Geo. Newbern - I don't know if you read the articles or not, but your posts seem to indicate an assumption that Gibson is guilty of violating laws (forgive me if I mis-read). If that were the case I would agree with you, but the point here is that there is NO evidence that Gibson has broken any law. Some may not realize that this is the SECOND time the Feds have raided Gibson in less than 2 years. In late 2009 they raided Gibson and seized a shipment of ebony along with a group of guitars. There was no evidence then of any wrong-doing on Gibson's part, and to date the DOJ has yet to file any charges against them, YET they continue to hold the wood and instruments in confiscation and Gibson has been forced to SUE the DOJ to get their property returned. In the latest raid, it appears that no US or International laws were broken, and IF any law were broken it was an Indian law, yet it was India who cleared the shipment for sale and apparently couldn't care less. Gibson would have no way of knowing that an Indian law might have been broken (one that has NOTHING to do with protection of endangered wood, by the way), especially when the shipment was sanctioned by the Indian govt. In case it isn't known, Gibson is one of the founding members of the Alliance that was formed between Suppliers and Manufacturers to set forth the rules to be followed to protect these endangered woods and provide a sustainable resource for them (Taylor Guitars is another). In other words, they were instrumental in forming the plan to begin with.

Last edited by vh20; 08/26/11 11:08 PM.