산업기밀 유출범죄 처벌의 실태와 실효성 제고에 관한 논의

Abstract

Recently, as the importance of technology protection has become widely recognized, strong punishment for technology leakage crimes is required. The Unfair Competition Prevention Act and the Industrial Technology Protection Act have been revised several times to strengthen punishment regulations.Nevertheless, discussions on strengthening punishment continue to solve the problem of technology leakage, which is rarely eradicated. Currently, a legislative bill is pending in the National Assembly that calls for the introduction of a personal disclosure system, life imprisonment or imprisonment for up to 10 years for overseas leaks of key national technologies. On the other hand, some analysts say that the crime of technology leakage is not suppressed due to the so-called light punishment, as the actual punishment is mostly probation and fines, and the rate of innocence is not small. This paper attempted to solve the problem by focusing on the actual sentence rather than the rigid punishment reinforcement policy. Crime deterrence begins with the perception that there is nothing to be gained from crime, but the current level of punishment, which is far below the level of legal punishment, is not enough to give seriousness and awareness of crime. Law enforcement and coercion can be secured from applying strict sentencing standards to strengthen practical punishment and confiscate criminal proceeds to cause economic damage. In other words, strengthening punishment for crime prevention should not be limited to the formal aspect of raising the statutory sentence, but should be achieved through improvement of the system such as actual sentencing guidelines and confiscation. First, strictness of sentencing standards is required. The sentencing guidelines include ‘minority of damage’, ‘recovery of damage technology’, and ‘motivation for crime’. The court should specifically verify whether the damage is minor or whether the possibility of future technology leakage is completely blocked. Second, greater economic damage is required in that industrial confidentiality leakage crimes mainly arise from economic motives. The amount of fines should be calculated by tracking the profits received in return for technology leakage and actively considering the value of the damaged technology. Confiscation of criminal proceeds can also be an appropriate means of economic damage in that it invalidates profits from crimes, so it is desirable to establish a confiscation regulation in the Unfair Competition Prevention Act and revise the confiscation regulation in the Industrial Technology Protection Act.