
Statement by Professor Xi on the Dismissal of the Federal Indictment - gluejar
http://www.xiaoxingxi.org/
======
chromaton
It's still not entirely clear to me why or how Xi was being investigated in
the first place. There was a mention in an earlier post on HN that he had some
incidental contact with Ross Ulbricht of Silk Road.

However, the indictment gives a couple hints on this topic. There are multiple
mentions of FISA and CIPA, US laws dealing with national security and spying.
Perhaps the US was spying on the people Xi was communicating with?

You can read the indictment here: [https://cryptome.org/2015/09/xiaoxing-xi-
files.pdf](https://cryptome.org/2015/09/xiaoxing-xi-files.pdf)

All of this seems like overkill for what was supposedly a violation of an NDA.

~~~
walshemj
You do wonder if there is some internal university politics going on as well
certainly being forced out of his job instead of being put on paid leave
smells bad

~~~
jtedward
I believe this at least partially driven by internal politics. Dr. Xi was
very, very unpopular. The reaction to his indictment on the Temple University
subreddit was very indicative of this.

[https://www.reddit.com/r/Temple/comments/36w3df/cst_dean_mik...](https://www.reddit.com/r/Temple/comments/36w3df/cst_dean_mike_klein_comments_on_physics_chairs/)

~~~
Tinyyy
The comments on that reddit link are so vicious.

~~~
CamperBob2
Yet also so vague. That was a weird thread.

This entire affair seems to be an exercise in telling half the story and
seeing how different people react. We're never told what set the Feds on Xi's
trail in the first place, and that might be important.

------
ClintEhrlich
For those of you unfamiliar with the story, this New York Times piece
describes how this all happened in the first instance. One more datum on
federal incompetence: [http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/12/us/politics/us-drops-
charg...](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/12/us/politics/us-drops-charges-that-
professor-shared-technology-with-china.html)

------
mtgx
> carrying a maximum of 80 years in prison

It boggles the mind that it's even possible to manufacture such a charge. In
most European countries you would get the highest sentence for the biggest
crime, which although wouldn't be "accurate" either, it's a whole lot closer
to what the punishment should be than _stacking the sentences up_.

And please spare me the "but he would never get this sentence anyway!"
argument. If you were in his position and the government would tell you you're
risking 80 years in prison unless you fully cooperated with it, you'd shit
your pants, too, and you'd probably give up any rights you have just to not
risk getting _anywhere close_ to that sentence, or you would even settle and
plead guilty to avoid that.

~~~
dogma1138
The other side of that coin is convicted rapists serving 2-3 years in prison
ala Sweden.

~~~
vinceguidry
Sweden defines rape differently than we do. See: Julian Assange.

~~~
dogma1138
No we are talking about actual rape reap, including child molestation, as well
as early release for all sentences (1/3rd) unless you have behaved very very
badly.

~~~
CamperBob2
What's their recidivism rate like? Nothing else matters, IMO.

~~~
mpweiher
Don't have Sweden, Norway's is apparently 20%. US is >50% to 70%, depending on
sources.

[http://uk.businessinsider.com/why-norways-prison-system-
is-s...](http://uk.businessinsider.com/why-norways-prison-system-is-so-
successful-2014-12)

~~~
dogma1138
Sweden's is closer to the US. for 3 years it's 40%
[https://www.bra.se/bra/bra-in-english/home/crime-and-
statist...](https://www.bra.se/bra/bra-in-english/home/crime-and-
statistics/crime-statistics/recidivism.html) I need to find the decade stat's
those were in the 60's for men (especially of certain groups).

Norway has a slightly better sentencing system, the sentences are also quite
short but not as comically short as in Sweden where they are too short for any
effective programs.

Here's a famous case of a man convicted of molesting 100's of children in both
Sweden and Norway who got 9 years.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erik_Andersen_(child_molester)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erik_Andersen_\(child_molester\))
He was convicted on over 60 counts, and it's hardly a unicorn case.

------
sigmar
I still don't understand how the DoJ screwed up so much in this case.

Did they see schematics in an email and then made the wild assumption that it
was nefarious? That seems absurd.

~~~
TillE
Quite a number of people in the world, including those in positions of
authority, are shockingly incompetent at a very basic level.

~~~
hackaflocka
And there are many "career-opportunists" hoping to score brownie points to
fast-track their way to a few promotions.

------
fweespeech
Is anyone else disturbed by the use of FISA of 1978?

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_Intelligence_Surveilla...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_Intelligence_Surveillance_Act)

They basically accused him of being a Chinese Spy but instead charged him with
Fraud. :|

~~~
facetube
FISA's probably being cited there because the e-mail evidence was, in all
likelihood, captured by the NSA. It turns out you don't need a dystopian
future for unaccountable pervasive domestic spying to ruin lives, you just
need an incompetent one.

~~~
fweespeech
Yeah, but in theory, the NSA/CIA are foreign surveillance and not to be used
to gather evidence on domestic citizens.

~~~
facetube
In the most theoretical of theories.

------
dmix
This always happens when there is a public hysteria over a new threat.
Innocent lives are very quickly ruined, charges get dropped and evidence fails
to hold up in the courtroom on a frequent basis, and despite all of this the
actual criminals continue to operate successfully afterwards (just as chinese
espionage continues to be successful at the present).

The same type of failed wrongful convictions - typically involving people who
are easy targets - as a result of rabid law enforcement and media fear
mongering can be found in terrorism in 2000s, drugs in the 1980s-90s, biker
gangs in the 60s-70s.

Instead of taking a logical and well-reasoned approach to the enforcement of
legitimate societal problems history just keeps repeating itself.

------
Tloewald
Violating an NDA is civil, not legal FFS. The US government has no business
enforcing NDAs. (It can and should enforce court orders resulting from
lawsuits over NDAs.)

~~~
dogma1138
There are several state and federal laws that can be used to criminally
prosecute NDA violations, mainly the National Stolen Property Act and the
Economic Espionage Act.

~~~
Tloewald
Then it's those laws that can be enforced. NDAs themselves are not laws,
they're contracts. You can sue, but you can't arrest.

~~~
dogma1138
Violating a contract can result in criminal charges not just civil suit, NDA's
aren't special.

~~~
Tloewald
I am not a lawyer, but this seems wrong to me. Could you elaborate?

(My whole point is that NDAs are contracts and not special. Breach of contract
is not a crime; it's a "civil wrong" according to Wikipedia, as distinct from
a "criminal offense".)

~~~
dogma1138
"Breach of Contract" on it's own might not be a crime, however some contracts
may be enforced or protected by criminal laws here is a simple example your
divorce settlement especially alimony (which may or may not include child
support).

When you divorce some one you sign the divorce papers which are a contract
certain parts of that contract can be enforced by filing criminal charges, as
in the US at least if you don't pay what you affirmed to pay you can be
charged with non-support which in many states is a felony.

[http://www.ncsl.org/research/human-services/criminal-
nonsupp...](http://www.ncsl.org/research/human-services/criminal-nonsupport-
and-child-support.aspx)

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yyhhsj0521
It seems that the website is blocked (by GFW). It makes no sense.

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konamaster
why cant he sue the DOJ for liabilities ?

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4714
It would be nice to know the amount he is trying to recoup.

