
One of the Earliest Industrial Spies Was a French Missionary Stationed in China - lermontov
http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/porcelain-corporate-espionage-china-missionary-dentrecolles
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dutchieinfrance
Even earlier were the Byzantine monks who smuggled silk worm eggs out of
China. Arguably not espionage, unless you consider the eggs to be DNA
packages.

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r0muald
If you find the subject interesting I suggest reading "The white road" by
Edmund De Waal. It gives a more human, broad and intimate insight into the
history of porcelain both in China, Europe and... the USA.

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slackerjack
Weren't the Dutch even earlier with
[Delftware]([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delftware](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delftware))?

Weird to not even mention the Dutch.

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pyrale
> After much experimenting they managed to make a thin type of earthenware
> which was covered with a white tin glaze. Although made of low-fired
> earthenware, it resembled porcelain amazingly well."

They did not produce porcelain, but a product designed to look like it.

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user982
"[A]n effort to implement mercantilist economic strategies of technology
transfer."

This is an amazing euphemism.

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slim
It's not. Calling it theft when technology is transferred to China, is an
exaggeration.

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seanmcdirmid
In the short term, it is called IP theft and is considered negative. In the
long run, it is called the diffusion of technology and is considered positive.

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pmoriarty
Not everyone believes in intellectual property or in the notion that copying
is theft.

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seanmcdirmid
True. As a counterpoint, not everyone believes that technology diffusion is
good and desirable.

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pmoriarty
Good for whom?

The ones who already "own" most of the intellectual property? Or the ones who
don't own it?

Those who create it, those who distribute it, those who sell it, or those who
consume it?

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seanmcdirmid
Yes. Isn't good and bad usually relative to ones own interests?

