Details come to light on Gibson’s Lacey Act Raid

Fender uses the same company for their wood and they didn't get raided. Fender is liberal and union, Obama thuggery.

Full of salient points. Don't stop believing or wirnitg!

It's about time smoeone wrote about this.

The Feds will claim that Gibson "knew or should have known" about their supplier. This is a classic tactic to charge an entity with conspiracy. But as soon as the U.S. Customs and Border Protection allowed the shipment into the country without confiscation, the US govt. waived their authority to enforce that instance of "so called" illegal activity. So, this raid was groundless, and certainly, no one who purchased guitars from Gibson post the year of 2008 is at fault either.

Also, now that the executive branch (Obama) has told Congress that he doesn't need their permission to start wars, we are in an effective state of dictatorship and taxation without representation. It is our duty to execute full non-compliance against these types of regulations and attacks on private enterprise. And, we have to dissolve this instance of the executive branch and it's orders, as they are illegal.

On another note, yet related:
The Rawesome Foods raid was a direct attack on private contracts, as all their inventory was and still is owned by private individuals. There was no tax to be paid because it was not a store. What we have here is mercenary government thugs following orders without proof of legality. They're like Nazi's, they'll kill you if you stand your ground and they'll probably get a promotion for it.
-Gama Xul

It has not been picked up by the main stream media because they are liberal, and biased, and Gibson Guitars has essentially been a supporter of Republicans and conservatives, and anti-Union. Were it the Bush administration, as soon as the hurricane was finished, you'd see it on the Sunday morning talkathons.

what is going on with the missing comments in the ft online area?what happened to readers making their ideas known on whats going on and responses to the news they read?
is furn tdy so scared of what the people reading the news want to say ? what is going on here,why no more comments section in the site?

Nearly 100% of the ebony (and rosewood) exported from Madagascar is exploited illegally from within officially protected parks and reserves, including several designated as UNESCO World Heritage sites. Thunam is a member of a small, powerful mafia that has been bleeding Madagascar for decades, buying off government officials the whole way, although harvesting has gone on at an unprecedented rate since the current wave of political instability began in February 2009 (for a very detailed analysis, see "Rosewood of Madagascar: Between democracy and conservation" by H. Randriamalala and Z. Liu, recently published in the journal "Madagascar Conservation and Development"). The exploitation of precious hardwoods in Madagascar represents a critical threat to the remaining humid forests in this globally important biodiversity hotspot. Ebony and rosewood are the local equivalent of Africa's blood diamonds.

P. Lowry
Head, Africa and Madagascar Department
Missouri Botanical Garden

Bill, after a long lull in coverage of Gibson and the Lacey Act, other than recent announcements about how it would step up efforts to make sure wood is sourced legally, I noticed a piece in the Nashville Business Journal online this week on the subject. It didn't really get into how Gibson was investigated, but focused on what U.S. authorities were seizing.

The U.S. FWS details were a little harder to find because of how the documents were labeled, United States of America Vs. Ebony Wood in Various Forms. Nowhere in that header was Gibson's name, which I thought was a little odd.

I continue to think this is a story well worth following. The Lacey Act is being enforced currently for some, but not all, furniture items. How this Gibson case is handled may be a good indicator for future enforcement cases.

This whole thing is complicated by the fact that Madagascar's government is completely complicit in the illegal logging leading to these illegal shipments of ebony and rosewood. Nonetheless, it is incumbent upon Gibson to do due diligence and not deal with shady importers like Thunam.

I find it interesting that this story has essentially surfaced in Furniture Today and not been picked up by the mainstream media. I do remember reading an initial piece in the Tennessean, but I find the whole thing rather odd. Am I missing something here?

Can't see the forest for the trees can you fellers?

your the only one watching this......so what ?

wow this must mean the 1000 s of grams used in the furniture industry,mostly egypt and turkey,for inlays and tiny little details on very small cabinets,called bone or colored wood to avoid usa border problems,is a huge threat to the future of our furniture industry ebony needs this is real important news ,thanks for such detailed reporting on our behalf we need stories that are this important to read ,after all its ebony and ivory our main stays of woods we use in our industry.