Confidential information may constitute intangible 'property' and that its unauthorized dissemination or other use may deprive the owner of its property rights. See Carpenter v. United States, 484 U.S. 19, 26, 98 L. Ed. 2d 275, 108 S. Ct. 316 (1987) ('Confidential business information has long been recognized as property. . . . [A newspaper] had a property right in keeping confidential and making exclusive use, prior to publication, of the schedule and contents' of a particular column.). Where such deprivation is effected through dishonest or deceitful means, a 'scheme to defraud,' within the meaning of say a wire fraud statute, is shown. See id. at 27.
In Carpenter, for example, the confidential information regarding the contents of a newspaper column was converted to the defendants' use to their substantial benefit. See id. at 27 (defendants participated in 'ongoing scheme to share profit from trading in anticipation' of newspaper column). Thus, a necessary step toward satisfying the 'scheme to defraud' element in this context is showing that the defendant intended to 'deprive' another of their protected right. To 'deprive' a person of their intangible property interest in confidential information some articulable harm must befall ...