 comments
Daimler Suit Imperils New Chrysler Launches
By Edward NiedermeyerOctober 5, 2009
The Detroit News reports that nastiness between Chrysler and its former overlords at Daimler could prevent the much-needed (by ChryCo) launches of new versions of the 300/Charger and Grand Cherokee/Durango. Apparently production of these new products can’t take place until Daimler and Chrysler agree to terms for Daimler-supplied components. Chrysler needs to resolve its legal differences with Daimler within 20 days in order to prevent delays to the roll-out of the Grand Cherokee/Durango. If the conflict continues, Chrysler admits it won’t be able to find a new supplier until January 2011. The Grand Cherokee/Durango and 300/Charger are planned to be Chrysler’s only 2010 debuts.
Posted in Law and Order | New Cars | News Blog | Suppliers | 32 comments
Washington Supreme Court Upholds Forced DUI Blood Draws
By The NewspaperSeptember 17, 2009
Like most states, Washington uses an implied consent statute to punish anyone who refuses to submit to a breathalyzer test upon being accused of drunk driving. In a ruling last Thursday, the Washington Supreme Court upheld the right of police to use force to remove blood from a motorist even after an informed decision to refuse the test has been made. The high court argued that recent changes to the law essentially eliminated the need to seek consent when a warrant is obtained.
Posted in Crime & Punishment | Law and Order | News Blog | 23 comments
New Orleans Holds Public Defender’s Office Hostage to Red Light Camera Revenue
By Edward NiedermeyerAugust 28, 2009
Nola.com reports that New Orleans’ public defenders office has yet to see any revenue from red light cameras, and will have to shut down by March. Chief Public Defender Derwyn Bunton made the announcement, saying the city’s ability to provide 6th amendment-mandated public defense options would be shut down between March and July of 2010. Moving the public defender’s office to a red light camera revenue-based funding model was a relatively recent decision by Mayor Ray Nagin. The public defender’s office represents over 88 percent of New Orleans’ 220,000 criminal and traffic court defendants each year.
Posted in Law and Order | News Blog | 4 comments
Chrysler Flip-Flops on Liability Claims
By Edward NiedermeyerAugust 27, 2009
ChryCo finally acknowledges that denying outstanding liability claims while taking taxpayer money was kind of a dick move.
In a letter sent today to Members of Congress, Chrysler Group LLC
announced that the company will accept product liability claims on vehicles
manufactured by Chrysler LLC (now OldCarco LLC) before June 10, 2009, and
involved in accidents on or after that date. On June 10, 2009, Chrysler
Group purchased substantially all of the assets of Old Carco.
Posted in Law and Order | News Blog | 6 comments
Chrysler Piles onto the Daimler Lawsuit Bandwagon
By Edward NiedermeyerAugust 26, 2009
Amidst a lawsuit by Old Chrysler creditors accusing Daimler of stripping Chrysler’s assets comes another suit against the German automaker, this time by New Chrysler. Automotive News [sub] reports that Chrysler actually owes Daimler about $78 million in volume shortfall payments for 2.2-liter diesel engines supplied by Daimler. Because Chrysler is balking on those payments, Daimler stopped delivery of steering columns and torque converters, as a way of pressuring Chrysler to make good on its payments. But Chrysler claims that “the volume shortfall payment issue was resolved in an April 17, 2009, pre-petition agreement that settled a number of disputes between Daimler and the old Chrysler.” As a result, “Chrysler Group believes that Daimler’s misconduct is designed to extort a settlement by wrongfully withholding crucial parts that Daimler has contractually committed to supply to Chrysler Group,” say ChryCo spokesfolks. Grand Cherokee production at Chrysler’s Jefferson North assembly plant in Detroit is threatened by the supply dispute, as is Dodge Charger and Challenger and Chrysler 300/300C production in Brampton, Ontario.
Posted in Law and Order | News Blog | 6 comments
Chrysler Creditors Given Green Light to Sue Daimler
By Edward NiedermeyerAugust 14, 2009
The Freep reports that Chrysler bankruptcy judge Arthur Gonzalez has given creditors permission to sue Daimler for diverting $9 billion from the automaker two years ago. Gonzalez only put one restriction on the suit: creditors may not use government funds for the effort. According to the Freep report, the suit is being brought by “AutoNation Inc., the nation’s largest auto retailer; DARCARS Imports Inc., a Maryland-based dealer group, the UAW and two people with personal injury cases pending against Chrysler.” What we still don’t understand is exactly which “important assets” Daimler allegedly stripped, and how they were worth $9 billion. The allegations have apparently been redacted to the point that they are not identifiable, and Daimler asserts the claims are “without merit.” Since Daimler is already out over $37 billion on its Chrysler misadventure, it could be hard to prove that Daimler benefited from any aspect of the transaction.
Posted in Law and Order | News Blog | 6 comments
Chrysler Creditors: Can We Please Sue Daimler?
By Edward NiedermeyerAugust 5, 2009
Automotive News [sub] reports that Chrysler’s unsecured creditors have requested permission to sue Daimler for gutting Chrysler’s “most valuable assets” during its sale of the company. The request alleges that “unidentified assets” were lost in Daimler’s 2007 sale of Chrysler to Cerberus Capital Management, for which creditors are seeking $3 billion in compensation. If granted, the damages would eclipse the $2 billion granted to secured debtors during Chrysler’s bankruptcy sale. “This is completely without merit and we intend to defend ourselves vigorously,” say Daimler spokespeople, and we can’t help but feel that they have a point. What mythical assets were present for Daimler to squirrel away by the time they sold to Cerberus? Did Daimler mismanage Chrysler? Sure. Did they loot assets? For that to happen, there would have to have been valuable assets in place to begin with. Best of luck with that, Chrysler creditors.
Posted in Chapter 11 | Law and Order | News Blog | 28 comments
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