A proposed "national technology protection law" (國家科技保護法) will regulate high-tech products, technology, research results, information and professionals, according the National Science Council(NSC), which finalized the draft of the law yesterday.
"No specific list of technologies or items of products will be established for regulation," National Science Council Vice Chairman Huang Wen-hsiung (黃文雄) said yesterday.
Representatives from several Cabinet agencies once suggested regulating specific technologies or products.
Huang said the main purpose of the legislation was to protect scientific research and technology development in Taiwan to preserve the nation's competitiveness.
The draft will be sent to the Cabinet by the end of this month for further discussion.
Fifteen articles were established yesterday at a coordination meeting held by the NSC to finalize the draft of the proposed law that would prevent the outflow of high technology developed by companies and research institutions that receive government funding.
A NT$10 million fine
Based on Article 11 of the draft, Huang said, any person who exports technologies developed by both private companies or institutes financed by the government in Taiwan would face up to two years in prison or a NT$10 million fine.
The spirit of the US Economic Espionage Act had been used in Article 11. Illegal acts listed by the article include obtaining, carrying, or hiding technology through stealing or using unauthorized channels, Huang said.
Users, purchasers and holders of unauthorized technology, as well as any person who transfers technology without receiving authorization, could be charged under the law, he said.
"However, the penalty might become stiffer because some representatives said the punishment [listed in Article 11] was not enough," Huang said.
He said the penalty would be listed precisely in the draft based on future suggestions from the Ministry of Justice, which promised yesterday to consider the necessity of adopting stiffer penalties for violators.
Technology that has been developed in Taiwan would still be protected by several laws, including the National Security Law, Law of National Secret Protection, Trade Law, Copyright Law, the Statute Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area and others, Huang said.
Meanwhile, the NSC has drafted regulations on the emigration of high-tech experts to China. DPP legislators Alice Wang (王雪峰) and Kao Jyh-peng (高志鵬), however, criticized the council's idea of listing high-tech experts for the sake of regulation.
At a press conference held by Wang and Kao, representatives from the industry said that the measure would hamper employers from recruiting professionals.
Responding to the criticism, the council's Huang said yesterday that a list of high-tech experts in semiconductor fabrication and manufacturing would be established only based on the notification of employers after experts left their jobs.
"We don't regulate all high-tech experts," Huang said.
The council will today come up with a draft of regulations governing high-tech experts who wish to obtain employment in China.
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