Rationale for enacting the legislation
The justification for enacting the Economic Espionage Act of 1996 (EEA) was the continuous attacks being sanctioned by foreign governments on America and its businesses. Prior to the information revolution this type of attack was much more difficult to complete and was done by means only seen in movies. With the information revolution just beginning, there was a far more physical approach to economic espionage, and with no profile of this type of criminal, America was considered “sitting ducks”.
Along with this, the limited resources, laws, and regulation to investigate and prosecute these crimes made it very difficult to combat this growing problem. So Congress enacted the EEA with the expectation
The justification for enacting the Economic Espionage Act of 1996 (EEA) was the continuous attacks being sanctioned by foreign governments on America and its businesses. Prior to the information revolution this type of attack was much more difficult to complete and was done by means only seen in movies. With the information revolution just beginning, there was a far more physical approach to economic espionage, and with no profile of this type of criminal, America was considered “sitting ducks”.
Along with this, the limited resources, laws, and regulation to investigate and prosecute these crimes made it very difficult to combat this growing problem. So Congress enacted the EEA with the expectation