United States v. Aleynikov
Sergey Aleynikov, a former Goldman Sachs & Co. employee, was indicted on three counts related to misappropriating computer source code for Goldman's high-frequency trading system. He moved to dismiss all counts, arguing the stolen source code did not meet statutory definitions of 'product' for trade secret theft (Count One) or 'goods' for interstate transportation of stolen property (Count Two), and that his computer access was authorized (Count Three). The court denied dismissal for Count One, holding Goldman's trading system was a 'product' produced for interstate commerce under the Economic Espionage Act, and for Count Two, finding the source code constituted 'goods' under the National Stolen Property Act due to its commercial value. However, the court granted dismissal for Count Three, ruling that the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act does not criminalize an authorized employee's misuse or misappropriation of information to which they had permission to access, even if done with an improper purpose or in violation of company policy. Thus, the motion to dismiss was granted in part (Count Three) and denied in part (Counts One and Two).