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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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Why is downloading "illegally" really illegal? j-whitt987 - 19/01/2011 03:30:57 PM 1423 Views
Hmmm Dark Knight - 19/01/2011 05:00:16 PM 1080 Views
I think Camilla - 19/01/2011 05:11:56 PM 995 Views
you can't legally record and distribute TV shows random thoughts - 19/01/2011 05:21:06 PM 1073 Views
Re: you can't legally record and distribute TV shows j-whitt987 - 19/01/2011 09:52:48 PM 1164 Views
Many shows (especially sports) forbid the duplication of said show in a statement or the credits. everynametaken - 20/01/2011 03:22:10 AM 1030 Views
I haven't been able to read the credits for TV shows in years. j-whitt987 - 20/01/2011 03:51:40 AM 892 Views
Ignorance of the law is not a valid defence *NM* Stephen - 21/01/2011 01:21:25 PM 467 Views
How do you figure that? j-whitt987 - 21/01/2011 02:08:13 PM 980 Views
Re: How do you figure that? Bergioyn - 21/01/2011 09:09:19 PM 1043 Views
Re: How do you figure that? j-whitt987 - 21/01/2011 09:19:46 PM 910 Views
Re: How do you figure that? Brian - 22/01/2011 08:33:04 PM 1399 Views
What is an imaginary island? The_Muted_Grimaud - 23/01/2011 04:47:40 AM 1030 Views
In some places it's exactly that Brian - 23/01/2011 07:35:32 AM 1263 Views
A lot of it's volume. Palatine - 19/01/2011 05:32:03 PM 958 Views
Your argument lacks merit. jh - 19/01/2011 05:50:11 PM 973 Views
Agreed. Camilla - 19/01/2011 06:01:13 PM 846 Views
Both terms lack accuracy in this case really. Jacob - 19/01/2011 06:37:29 PM 1107 Views
That's what I mean right there. j-whitt987 - 19/01/2011 06:48:38 PM 1017 Views
The punishable crime is Jacob - 21/01/2011 01:57:54 PM 1039 Views
Re: Your argument lacks merit. Palatine - 20/01/2011 03:40:20 PM 929 Views
In my opinion Bergioyn - 19/01/2011 09:22:29 PM 962 Views
The battle is over, the internet won ironclad - 19/01/2011 10:12:50 PM 963 Views
We need to distinguish between a crime and a tort. Tim - 19/01/2011 10:17:30 PM 1073 Views
Very interesting. j-whitt987 - 19/01/2011 10:28:35 PM 1106 Views
Another scrabble word for you is "delict". That's what we call tort in Scotland. Tim - 19/01/2011 10:37:08 PM 1000 Views
I saw. j-whitt987 - 19/01/2011 10:41:27 PM 902 Views
It won't get you very many points. Rebekah - 19/01/2011 10:37:26 PM 872 Views
I would set me up for tortellini. j-whitt987 - 19/01/2011 10:40:45 PM 891 Views
Also in most circumstances you could use "trot" instead. *NM* Tim - 19/01/2011 10:42:26 PM 532 Views
Very nice legal overview, also I like Scotland's approach a lot newyorkersedai - 19/01/2011 11:21:47 PM 926 Views
The case that decided information can't be stolen dates from 1987. Tim - 20/01/2011 09:35:31 AM 1696 Views
Unfortunately, damages can result in thousands of dollars for one song soilent brad - 22/01/2011 08:19:40 PM 858 Views
Here's the US answer on the VCR thing, and how it relates to today's copyright problems newyorkersedai - 19/01/2011 11:35:31 PM 1030 Views
Re: Here's the US answer on the VCR thing, and how it relates to today's copyright problems *NM* newyorkersedai - 19/01/2011 11:37:56 PM 455 Views
Re: Here's the US answer on the VCR thing, and how it relates to today's copyright problems j-whitt987 - 20/01/2011 12:49:55 AM 1251 Views
I look at it both ways, like crossing the street newyorkersedai - 20/01/2011 05:37:30 AM 1090 Views
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