Friday, September 14, 2007, 9/14/2007 07:35:00 AM

Trade Secrets in Formula One -- A $100 Million Fine

A review of these pages might give some the impression that stealing trade secrets often doesn't receive the punishment it deserves. Well, not always.

From the New York Times, a story, following up on our earlier story from May, concerning the big trade secrets scandal in Formula One Racing.

The lede: "McLaren Mercedes, the leading team in the Formula One championship, was fined $100 million on Thursday and excluded from the constructors’ title in the spying scandal that has plagued the sport all season."

The International Automobile Federation, the governing body of formula, found the McLaren guilty of cheating by using trade secrets in the form of data obtained from Ferrari, its main rival, to improve its own car.

Not surprisingly, this is the harshest punishment given in 57 years of Formula One racing. It also indicates that there's big, big money in this sport.
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