United States Second Circuit

In a prosecution of a former Goldman Sachs employee for stealing and transferring some of the proprietary computer source code used in Goldman's high frequency trading (HFT) system in violation of the National Stolen Property Act (NSPA) and the Economic Espionage Act of 1996 (EEA), conviction is reversed, where: 1) the source code that the defendant uploaded to a server in Germany, then downloaded to his computer devices in New Jersey, and later transferred to Illinois, did not constitute stolen "goods," "wares," or "merchandise" within the meaning of the NSPA; and 2) Goldman's HFT system was neither "produced for" nor "placed in" interstate or foreign commerce, so the EEA was not applicable.

Appellate Information

• Decided 04/11/2012
• Published 04/11/2012

Judges

• Dennis Jacobs

Court

• United States Second Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Kevin H. Marino, Joseph P. Facciponti