Economic espionage — Us Code Code § 1831
Us Code Code § 1831 — Economic espionage. Reproduced from the official United States Code, with a citation summary, verification link, and related provisions.
§ 1831. Economic espionage
(a)
(1) steals, or without authorization appropriates, takes, carries away, or conceals, or by fraud, artifice, or deception obtains a trade secret;
(2) without authorization copies, duplicates, sketches, draws, photographs, downloads, uploads, alters, destroys, photocopies, replicates, transmits, delivers, sends, mails, communicates, or conveys a trade secret;
(3) receives, buys, or possesses a trade secret, knowing the same to have been stolen or appropriated, obtained, or converted without authorization;
(4) attempts to commit any offense described in any of paragraphs (1) through (3); or
(5) conspires with one or more other persons to commit any offense described in any of paragraphs (1) through (3), and one or more of such persons do any act to effect the object of the conspiracy,
shall, except as provided in subsection (b), be fined not more than $5,000,000 or imprisoned not more than 15 years, or both.
(b)
(Added Pub. L. 104–294, title I, §101(a), Oct. 11, 1996, 110 Stat. 3488; amended Pub. L. 112–269, §2, Jan. 14, 2013, 126 Stat. 2442.)
Editorial Notes
Amendments
2013—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 112–269, §2(a), substituted "not more than $5,000,000" for "not more than $500,000" in concluding provisions.
Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 112–269, §2(b), substituted "not more than the greater of $10,000,000 or 3 times the value of the stolen trade secret to the organization, including expenses for research and design and other costs of reproducing the trade secret that the organization has thereby avoided" for "not more than $10,000,000".
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18 U.S.C. § 1831 is part of Title 18 of the United States Code. The United States Code is the official codification of federal statutes maintained by the Office of the Law Revision Counsel of the U.S. House of Representatives. Congress amends the Code through new public laws, which are eventually incorporated into the relevant title.
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