A Machine Zone employee can be jailed for 10 years for stealing corporate secrets

The situation around the confrontation between Machine Zone and Kabam takes an interesting turn. It became known that a former employee of Machine Zone was taken into custody on charges of stealing confidential information about the company.

According to investigators, forty-two-year-old Tseng Jing (曾静) carried out the theft after he learned about his imminent dismissal. For the abduction, Tseng used the company’s laptop, which he first downloaded the information to, and then moved it to an external drive before giving the computer to Machine Zone.

Tseng downloaded more than 100 files containing private information about the Game of War developer company, a prosecutor and an FBI official told AFP.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the data obtained contained information that Machine Zone’s competitors might be interested in. It did not contain any personal information about the players.

Tseng was detained on August 20 while trying to board a plane from San Francisco to China. He currently faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 if found guilty.

Against the background of the trial between Machine Zone and Kabam, in which, recall, the authors of Game of War sued the developers of Kingdoms of Camelot, a new case may play into the hands of the prosecution.

Sources: The Wall Street Journal, AFP.