Retired University of Tennessee Professor Convicted of Arms Export Violations

Retired University of Tennessee Professor Convicted of Arms Export Violations

knoxville.fbi.gov

(KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE)-On Wednesday, September 3, 2008, a federal jury convicted retired University of Tennessee professor Dr. J. Reece Roth, after a seven day trial, of conspiracy to violate the Arms Export Control Act together with fifteen separate illegal exports of military technical information relating to plasma technology designed to be deployed on the wings of drones operating as a weapons or surveillance systems. The Arms Export Control Act prohibits the export of defense-related materials, including the technical data, to a foreign national or a foreign nation. The illegal arms control exports by Dr. Roth related to technical data and information that was developed through a U.S. Air Force research and development contract to develop this advanced form of a drone. Dr. Roth was also convicted of one count of wire fraud relating to defrauding the University of Tennessee of the honest services by illegally exporting sensitive military information relating to this U.S. Air Force contract.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Plasma on the wings of a drone...

knoxville.fbi.gov
(visit the link for the full news article)

Now a couple years ago... and throughout several threads I have been linking to information freely available at the AFRL website about just such information....


[edit on 9-9-2008 by zorgon]

The article in particular...

Revolutionary Hypersonic Aerospace Vehicles With Plasma Actuators
www.thelivingmoon.com...




The original info..
released via press release 5/1/2006
AFRL Develops Plasma Actuator Computational Model
www.wpafb.af.mil...

Follow up
released via press release 6/6/2006
AFRL Proves Feasibility of Plasma Actuators
www.wpafb.af.mil...

Now whenever I post anything from a .mil source I ALWAYS check for the following... as it is always clearly posted...

1. This Web site is provided as a public service by Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, 88th Air Base Wing Public Affairs.

2. Information presented on this Web site is considered public information and may be distributed or copied. Use of appropriate byline/photo/image credits is requested.
Privacy and Security Disclaimer AFRL
www.wpafb.af.mil...

So it occurs to me that while this info is freely available to us here in the USA, I have on occasion sent links to people like Internos in Italy and Mike Singh in India and they were NOT able to open the links to the .mil sites.

Now I don't know exactly what level of info this professor transmitted to China... but this does illustrate how much of a fine line there is between actively looking for truth in public domain data and having the three letter clubs 'notice' you

Considering ATS has an international audience, I could easily see how info that is blocked to foreign access could 'leak' out through a website or forum seeking for answers

From the Department of Defense...

Militarily Critical Technologies List
Developing Science and Technologies List
www.dtic.mil...

Its amazing what is considered 'sensitive'


Internet Presents Web of Security Issues
By Paul Stone
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Sept. 25, 1998 – In a briefing room deep in the Pentagon earlier this year, Air Force Lt. Col. Buzz Walsh and Maj. Brad Ashley presented a series of briefings to top DoD leaders that raised more than just a few eyebrows.

Selected leaders were shown how it was possible to obtain their individual social security numbers, unlisted home phone numbers, and a host of other personal information about themselves and their families simply by cruising the Internet.

Walsh and Ashley, members of the Pentagon's Joint Staff, were not playing a joke on the leaders. Nor were they trying to be clever. Rather they were dramatically, and effectively demonstrating the ease of accessing and gathering personal and military data on the information highway information which, in the wrong hands, could translate into a vulnerability.

"You don't need a Ph.D. to do this," Walsh said about the ability to gather the information. "There's no rocket science in this capability. What's amazing is the ease and speed and the minimal know-how needed. The tools (of the Net) are designed for you to do this."

The concern over personal information on key DoD leaders began with a simple inquiry from one particular flag officer who said he was receiving a large number of unsolicited calls at home. In addition to having the general's unlisted number, the callers knew specifically who he was.

Beginning with that one inquiry, the Joint Staff set out to discover just how easy it is to collect data not only on military personnel, but the military in general. They used personal computers at home, used no privileged information not even a DoD phone book and did not use any on-line services that perform investigative searches for a fee.

In less than five minutes on the Net Ashley, starting with only the general's name, was able to extract his complete address, unlisted phone number, and using a map search engine, build a map and driving directions to his house.

Pentagon: The internet needs to be dealt with as if it were an enemy "weapons system"

www.globalresearch.ca...

www.defenselink.mil...

Information Opertions Roadmap - DoD PDF
www.gwu.edu...

The Pentagon's Information Operations Roadmap is blunt about the fact that an internet, with the potential for free speech, is in direct opposition to their goals. The internet needs to be dealt with as if it were an enemy "weapons system".

Hi Zorgon,

The case is interesting because of the plasma system.

So is the tiny bits of info (about the system) that can be found in the public arena by researching the case.

The case doesn't appear to have anything to do with the internet data, sending links or the public domain though.

reply to post by zorgon


Its not the information about its existance he's being tried for. Its the actual blueprints and scientific data he sold thats the major points of this proceeding!.

Zindo