Industrial espionage

Industrial espionage refers to the clandestine acquisition of desirable business practices and/or technology by one company from another. By contrast, economic espionage refers to the clandestine acquisition of desirable business or government practices and/or technology by a foreign government or a company with the assistance of a foreign government. These definitions assume a clear separation between business and government, which is not always the case. Different countries at different times have been in “learning roles” instead of “innovating roles”; in other words, some nations’ economies are copying or “learning” industry organization and production techniques. The United States was once in a learning role, learning about industry organization from England. A more recent example is the so-called East Asian Tigers (a term referring to Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, and South Korea) learning from industrialized nations to facilitate the emergence of their late industrial period. This example, however, is neither industrial espionage nor economic espionage. Espionage must be a direct instance of a company having some specific item, process, idea, project, or technology actually copied for the benefit of some other company or companies.
The U.S. Congress has become interested in this type of economic interaction and has passed the Economic Espionage Act of 1996 (EEA). This legislation gives the United States the explicit ability to prosecute specific acts of espionage both foreign and domestic. It is meant to provide more tools for the defense of an increasingly globalized information network. It was advocated by both the U.S. government and industry leaders. The legislation defines economic espionage without the distinction mentioned above. Instead, all acts of theft are considered economic espionage. This legislation has already been used to prosecute individuals and groups. The Avery Dennison adhesive technology case is an example. Avery Dennison is a major producer of adhesive products such as stamps and diapers. In 1999, Pin Yen Yang and his daughter were found guilty of paying an Avery Denni-son employee, Dr. Ten Hong Lee, to provide them with secret procedures and production methods. Pin Yen Yang was the president of a Taiwanese company that could make direct use of the technology and production techniques.
The EEA is an illustration of a global trend of states to define economic interests as issues of national security. Strangely, this has increased, not decreased, with the end of the Cold War. Intellectual property rights have become more important as the United States has assumed the role of sole superpower; it has become the victim, in some ways, of its own success. Its products (pharmaceuticals, for example) are the main target and model for many other nations and foreign corporations. It is struggling, then, to tighten security on its own copyrights. Direct industrial espionage is one way in which these breaches of copyright are occurring.
Industrial espionage includes attempts to steal any business, financial, economic, scientific, technical, or engineering information. These categories include patterns, plans, designs, compilations, program devices, formulas, prototypes, methods, processes, procedures, programs, or codes, whether tangible or intangible. It does not matter how the information is stored, be it memorized, copied, photographed, or transmitted. The most prosecutable type of industrial espionage is a direct copying of material by an individual or several individuals. Recent prosecutions have involved the hiring of spies in companies or paying off employees of a company for spying activities.
Technology and science have also drastically changed both the perception and implementation of industrial espionage with the advent of the Internet. Financial records, prototypes, processes, plans, and so on are increasingly integrated into computer networks. As a result, increased pressure to tighten security has been placed on developed economies and corporations. It is likely that keeping up with network security (which includes surveillance of those who have access to networks) will continue to increase in importance as the globalized business networks continue to integrate technologically.