According to the New York Times, former Goldman Sachs programmer Sergey Aleynikov is facing federal charges for stealing source code from his employer. The reason for the severity of the charges is that Goldman Sachs alleges that the code is very proprietary and provides the company with the competitive advantages which sets the Wall Street brokerage firm ahead of many competitors.
What is unusual about the case is that the prosecution has taken advantage of a dual-sovereignty provision allowing them to charge Aleynikov based on the same set of facts at both state and federal levels.
For the full story at the New York Times, go to:
http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/08/09/ex-goldman-programmer-is-arrested-again/
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