Q&A: Using Technologies Stolen from a Country
Using Technologies Stolen from a Country
Question
Hello and good morning.
Recently I learned that the President of the United States, Donald Trump, complains that the state of China steals intellectual property from the U.S. worth 300 billion dollars a year.
In addition, it is fairly well known that technologies used in smartphones, laptops, etc. from China are strikingly similar in their specifications to smartphones and laptops originally invented by companies like Apple and LG.
It is also known that it is hard for countries from which the Chinese steal to complain, since China is an economic giant, and it is better to be wise than to be right, and so on.
There may be additional important facts that I have not taken into account.
My question is this: considering all the above facts, is there a problem with buying devices whose technology was copied from one country (with the tacit encouragement of another country), or not?
(Examples: Xiaomi devices, Huawei, etc.)
I myself think that perhaps one can determine that the countries are in a state of “cold war,” and therefore stolen technology is “booty.” If what I think is correct, what is the status of such booty?
Thank you and have a pleasant day.
Answer
I think there is no problem buying them unless and until there is a ruling by some legal tribunal establishing that this is indeed stolen technology. As long as you have no concrete information, we are dealing with general suspicions that cannot prohibit buying a particular product. If you want to be stringent and go beyond the letter of the law by avoiding the purchase of Chinese products, more power to you.
Discussion on Answer
I don’t believe in things that “everyone knows.” Not because it isn’t true (I also know what people say), but because it has no legal validity. You can’t prohibit something as long as there is no authorized determination that this is the situation. Even if “everyone knows you stole,” you still can’t put someone in jail or demand payment from him.
According to your approach, in the era of CDs it would have been forbidden to sell CDs to an Israeli, because as everyone knows Israel is “a country of one disc.”
No legal tribunal is needed, nothing of the sort. The Rabbi is not up to speed. Every reasonably informed person knows what is meant here, and these are definitely not just “general” suspicions.