The Economic Espionage Act (EEA) was signed into law by President Clinton in October 1996. It was enacted to provide strong legal protections, at a federal level, to owners of trade secrets. Of particular concern was the perception that foreign governments and firms were stealing US know-how and data to gain competitive advantage.

Grosso voices strong reservations about the EEA. He believes that its scope is too broad, its prohibitions are too stringent, and it raises serious civil liberties concerns. For example, under the EEA, even mundane and nonscientific information such as business procedures can be classified as trade secrets, and mere disclosure of such information could be prosecuted as theft.

Grosso argues that the EEA does not necessarily protect the interests of the trade secret owners, while it certainly threatens the civil liberties of the individual. For example, disclosing certain information (even if the information was obtained through legitimate means such as prior employment) could be interpreted as a crime under the EEA. However, as disclosure has an element of speech, prosecuting this crime runs the danger of infringing upon First Amendment rights to free speech. On the other hand, he says, corporations may end up destroying the village in order to save it, as they may be forced to disclose confidential information in an open trial, thereby defeating the object of the act.

On the whole, this is an interesting article that raises legitimate concerns.