n 1987, Toshiba Machine, the subsidiary of Toshiba, was accused of illegally selling CNC milling machines used to produce very quiet submarine propellers to the Soviet Union in violation of the CoCom agreement, an international embargo on Western exports to East Bloc countries. The Toshiba-Kongsberg scandal involved a subsidiary of Toshiba and the Norwegian company Kongsberg Vaapenfabrikk. The incident strained relations between the United States and Japan, and resulted in the arrest and prosecution of two senior executives, as well as the imposition of sanctions on the company by both countries.[1] The US had always relied on the fact that the Soviets had noisy boats, so technology that would make the USSR's submarines harder to detect created a significant threat to America's security. Senator John Heinz of Pennsylvania said "What Toshiba and Kongsberg did was ransom the security of the United States for $517 million."http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toshiba
Toshiba makes great products. The first VCR I ever bought was a Toshiba. It worked great, was easier to use than anything since. However, when they sold our submarine prop technology to Ivan I swore I would never buy Toshiba again. There was a time when betrayal of the US was more important than the latest entertainment gadget. Call me old fashioned, other have.