Code can't be stolen under federal law, court rules | Security & Privacy - CNET News

“Because Aleynikov did not ‘assume physical control’ over anything when he took the source code, and because he did not thereby ‘deprive [Goldman] of its use,’ Aleynikov did not violate the NSPA,” Chief Judge Dennis Jacobs wrote in the three-judge panel’s unanimous decision (see below). “We decline to stretch or update statutory words of plain and ordinary meaning in order to better accommodate the digital age.”

Digital copying cannot be defined as theft. Imagine that. http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-57412779-83/code-cant-be-stolen-under-federal-law-court-rules/?part=rss&subj=news&tag=title