U.S. v. Aleynikov Redux: Senate Closes Loophole in EEA

This past spring, we reported the Second Circuit’s reversal in U.S. v. Aleynikov, where the Court considered violations of the Economic Espionage Act of 1996 (“EEA”), 18 U.S.C. § 1832, and the National Stolen Property Act (“NSPA”), 18 U.S.C. § 2314. In short, the Second Circuit ruled that the EEA pertains to trade secrets “placed in” commerce, and that Aleynikov’s alleged misappropriation of the source code of Goldman Sachs & Co.’s trading system, which was for internal use, therefore was not violative of the EEA or the NSPA.