Elon Law Professor David Levine coauthored a Nov. 17 letter to Congress, signed by 42 law and technology scholars, opposing passage of the Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2015 (DTSA) on grounds that it inadequately addresses cyberespionage while creating greater problems in legal and economic spheres.
The Nov. 17 scholars’ letter opposing DTSA was addressed to Senators Charles Grassley and Patrick Leahy, and U.S. Representatives Robert Goodlatte and John Conyers, Jr., the chairman and ranking members of Congressional committees with oversight over the legislation. Levine coauthored the letter with Eric Goldman, Chris Seaman, and Sharon Sandeen.
“Ostensibly designed to combat cyberespionage against United States’ corporations, DTSA is instead not a solution to that problem, and fraught with downsides,” said Elon Law Professor David Levine.
Excerpts from the letter follow:
“While we agree that effective legal protection for U.S. businesses’ legitimate trade secrets is important to American innovation, we believe that the DTSA—which would represent the most significant expansion of federal law in intellectual property since the Lanham Act in 1946—will not solve the problems identified by its sponsors. Instead of addressing cyberespionage head-on, passage of the DTSA is likely to create new problems that could adversely impact domestic innovation, increase the duration and cost of trade secret litigation, and ultimately negatively affect economic growth.”
We also call on Congress to hold hearings “that focus on the costs of the legislation and whether the DTSA addresses the cyberespionage problem that it is allegedly designed to combat. Specifically, Congress should evaluate the DTSA through the lens of employees, small businesses, and startup companies that are most likely to be adversely affected by the legislation.”
The Hill newspaper reported on the scholars’ letter here.
More information about Elon Law Professor David Levine is available here.