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The case that decided information can't be stolen dates from 1987. Tim Send a noteboard - 20/01/2011 09:35:31 AM
Grant v Allan 1987 JC 71. In short, an employee was prosecuted for making copies of confidential information to sell to his employer's business rivals. He said "this isn't a crime", and the sheriff (first-instance judge) rejected his argument, but on appeal the High Court said he was right.

By the way, in Scots criminal law the prosecution doesn't have to name the crime it thinks you've committed. It just has to say what it claims you did, and if the charge discloses any crime, it will be relevant. In this case that is precisely how the prosecution went about it: they didn't mention the word "theft" at all. So what this case means is that copying confidential information isn't a crime at all, not just that it isn't theft.

However, it is totally uncontroversial that what he allegedly did constituted the delict of "breach of confidence".

(You'll note that I didn't say he actually did it. This is because he successfully defended himself by saying "what I'm accused of isn't a crime", so the prosecution never got a chance to prove he did it.)
Vigilantibus non dormientibus jura subveniunt.

—Nous disons en allemand : le guerre, le mort, le lune, alors que 'soleil' et 'amour' sont du sexe féminin : la soleil, la amour. La vie est neutre.

—La vie ? Neutre ? C'est très joli, et surtout très logique.
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Both terms lack accuracy in this case really. - 19/01/2011 06:37:29 PM 939 Views
That's what I mean right there. - 19/01/2011 06:48:38 PM 886 Views
The punishable crime is - 21/01/2011 01:57:54 PM 897 Views
Re: Your argument lacks merit. - 20/01/2011 03:40:20 PM 779 Views
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Another scrabble word for you is "delict". That's what we call tort in Scotland. - 19/01/2011 10:37:08 PM 839 Views
I saw. - 19/01/2011 10:41:27 PM 748 Views
It won't get you very many points. - 19/01/2011 10:37:26 PM 719 Views
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Also in most circumstances you could use "trot" instead. *NM* - 19/01/2011 10:42:26 PM 466 Views
Very nice legal overview, also I like Scotland's approach a lot - 19/01/2011 11:21:47 PM 777 Views
The case that decided information can't be stolen dates from 1987. - 20/01/2011 09:35:31 AM 1505 Views
Unfortunately, damages can result in thousands of dollars for one song - 22/01/2011 08:19:40 PM 723 Views

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