Metal Gear Solid Tech Advisor Busted By Feds for Shipping Weapons Parts
Metal Gear Solid Tech Advisor Busted By Feds for Shipping Weapons Parts
July 19, 2008
The Tacoma News-Tribune reports that a former technical advisor on the original Metal Gear Solid has been charged by federal officials with attempting to ship sophisticated holographic night vision gunsights to Japan.
Capt. Tomoaki Iishiba left Japan in 1993 to join the U.S. Army. Iishiba served in Afghanistan and wrote A Japanese Lieutenant from the 82nd Airborne, a Japanese language book about his military experience.
More recently he has been stationed at Fort Lewis, Washington as an intelligence officer. From the report:
In a two-paragraph charging document filed in U.S. District Court in Seattle, prosecutors wrote that Tomoaki Iishiba bought 60 of the EoTech 553... then mailed them to coconspirators in Japan without obtaining an export license. The company’s Web site lists the sights at $639 apiece...
He faces one count of conspiracy to smuggle goods from the United States and is scheduled to enter a guilty plea at the end of the month, Assistant U.S. Attorney Todd Greenberg said...
Iishiba has also endorsed a line of knives.
A PUBLICATION OF THE ECA
SUBSCRIBE
LOGINGamePolitics ShoutBox
Posted 11/23/09 at 10:08am
Rodrigo Ybáñez García: http://tinyurl.com/ye6x9nv
Rodrigo Ybáñez García: http://tinyurl.com/ye6x9nv
Posted 11/23/09 at 10:08am
Rodrigo Ybáñez García: The very definition of "Lucky Shot":
Rodrigo Ybáñez García: The very definition of "Lucky Shot":
Posted 11/23/09 at 07:56am
DarkSaber: http://tinyurl.com/yl2vfw6 Here's the link, good for conspiracy theories.
DarkSaber: http://tinyurl.com/yl2vfw6 Here's the link, good for conspiracy theories.
Posted 11/23/09 at 07:42am
JDKJ: Leaders never follow. Followers never lead.
JDKJ: Leaders never follow. Followers never lead.
Posted 11/23/09 at 06:48am
DarkSaber: Anyone been following this Hadley Climatic Research Centre server hack story?
DarkSaber: Anyone been following this Hadley Climatic Research Centre server hack story?
Posted 11/22/09 at 11:48pm
ZippyDSMlee: AE:they feeding you well? I am enjoying win7 and heading to bed...uhg I need to get up early and start back to cleaning/painting blahg >< need tog et stuff done befor thanksgiving....
ZippyDSMlee: AE:they feeding you well? I am enjoying win7 and heading to bed...uhg I need to get up early and start back to cleaning/painting blahg >< need tog et stuff done befor thanksgiving....
Posted 11/22/09 at 11:41pm
Andrew Eisen: Just got home from an eight hour recording session at Capitol Records. A lot of fun but damn exhausting.
Andrew Eisen: Just got home from an eight hour recording session at Capitol Records. A lot of fun but damn exhausting.
Posted 11/22/09 at 08:44pm
BearDogg-X: 10 N. O. Who Dat?
BearDogg-X: 10 N. O. Who Dat?
Posted 11/22/09 at 09:45am
ZippyDSMlee: JD:I think doc phill is still sout about the break up with his wife he dose not fill holes as much as make them bigger these day
ZippyDSMlee: JD:I think doc phill is still sout about the break up with his wife he dose not fill holes as much as make them bigger these day
Posted 11/22/09 at 12:06am
JDKJ: You should get Phil McCraken to help you spackle those banisters.
JDKJ: You should get Phil McCraken to help you spackle those banisters.
Posted 11/21/09 at 11:57pm
ZippyDSMlee: Oh in the pirate hunter article I need my song ieda heckled DS,JD,Beemon sic im !!!
ZippyDSMlee: Oh in the pirate hunter article I need my song ieda heckled DS,JD,Beemon sic im !!!
Posted 11/21/09 at 11:56pm
ZippyDSMlee: JD:no I am tried from prepping the banisters for painting , worked on them from 12 to 4 and 6 to 8...after I got back from the store...got up early got ready...blah...been up all day..I need a nap...
ZippyDSMlee: JD:no I am tried from prepping the banisters for painting , worked on them from 12 to 4 and 6 to 8...after I got back from the store...got up early got ready...blah...been up all day..I need a nap...
Posted 11/21/09 at 11:42pm
JDKJ: No. You gonna stay up late tonight soldering?
JDKJ: No. You gonna stay up late tonight soldering?
Posted 11/21/09 at 11:41pm
ZippyDSMlee: JDKJ:Don't you mean Mctite?
ZippyDSMlee: JDKJ:Don't you mean Mctite?
Posted 11/21/09 at 11:33pm
JDKJ: @Zip: Neil, Bob, and Lik McTaint. The McTaint brothers. LOL!!!
JDKJ: @Zip: Neil, Bob, and Lik McTaint. The McTaint brothers. LOL!!!
Posted 11/21/09 at 09:44pm
Flamespeak: I still think military personell, killing other military personell, on a military complex should be handled by military courts.
Flamespeak: I still think military personell, killing other military personell, on a military complex should be handled by military courts.
Posted 11/21/09 at 09:43pm
Flamespeak: I could see this a mixture of the two charges rather than just one or the other.
Flamespeak: I could see this a mixture of the two charges rather than just one or the other.
Posted 11/21/09 at 09:43pm
Flamespeak: I think this was mainly a person who snapped, but evidence is showing he definitely had strong inlinations to islamic-extremism.
Flamespeak: I think this was mainly a person who snapped, but evidence is showing he definitely had strong inlinations to islamic-extremism.
Posted 11/21/09 at 09:41pm
Flamespeak: People are trying to claim that Hasan's actions were not terrorism. I don't jump on the 'terror train' like others, however
Flamespeak: People are trying to claim that Hasan's actions were not terrorism. I don't jump on the 'terror train' like others, however
Posted 11/21/09 at 09:38pm
mentor07825: Britain certainly does deserve it! And the French! God damn it, it was a hand ball!!!
mentor07825: Britain certainly does deserve it! And the French! God damn it, it was a hand ball!!!
Copyright © 2007 ECA. All rights reserved.
Game Politics and Game Politics logo are trademarks of the ECA.
Game Politics and Game Politics logo are trademarks of the ECA.
Comments
... Um.... wow?
Out of the blue, that came...
no comment..lol
I wish I could get two paychecks at once :(
Oh, I thought it was Motosada Mori (the current military adviser for the MGS series).
Yeah, I also got scared about that. Mori has done excellent on MGS2 to 4. CQC ? Those are his moves.
Man, would I like to learn that.
Terrible job you mean. None of those moves are real (and that comes from several years US Army Infantry and RSTA). Nobody uses a knife and a pistol together like that. Nobody moves like that. They did a horrible horrible job in the MGS series, it's nothing even close to what the real military is like.
Buzz off fanboy.
Someone is jealous of Snake.
Maybe not you Army boys :P
This was unexpected :/.
And.... wait for it... FAIL. Sigh, i'd give him the benefit of the doubt, that he sold it and didn't mean to do it illegally, but life isn't that simple. Or maybe the truth is simpler, and that he broke the law and is gonna go to jail and be dishonorably discharged.
"Tomoaki...? Tomoaki...? TOMOAKIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!"
The cynical side of videogames (spanish only): http://thelostlevel.blogspot.com/ My DeviantArt Page (aka DeviantCensorship): http://www.darkknightstrikes.deviantart.com/
Good to see we're on the same wave
It gave me a chuckle.
- http://socialistgamerreview.com ~ Because the Proletariat Plays Games Too.
Tomoaki? Tomoaki?! Tomoaki!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Game Over
So he bought something with his own money, that he was legally allowed to buy, and sent it to people in japan.. and is now arrested?
You know, the law of our nation only extends to OUR nation. And I think you're missing the fact that the "something" that he "bought" was that which requires a specific license.
The fact that he attempted to ship the items WITHOUT a license merits enough reasonable cause to believe he's up to something not-so-good. We're not talking about an imported mug from Texas, either, we're talking about some sophisticated weapons technology, here.
Yes he was SUCH a bad person for shipping optical scopes. This is about MONEY, nothing else. The US doesn't want their technology getting into Japanese hands. Which is hilarious since I'm sure they have something twice as good.
This has nothing to do with technology. It has to do with exports laws. You can't ship any optics out of the USA even cheap $10 scope.
A nation that is completely reliant on others for military protection, and who doesn't allow its citizens to carry guns, is going to have a more sophisticated optical scope than the strongest military in the world. Are you serious?
Actually Japanese military budget is rank between 2-5 at any given year. However the difference between first (USA over $500 billions) and second (around $50 billions) is huge. With that said 90% of Japanese military technology is bought from the USA.
My point was the stupidity of the whole situation... the US has the most absurd export laws, ones that most people have no idea about. Did you know, for example, that even to send a simple authenticator code as far as Canada, Blizzard Entertainment is going to need to go through an absurdly expensive and complicated legal process because it is classed as "Cryptographic Technology".. like a night vision scope or a authenticator keychain is terribly dangerous to the US.
These laws are about money, control and paranoia.. sweeping laws, wide ranging, laws that negatively effect far more people than they protect.
Additionally, their encryption laws are laughable. Take PGP for example. Run of the mill encryption. If I print out the source as a book, I can export it no problem. But if I upload the software across the US border, it's a felony.
Smooth, eh?
This seems like another one of those things that isn't really connected to the video game industry except by ludacris chance. Like the case of the death by controller. I mean I don't feel bad for the guy even. That's what happens when you're stupid. Or at least when you behave that way nya.
I see that the rapper Ludacris has made his impact on the vocabulary skills of others. Inadvertently, too.
Haha I was thinking the same thing but didn't want to mention it.
Dude, get a dictionary.
Oh boohoo my spelling isn't perfect. At least I know that's the only thing you can even say about me.
You, sir, WIN.
I can see, for Metal Gear Solid 5, will be aobut...
some military advisor of a software studio was involved in a arms smuggling ring...
"DREBIN"
Stupid fool got caught.
~You Could Be Mine, But You're Way Out Of Line..~
He got caugh alright. That's the end of his career, his pension, and his ability to ever make more than 10 dollars an hour.
All to illegally smuggle Eotech sights.
Was it worth it you worm?
Not true. He is now a hero in most of the world.
~You Could Be Mine, But You're Way Out Of Line..~
idiot stfu
AMERICA, FUCK YEAH!
faggot
I can't WAIT for the next Sept 11. maybe I'll be a part of it. I'm an americunt BTW. fuck america and fuck blindly patriotic little shits such as yourself.
GP, can we PLEASE give his IP the banhammer for that? I mean, a little dissing of one country or another is fine once in awhile, but that was WAY over the line. I'm sure many people that visit this site know of someone that has died during 9/11, that was way too far....
To crassly rail agisnt the status quo of arrogant America is still right last I checked, now when the fool starts dissing the dead and screwing the corpses ya ban him then.
I is fuzzy brained mew =^^=
http://zippydsmlee.wordpress.com/
(in need of a bad overhaul)
Agreed.
~You Could Be Mine, But You're Way Out Of Line..~
He's lucky he's on the internet. That kind of talk would earn a good, solid, healthy beating in real life.
Yep, and technically, his "speech" would be inciting a riot so-to-speak....so it's kinda not even free speech at that point...
Plus, this is a private site. Sure, technically it's freedom of speech on here, but Dennis can block anyone he wants, for any or no reason.
And if you really want to get technical, he said he WANTS TO BE A TERRORIST. I hope the FBI shows up at his doorstep for this, honestly. It's disgusting. How would any German visitors out there feel about someone from Germany degrading Nazi Germany or something to that extent?
I meant to say "joking about Nazi Germany, or about how they want to be a part of the 4th Reich"
ALARM!!
Didn't hide in time :p
AHA! THIS IS PROOF THAT GAMES MAKE PEOPLE INTO ARMS SMUGGLERS! JACK THOMPSON WINS!!!!
-Entertainment isn't the reason the world sucks. It's the reason we know the world sucks. For information on games and psychology, look up: Jonathan Freedman(2002)Block & Crain(2007)Grand Theft Childhood, by Harvard researchers Larry Kutner&Cheryl Olson
Charging him is retarded. I'm 99% sure he sold those EOTech sights to US Army soldiers stationed at military bases in Japan. Considering I've seen videos of a Yakuza "Arsenal" which was two handguns, one with a suppressor, I don't think there's too many people running around in Japan with M4s who aren't in the military.
Even if it was to US Soldiers, thats pretty much just as bad. The japanese aren't exactly happy that they have a military presence in their country.
What's bad about shipping Eotech toJapan
There are some very stupidUS Japan but I figure there is a lot of Airsoft kiddies in Japan
Yakuza Arsenal got two handguns? Hahaha. have over 30 firearms in my collection and that is considered small by standard.
So is this ironic or forshadowing?
Ironic mostly and stupid of course.
...You know this sounds largely like a case of "whoops?" to me. Granted the guy's in the military but I wouldn't have thought shipping a set of sights, no matter how expensive or high tech, would be illegal. I mean if it was a scope or something or a specialty barrel I could possibly see it...but some snazzy gun sights? Common this could have entirely been "hey dude, I heard about these cool new sights I could use to wow the guys at the range, but I can't make it to america... can I send you the dough and you can ship em to me?"
All optics is illegal to ship outside of theUSA USA Japan
With that said, lots of parents have shipped Eotech to their kids inIraq , Afghanistan US
So the guy really didn't do anything wrong? What he did was illegal, yeah, but all he did was buy some scopes and ship them out to Japan without the right licensing? Big freaking whoop! *sigh*
It doesn't matter if it is right or wrong. You can do good and still go to jail. That's how things work.
He was caught exporting 60 Eotechs to a Japanese businessman. That’s a lot. If he shipped one, no one would have cared. That’s what probably got him in trouble.
What he should have done was set up an incorporated business and applied for export instead of trying to smuggle the Eotech out of the state after being denied.
Don't worry bush will pardon him before he leaves the office.
Did a giant exclamation mark appear over his head when he was caught?
About damn time. It was only yesterday that I was shot by a scope. Good to see them cracking down on optics violence.
Retarded export laws FTL.
Pretty much nothign ehre "illict" other than dumb US laws.
I is fuzzy brained mew =^^=
http://zippydsmlee.wordpress.com/
(in need of a bad overhaul)
This here thread has been invaded by the trolls.
I was thinking the same thing. I mean seriously, someone was talking about being an "Americunt" and wants to be a part of the next 9/11. *sigh* What has the internet come to?
Nothing new I'd say, I see stupid ass comments like that made quite often on the internet, kind of sad but not really surprising anymore.
Sorry, but is this your first time on the intrawebs?
The Americ*nt comment was kinda funny, though :)
I'm not too familiar with U.S. military law. Is it possible Ishiba faces execution if found guilty?
Uhhh..
Nope.
And this doesn't fall under military law. It's a civilian offense. He's breaking export laws by not having a permit.
- http://socialistgamerreview.com ~ Because the Proletariat Plays Games Too.
What a joke.
These sights were likely going to be delivered to some hardcore airsofters, but he caught the attention of some self-important bureaucrat that decided to play rough. I imagine serious airsoft shooters in Japan would pay top dollar for actual Eotechs that American shooters take for granted here. The 553 is a very good optical sight.
I suspect the guilty plea was just to make this whole thing go away, it'll likely make it tough to renew his security clearance, but I don't think that he'll neccesarily lose his military job over it. He certainly won't be executed! :)
Plus, he sent them to Japan. It's not like he sent them to Iran.
The funny thing is, many made-in-Japan airsoft parts are used on live firearms here in the US: scope mounts, rail accessories, etc. The Japanese are so obsessed with real firearms that the external tolerances are identical to live weapons, so their accessories work just fine.
They're cheaper than the "real deal" and they work just as well, even if they aren't made to the same mil-spec materials.
This guy has always been a criminal ever since he was a kid. Watch him turn into a criminal.