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That is completely different. You don't go to jail for a license violation.

Honest question:

Is a license violation not equivalent to unlicensed use of code?

I mean, if you don't meet the terms of a license, you're not eligible to use the code under that license. That means you have no license to the code, and therefore are in breach of copyright, no?

How is that different from just using someone else's code outright - you're breaching copyright and you're not licensed, no?

Well, the difference in that case is that it isn't license violation at all. This case is a trade secret violation. Since Goldman Sachs never released the source code, it is by definition a trade secret which Sergey Aleynikov was not allowed to release or utilize outside of his job at Goldman Sachs.

If Goldman Sachs ever officially released the software it could be a copyright or license violation but this isn't the case.

I remember in some situations that copyright infringement is cheaper than license violation. The former you can argue ignorance and pay a a fine the later you've knowing acknowledge what you've done is a violation of another person license but continued your behavior.

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