A punk rocker who had a thing for "Les Paul Originals" made his way into Dick Tracy.
Posted on 08/06/2012 10:38:28 AM PDT by kingattax
Gibson Guitar Corp. agreed to settle charges that it illegally purchased and imported ebony wood from Madagascar and rosewood and ebony from India, the Justice Department said today.
The company will pay a $300,000 fine under a criminal enforcement agreement that defers prosecution for criminal violations of the Lacey Act. Another $50,000 fine will go to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation “to be used to promote the conservation, identification and propagation of protected tree species used in the musical instrument industry and the forests where those species are found.”
Since May 2008, it has been illegal under the Lacey Act to import into the United States plants and plant products that have been harvested and exported in violation of the laws of another country. Raids of Gibson factories by federal authorities led to concerns from some guitar owners that they could also be found in violation and pursued for having instruments made of illegal wood.
Last August, Gibson officials accused the government of “bullying” the company. “Gibson has complied with foreign laws and believes it is innocent of any wrong doing. We will fight aggressively to prove our innocence.”
Under the agreement with the Justice and Interior departments, Gibson will also withdraw its civil claim to retrieve $261,844 worth of Madagascar ebony seized in a raid.
“As a result of this investigation and criminal enforcement agreement, Gibson has acknowledged that it failed to act on information that the Madagascar ebony it was purchasing may have violated laws intended to limit overharvesting and conserve valuable wood species from Madagascar, a country which has been severely impacted by deforestation,” said Assistant Attorney General Moreno. “Gibson has ceased acquisitions of wood species from Madagascar and recognizes its duty under the U.S. Lacey Act to guard against the acquisition of wood of illegal origin by verifying the circumstances of its harvest and export, which is good for American business and American consumers.”
The criminal enforcement agreement includes a detailed statement of facts describing the conduct for which Gibson accepts and acknowledges responsibility. Gibson received four shipments of Madagascar ebony fingerboard blanks from its supplier between October 2008 and September 2009.
Shame if anything happened to it.
I have two friends with 335s, and I am jealous of both of them. And they are jealous of each other, which makes it more funny.
Gibson Guitar Corp. Strikes Deal with Justice Dept. to Avoid Prosecution
My daughter has a Hummingbird, which we purchased for her, and she just won a really nice 1961 SG reissue. Both gorgeous American guitars. I can’t wait until November to get the Obama crooks out of the way.
I have more FUN with my cheap Silvertones than I ever had with an expensive guitar! After I set them up they play and sound great even the laminated cheapie I bought for $6!
In fact the laminated has a nice mellow, smooth tone using 11-52 IIRC Pearse or Martin strings.
It’s funny when some of my old band gets togethet and we compare. They are jealous of how good mine sound compared to their $500+++
guitars!
It’s all in the setup and knowing what you are playing.
I am jealous of the accomplished luthiers!
Really if you think about it a lot of the “classic” acoustic sound was done on fairly inexpensive guitars.
BTW my first electric was a DanoElectric made of Masonite with the amp in the case! The action was horrendous! Wish I had one now. Real ones go for big bucks! They sound cool!
Makes you wonder if there were strings attached...
Not just anybody can make bad puns about guitars. I requires some pluck.
The Government has unlimited resources, the courts on their side , and lawyers on the payroll who just sit around all day slapping their chicken.
I wish Gibson could have taken them on too, but sometimes you just can’t win and you pay up.
The government knew that when they went in and stole their wood and ripped them off.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see it show up in Steny Hoyers, or John Roberts den.
Free men go where they are most free.
That used to be here.
Gibson Guitars, the only thing this will get you is to get effed harder the next time.
Even if we're up to our neck in guitar puns, I don't think we should fret about it.
good idea !
I don’t think it’s anything you should fret about
Gibson's hands have never been clean in this.
With respect to the first raid, in which Madagascar ebony was seized, Gibson clearly did something it knew was illegal. Gibson representative Gene Nix had been on the ground in Madagascar and specifically had visited the 'factory' of Roger Thunam. Thunam had recently been released from prison for illegal lumber trafficking.
Nix emailed the executives at Gibson that Thunam's lumber was under seizure by the Malagasy government. He also emailed that there was no 'legitimate' source for Madagascar ebony.
However, Gibson bought Thunam's ebony through the German firm of Theodor Nagel, Gmbh.
If you read through all of the legal documents, you'll find that a source in Madagascar notified the U.S. about the illegal sale from Thunam to Nagel. You'll also discover that several other individuals who were on the lumber-finding trip with Nix gave statements that it was illegal for Thunam to export his ebony.
As Liberty Valance will attest, I've been crying in the wilderness since the August 2011 raid that Gibson was clearly guilty of violating the law in the previous Madagascar ebony raid.
The circumstances of the East Indian ebony and rosewood seizures are more complicated - involving changing Hamonized Schedule codes after the wood was shipped, misidentifying the contents of containers, failing to list the true ultimate consignee (Gibson was not listed on the import paperwork), and more. The parties involved with Gibson on that import were . . . Theodor Nagel Gmbh (again) and Luthiers Mercantile, a company related to Nagel.
I'll make a note of that.
No.
There were two raids on Gibson.
The first raids were in November 2009 and involved Madagascar ebony. The second raids, involving East Indian rosewood and ebony, were in August 2011.
There were separate civil forfeiture actions for each set of raids.
Only the August 2011 raids got a lot of media attention. Gibson didn't roll out its public relations machine with respect to the first raids because the facts were much too unfavorable for Gibson, including internal Gibson emails acknowledging that it couldn't legally buy the Madagascar ebony before Gibson followed through on the purchase.
bttt
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