Kota has been charged with three counts of espionage. He pleaded not guilty and is out on bail awaiting trial. Today the field of economic espionage is wide open. Instead of missile launch codes, the new targets of choice are technological and scientific data concerning flat-panel televisions, electric cars and new computers. The game is no longer espionage in the classic sense .
Economic espionage is as old as greed itself.
But with huge sums to be made stealing designs for computer chips and patents for hormones, the threat is growing. Rapid changes in technology are tempting many countries to try to acquire intellectual properties in underhanded ways, thus bypassing the enormous costs of research and development. And it's not just hostile governments snooping. Countries don't have friends. A senior U.S.intelligence official answers the question.