The Economic Espionage Act of 1996

In 1996 Congress enacted the Economic Espionage Act to provide that misappropriating trade secrets is a federal criminal offense subject to forfeiture of property, fines, and imprisonment. One part of the act applies to theft of trade secrets by those intending to benefit any foreign government (for which individuals can be imprisoned up to ten years and fined up to $500,000); another prohibits the misappropriation of trade secrets with the intent to convert the trade secret to the economic benefit of another (for which individuals can be imprisoned up to fifteen years and fined up to $500,000). The act broadly defines trade secrets to include nearly any kind of business, technical, scientific, or financial ...

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