Summary Box: Court orders programmer's acquittal

: A federal appeals court reversed the conviction of a former Goldman Sachs programmer on charges he stole computer code. The man had been in prison since he was sentenced in March. He will be freed.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE CASE: It had tested the boundaries of what can be considered a crime as companies seek to protect their intellectual property from competitors.

THE CHARGES: Prosecutors had accused the man of taking trade secrets from Goldman Sachs Group Inc. in 2008 to help his new company gain an advantage with high-speed trading.

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