Gibson Investigation Update

Muzikman7 · February 19, 2011, 11:47:27 AM

Latest news: http://www.wsmv.com/news/26901107/detail.html

godofthunder · February 19, 2011, 01:57:31 PM

Our government at work..........................sigh.

Pilgrim · February 19, 2011, 02:38:39 PM

Seems like unless they can prove the wood in question was cut after 2006, there is no case to pursue.

Also makes me think that the instruments manufactured in China and Korea probably disregard the same law - but what's shipped into the US is finished instruments, not raw materials. Evidently the Lacy law doesn't prohibit importation of finished instruments made from prohibited materials.....?

Muzikman7 · February 19, 2011, 03:42:14 PM

Quote from: godofthunder on February 19, 2011, 01:57:31 PM
Our government at work..........................sigh.

Thats what really slays me, send machine gun toting guys for some lumber I'm impressed.

Chaser001 · February 19, 2011, 04:09:33 PM

Quote from: Muzikman7 on February 19, 2011, 03:42:14 PM
Thats what really slays me, send machine gun toting guys for some lumber I'm impressed.

Jaywalkers are being targeted next, after that, people with overdue library books. So, be prepared; these people mean business.

nofi · February 19, 2011, 04:19:43 PM

several years ago a woman around here was actually arrested for unpaid library fines.

if you can imagine it then it will probably happen.

Psycho Bass Guy · February 19, 2011, 06:36:48 PM

It's like speeding tickets; it only makes sense to target people who already try to obey the laws. Those who flagrantly break them could care less about fines.

Highlander · February 20, 2011, 08:42:41 AM

I could not agree more...

uwe · February 21, 2011, 05:11:26 AM

For once I was almost in agreement with Henry J., until I read this here:

""That's not part of the Lacy Act," said Juszkiewicz. "The law doesn't say, 'Don't deal with bad guys.' What the law says is 'you have to do everything legally.'"

I hear that all to often in my legal practice and it's a flawed concept that in this day and age of corporate governance, compliance and regulation really doesn't have a place anymore in how an international company like Gibson should run its business. Buying wood in the nudge-nudge, wink-wink realisation that though the transactions are legal on paper, you might be turning a blind eye to the questionable source is a no-no.

"Both companies and Gibson said they have stopped buying wood from Madagascar."

That is what Henry should have seen to all along. Gibson is innovative enough to find alternative wood from pristinely-legal sources.

Chaser001 · February 22, 2011, 10:59:40 PM

It's just the way the government responded with such overkill; it's pretty absurd. No one cares about this except for maybe Gibson's competitors.

uwe · February 23, 2011, 02:33:58 AM

That of course is true. There is no sense sending armed personnel into a dawn raid like that except the obvious "stating an example". Gibson didn't have heroin labs in Nashville.

OldManC · February 23, 2011, 09:21:55 AM

Another thing that struck me as strange was that the legal definition of "finished" where the fret boards are concerned. Gibson claims it was met but the government disregarded it and went after them anyway, which doesn't surprise me at all if they're simply trying to make an example of someone. I agree Uwe that companies and individuals shouldn't stand behind legal definitions as an excuse (or absolution) to deal with bad guys, but international trade makes laws even more important because sometimes it's the only way to define whether you're dealing with bad guys or not.

If Gibson bought that wood in good faith and it fell within the legal definition of what was legal to buy, they shouldn't have to worry about retroactive prosecution because somebody in Washington got a bug up their rear.

Gibson Investigation Update

Chaser001

Chaser001