Doesn't that still require theft?

Stealing money from a bank and giving $100 to the next N people you see doesn't negate the fact that you stole the money from the bank. It just makes it harder for you to give it back.

Just because one can make an analogy doesn't make it illegal. We'd have to read and understand the laws.

But to your point: IMO theft is not a good analogy for this. It's not theft, its inflation.

In the bank scenario the bank would still have a copy of the $100. And so would everyone else. It's true, copying money devalues it - just like openly spreading a secret does - so everyone has less than $100 inflation adjusted dollars.

Theft is not a good term for this. I think the crime should be called "Spread of trade secrets"