Samuel Slater, while working as a lowly apprentice at a textile mill in England, memorized the mill's layout and operations. Under English law, the export of such information was forbidden. After Slater emigrated to Rhode Island, he established a textile mill from the information he had committed to memory. Espionage has always been a tool of business. Today, nearly every large corporation engages in strategic planning, a function heavily reliant on information about the marketplace and competition.
Corporate leaders are undeniably interested in the plans and objectives of their competitors.
Despite laws against and public disapproval of industrial espionage, spying practices are routinely carried out. Because industrial espionage is difficult to detect and prove, the law against it is infrequently enforced. Industrial espionage is the secret collection of proprietary business information. The owner or possessor usually attaches a value to the information and takes steps to protect it. To the extent the collected information is meaningful and useful, it is an input to the owner's decision-making.