An employee copies some of your secret computer code and “repurposes” it. He gets convicted in federal criminal prosecution, then conviction reversed on appeal. Then he gets tried for state criminal law violations.
“Conviction in ‘Secret Sauce’ Case,” Wall Street Journal, May 2, 2015 B1. Employee, who admitted he broke Goldman’s privacy policy by copying some of Goldman’s computer code, gets tried for breach of federal and state law. Convicted on a state law claim.
Why is this criminal? Isn’t the civil relief (suit for damages you can prove) enough? Do pre-computer statutes apply?
The defendant did a year in prison, got divorced and fired, and no doubt has substantial legal fees. No information about the results of a civil suit, if any. What’s the impact on Goldman’s culture?
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