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lol, no. Confidential business information is an area heavily protected by law. Customer lists are the canonical example. It’s much easier to win this kind of
by jahewson 4y ago
lol, no. Confidential business information is an area heavily protected by law. Customer lists are the canonical example.
It’s much easier to win this kind of civil suit than a criminal case. The court can absolutely crush a business that is founded in this manner to compensate the former employer.
- JackFr 4y agoThen why didn't Dunder Mifflin sue the Michael Scott Paper Company?
- dpkirchner 4y agoBecause they didn't reach out to the very real lawyers at Boston Legal.
- lovich 4y agoAssuming you were asking seriously, its a comedy show that was not trying to accurately portray how businesses run.
- lazide 4y agoThen surely you’ll have no issues providing a cite of the relevant criminal code?
- jahewson 4y agoI think you missed the “civil suit” part. Common law business torts are not found in statute.
- lazide 4y agoNo, I didn’t miss it. You’re moving the goalposts. That something is a civil tort doesn’t mean it’s a criminal offense (what is generally referred to as ‘illegal’). Trade secret theft is illegal. But trade secrets have a specific definition which can pretty much never plausibly include a list of customers.
- PeterisP 4y agoCriminal code is specific to jurisdiction, in California this would probably be the most relevant section - https://codes.findlaw.com/ca/penal-code/pen-sect-499c.html https://codes.findlaw.com/ca/penal-code/pen-sect-499c.html . Whether a customer list is a trade secret depends on a bunch of factors in that state's (or countries) trade secret laws (the penal code is just a fraction of them) but in general a mere list of names and telephone numbers likely will not qualify, but a list that includes their buying habits or pricing of current contracts likely will.
- lazide 4y agoYeah no. From your link ‘9) “Trade secret” means information, including a formula, pattern, compilation, program, device, method, technique, or process, that: (A) Derives independent economic value, actual or potential, from not being generally known to the public or to other persons who can obtain economic value from its disclosure or use; and (B) Is the subject of efforts that are reasonable under the circumstances to maintain its secrecy.’ Pretty hard to imagine a customer list meeting any of those criteria.
- Bjartr 4y agoA customer list can absolutely be reasonably considered to be information with actual and potential value from not being generally known to other persons (competitors) who would obtain economic value from it's disclosure. So long as you make a reasonable effort to keep it from being public knowledge, it meets the criteria you quoted.