The purpose of this master’s thesis is to discuss international law regulation of economic cyber esiponage and to present the changes in the needs of states that led to development and rapid increase of this type of espionage in the recent years. A dispute over allegations of the USA that China is conducting economic cyber espionage is briefly presented. The position of economic cyber espionage in international law is dealt with from three different perspectives. The first part is aimed at addressing the question whether espionage per se is permitted or prohibited under international law. The second part analyzes the accordance of economic cyber espionage with the existing norms of international law, in particular with the principle of territorial sovereignty and principle of non-intervention. It has to be emphasized, that international law governs the conduct of states in cyberspace. The last part of the thesis is aimed at discussion of the problem of economic cyber espionage within the World Trade Organisation. The relevant provisions of the Agreement on Trade- Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights will be presented, the the violation of which could be claimed in the dispute settlement procedure by the WTO Member states, which are targets of cyber economic espionage. Master's thesis is concluded with a finding that new norms of international law designed specifically to regulate cyber economic espionage would bring more clarity, however, it is very unlikely that the states would reach a consensus on this issue.
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