Gibson Guitar Plant Raided

[hariossa]

Back to where all started:

Gibson Guitar Corp. Responds to Federal Raid

[David Schwab]

It really wouldn't be a fair fight, I would be taking huge advantage of you and that wouldn't be nice.

Please, you think too highly of yourself, but so far rank high on the gullibility scale. You believe any lie told you.

The whole thing is about whether the wood was "finished" or unfinished.

That's this time. Keep in mind that this is the SECOND time Gibson was raided in two years. Did the feds raid Martin, Fender, PRS, Rickenbacker or anyone else? No they didn't. Why is that? Because they caught Gibson buying contraband wood from Madagascar. The second raid was for Indian rosewood. Lots of builders use EI rosewood, including myself. Lots of places sell it. So why aren't they being raided?

Why Gibson Guitar Was Raided By The Justice Department : The Record : NPR

The U.S. Justice Department won't comment about the case it's preparing, but a court motion filed in June asserts Gibson's Madagascar ebony was contraband. It quotes emails that seem to show Gibson taking steps to maintain a supply chain that's been connected to illegal timber harvests.

Andrea Johnson, director of forest programs for the Environmental Investigation Agency in Washington, says the Lacey Act requires end users of endangered wood to certify the legality of their supply chain all the way to the trees. EIA's independent investigations have concluded that Gibson knowingly imported tainted wood.

"Gibson clearly understood the risks involved," says Johnson. "Was on the ground in Madagascar getting a tour to understand whether they could possibly source legally from that country. And made a decision in the end that they were going to source despite knowing that there was a ban on exports of ebony and rosewood."

Gibson Guitar Wails on Federal Raid - WSJ.com

The government has focused on a March 2009 shipment of ebony from Madagascar intended for guitar fingerboards. Madagascar law bars the export of certain unfinished wood products, according to both Gibson and the government. Gibson says the ebony had been cut into pieces and that local officials approved the export as a legal sale of finished goods.

U.S. officials described the wood as "sawn timber" and said Madagascar officials were "defrauded" by a local exporter about the nature of the product.

Gibson says the government is trying to "second guess" the Madagascar government. "The U.S. government's startling position smacks of something from an Orwell novel," Gibson said in a July 15 court filing in federal district court in Nashville.

After the 2009 raid, Gibson stopped buying wood from Madagascar. Gibson continued to use suppliers in India for ebony and rosewood.

Well I think I've shown that to be untrue. You either do shut down your brain when discussing political issues, or you have exceptionally poor critical thinking skills.

Maybe you convinced yourself. Why didn't they raid PRS, or Martin, or Fender? Don't you think they use Indian rosewood? My thinking skills are fine.

I might have to decided to put a ban politics posts like they they do over at MIMF.