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Industrial Espionage
Espionage is a global occurrence. It has been conducted by totalitarian regimes as well as constitutional democracies - not only during wartime.Political, military, and economic matters have always been the reason for spying and illegal acquiring of knowledge.
Third party knowledge is not only obtained through espionage by intelligence services but also through counter-espionage by rival companies.
Both forms of espionage mean an uncontrolled loss of information, which not only economically affects individual companies, but can also even lead to loss of jobs and breakdowns of entire economic sectors.
There has always been espionage. Political, military, and economic reasons have been crucial to illegal obtainment of knowledge and for spying at foreign living conditions.
Some historic examples:
- In 552 AD, the Byzantine emperor Justinian tried to break the Chinese monopoly for silk production by deploying monks.
- In the 18th century, the Britons were unable to enact laws in order to protect their Know-know in textile fabrication.
- In the 19th century, Brasil could not prevent the illegal export of rubber plants and therefore lost its monopoly.