산업스파이에 대한 법적 고찰 - 미국의 산업스파이에 관한 입법을 중심으로

Competition surrounding new technology becomes intense among countries and then, efforts to acquire competitor’s technology grow as well. Recently, Korea gets rid of the step to copy developed countries’ technology and has his own technology. Accordingly, many companies are exposed to unlawful technology acquirement. From a long time ago, many developed countries such as the U.S., Japan and E.U. have made and implemented policy to protect their own technology as well as industry. However, Korea enacted Trade Secret Act even in 1991 amending existing Unfair Competition Act and enacted Illegal Industrial Technology Acquirement Preventing Act in 2006 with consensus that Trade Secret Act is not effective to prevent industrial spying. In 1990s, trade secret was protected under state laws in the U.S. However, state laws do not permit criminal punishment on industrial spying and cannot effectively control unlawful technology outward flow. Thus, the U.S. enacted Economic Espionage Act. The Act imposes a penalty against technology spying and is successful in preventing spying. The Act does not have whole provisions to control industrial spying. However, under U.S. circumstances, it needed only proper criminal clause, in which Act's meaning of existence can found. The U.S. experience on industrial spy may be a good example for Korea to develop a legal system preventing industrial spy. This paper reviews U.S. laws pertaining to prevention of industrial spying including Economic Espionage Act and tries to find merits which can be reflected to Korean law.