#46
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In the course of my career I witnessed third world poverty first hand, though mostly behind glass in an airconditioned car. I can't claim to have witnessed harvesting of an endangered species. However, what I did see helped hit home how we need to address sharing the profits from rare materials with the people who nurture and harvest them, and what seems like the hopeless task of keeping wild endangered species from disappearing.
A problem with that opinion piece is not the fact that law enforcement almost always leads to examples that are easily criticised or lampooned, but that stories that are likely significantly more heartbreaking on the sourcing end of the supply chain are completely unrepresented.
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#47
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Quote:
It's not the point anyway. Henry J. had been playing up the government oppression angle for all it's worth to get sympathy from his core clientele, which I would bet shares his age and politics, and to detract from the fact they broke the law.
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#48
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Believe the rhetoric if you will, but here is an excerpt from the August 7, 2012 Associated Press story about Gibson's admission of wrongdoing:
"Gibson Guitar Corporation acknowledged Monday that its importations of exotic wood, including ebony, violated environmental laws. Federal prosecutors will drop criminal charges against Gibson Guitar Corporation, and the Nashville-based insturment maker will pay a hefty fine. Nashville-based Gibson agreed to pay a $300,000 penalty, forfeit claims to about $262,000 worth of wood seized by federal agents and contribute $50,000 to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to promote the conservation of protected tree species. The settlement says a Gibson employee learned during a 2008 trip to Madagascar — the source of some of the ebony wood that was seized — that it was illegal to import unfinished wood and sent a report about it to his superiors, including company President David Berryman, Gibson's decision to cooperate with the federal Lacey Act banning the import of endangered wood products stood in contrast to a publicity campaign mounted in protest after agents raided Gibson facilities in Memphis and Nashville." [/COLOR][/SIZE]
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#49
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But, isn't the above exactly the sort of press release that you would be required to put out, if you negotiate a settlement ? The government can outspend any company and take YEARS to let things drag through the courts. Most companies find it easier to pay up and get back to business, than fight long drawn out cases.
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#50
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Well, it's not a press release. It's a news story by one of the oldest and most respected news organizations in the country and the writer is quoting from a settlement agreement signed by Gibson.
We need to treat these kinds of stories with great care. Gibson's president is a pretty wired GOP activist with ties to the Tea Party. I remember when this happened and it went political instantly. Now it turns out Gibson knew what they were doing, admitted to it, paid a big fine and then instantly denied that they did anything wrong. If you work back to the government documents a lot of the proof was in Gibson company emails that FWS subpoenaed. Believe what you want but if this were a neighbor of mine who admitted in writing to violating a law and there were emails supporting his admission, I wouldn't be inclined to believe his denials afterward. I'm even less inclined to believe an organization that exploited the story and then got caught with proof that the earlier denials were bogus.
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Last edited by schooner; 08-03-2015 at 11:13 PM. |
#51
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It is common in many settlements for a defendant to agree to a settlement but not to admit any wrongdoing. I take the report from the AP at face value for what it reported. Gibson did not have to agree to such a statement if it was willing to fight the case on its facts.
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