Posted on 07/20/2011 11:48:18 AM PDT by american_steve
At least four Democratic senators—Frank Lautenberg, Barbara Boxer, Robert Menendez and Jay Rockefeller—have alleged that News Corp. companies may have violated the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) by paying British police for information. Those salivating at the prospect of an American legal offensive against News Corp. don't seem to appreciate the implications of deploying the FCPA in this situation: Its inappropriate application to news-gathering raises very significant First Amendment concerns for all U.S. media.
The FCPA was enacted in 1977 in an effort to clean up government contracting, where bribery was then a way of life. U.S. and European companies paid off foreign officials as a matter of course in competing for orders, especially in the military sphere. As the Senate Banking Committee noted at the time, "investigations by the SEC have revealed corrupt foreign payments by over 300 U.S. companies involving hundreds of millions of dollars." In some countries, such bribes were tax-deductible—just another cost of doing business.
Congress correctly concluded that this was not proper and duly adopted the FCPA, which forbids "payments made to foreign officials for the purpose of obtaining business or influencing legislation or regulations." Since the late 1990s, however, the Securities and Exchange Commission and U.S. Department of Justice have begun applying the law ever more broadly—to conduct that has little connection to obtaining government contracts or other government benefits, such as product approvals, permits or licenses.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
How is this worse then CBS paying Anthony $200,000 for exclusive photo rights?
Oh BS. What’s in your closets, a-holes?
We know you’re all corrupt. It’s just that we don’t have smart enough people with nads to snag your azzes.
They don’t take bribes, they take “campaign contributions” of tens of thousands of dollars -— from companies who just happen to need special legislation to exempt them from certain laws.
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