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Simple English definitions for legal terms
economic espionage
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A quick definition of economic espionage:
Economic espionage is when someone steals important information about money, trade, or technology from a company or the government. They do this secretly and illegally. This can be very bad for the country because it can hurt the economy and national security. The government made a law called the Economic Espionage Act to punish people who do this. If someone is caught, they can go to jail for a long time and have to pay a lot of money. Sometimes people do this just to make money for themselves, and that's called corporate espionage.
A more thorough explanation:
Economic espionage is when someone illegally or secretly targets or acquires sensitive financial, trade, or economic policy information, proprietary economic information, or technological information. This can harm the economic stability of a country and individual companies. The primary law against economic espionage is the Economic Espionage Act of 1996 (EEA), which defines economic espionage as the theft or misappropriation of trade secrets and other intellectual property with the intent or knowledge that the offense will benefit a foreign government, foreign instrumentality, or foreign agent.
- An employee of a U.S. company shares confidential technology with a foreign government, which could threaten national security.
- A company steals trade secrets from a competitor to gain a competitive advantage in the market.
These examples illustrate how economic espionage can harm both national security and individual companies. The sharing of confidential technology with foreign governments can lead to a loss of competitive advantage and harm the overall economic growth of a country. The theft of trade secrets can also harm individual companies by giving competitors an unfair advantage in the market.
The punishment for economic espionage can be severe. Individuals can face up to 15 years in prison and up to $5 million in fines, while companies can face fines up to three times the value of the misappropriated information. However, the prosecution must prove that the person knew the information was a trade secret and intended to benefit a foreign government. Individuals who do not intend to benefit a foreign government but still intend to misappropriate trade secrets can be punished under § 1832 of the EEA.