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Politics : US Government Attack on Gibson Guitar -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Tom Clarke who wrote (107)	10/1/2011 5:38:28 PM
From: joseffy	1 Recommendation Respond to of 227

Company spokesman Ed James said in an email that Juszkiewicz produced a letter from the Indian government stating the wood was legally exported during the news conference referred to in the affidavit.

To: Tom Clarke who wrote (107)	10/1/2011 8:05:32 PM
From: joseffy	1 Recommendation Respond to of 227

Perry Stands With Gibson October 1, 2011 missouri-news.org During a campaign stop in Memphis this week, Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry adeptly played to the rhetoric of unrest reverberating around Tennessee and beyond as a result of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s raid on Gibson Guitars. Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey, himself a critic of the Gibson raid and one of Tennessee’s highest profile Perry supporters, introduced the Texas governor during a lunchtime fundraiser at the Memphis Botanical Gardens. Before striding to the mic, Perry took a quick detour over to the guitar player in the corner of the room. “Let me come over here and make sure … yes, that’s what I thought that was. God bless you, that is a Gibson guitar!” Perry announced to the audience, which included local business leaders and GOP state lawmakers Rep. Mark White and Sen. Brian Kelsey. “And you tell the government, ‘Keep your hands off of my Gibson!’,” Perry exhorted the musician. That chop at the federal government over the Gibson raids in Nashville and Memphis was the latest in a chorus of opposition that’s grown in intensity ever since federal agents investigating whether the company illegally imported wood temporarily shut down the facilities. The government seized wood, electronic files and guitars. A “ We Stand With Gibson” rally, sponsored by several dozen Tea Party and Republican groups, is scheduled in Nashville at the Scoreboard Restaurant on Oct. 8 from 2-4 p.m. Speakers slated to appear include Gibson CEO Henry Juszkiewicz, U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn and talk radio hosts Steve Gill, Phil Valentine and Mark Skoda. Musicians are also increasingly speaking out about the issue. In a video posted to Gibson’s “ This Will Not Stand” website, Sully Erna – a member of the heavy metal band Godsmack – said “I believe in their innocence, and I stand by them 100 percent as they fight to protect their rights.” www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wk2Wk289u48 Country legend Charlie Daniels riffed and railed on the Gibson raids for the Facebook faithful. “When I went to Iraq the first time, I saw a great need for recreational musical instruments as a lot of the troops played, to one degree or another, but just didn’t have instruments to help while away the lonely off duty hours,” Daniels wrote. “When I got back stateside I started something we called Operation Heartstrings in an effort to provide instruments and strings to our men and women serving so far away from home. The first call I made was to Henry Juszkiewicz, the owner of the Gibson Guitar Company who, without hesitation, donated one hundred Gibson guitars and a gross or so of strings to the project.” Wondered Daniels, “Is this what America has come to, that the resources of the United States government can be used to settle political scores by a petulant president and a totally out of control Justice Department?” Supporters of the federal government’s actions in the Gibson saga say the agency is just following orders from Congress — including Tennessee Republicans who in 2008 voted to expand the scope of government’s authority to prosecute and seize property under the Lacey Act. Despite assurances from the feds that they won’t be targeted, musicians who own Gibson guitars remain concerned that the instruments of their trade could be subject to asset forfeiture.

To: Tom Clarke who wrote (107)	10/4/2011 1:51:01 PM
From: average joe	Respond to of 227

Gibson Guitars wood imports case raises concerns The 'Gibson Firebird X' guitar made by U.S. guitar maker Gibson is seen during a press conference in New York, October 28, 2010. T Credit: Reuters/Shannon Stapleton By Tim Ghianni NASHVILLE, Tenn \| Fri Sep 30, 2011 6:23pm EDT NASHVILLE, Tenn (Reuters) - The chief executive of Gibson Guitars wants to talk to prosecutors about U.S. allegations the legendary guitar maker imported rare ebony and rosewood illegally, the company said on Friday. The highly publicized case is on hold under a judge's order, with no charges filed yet, and a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in Nashville would not comment on when authorities might meet with Gibson CEO Henry Juszkiewicz. Gibson's case has been held up by some Republicans in Tennessee and in Washington, D.C., as an example of what they argue is over- regulation threatening U.S. jobs. But the U.S. logging industry and environmental groups have shot back that the law governing wood imports is justified, and tight enforcement has saved U.S. jobs. Some conservatives groups, including members of the Tea Party in Tennessee, planned a rally October 8 to express support for Gibson. A planned meeting earlier this month did not take place, and neither side has explained why not. Despite assurances by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that authorities were only after importers of bulk ebony and rosewood, Nashville's music scene was rife with rumors that musicians' instruments could be seized. Acclaimed bass guitar player Dave Pomeroy, who is president of the Nashville musicians union, said members remained unclear as to whether it was safe to travel with their instruments. Many contain ebony and rosewood like that seized in raids on Gibson's Tennessee facilities last month and in 2009. "All musicians want to do is do what every other business person does and that is take their tools to work with them," Pomeroy said on Friday. In court documents, the Wildlife Service said Gibson is suspected of obtaining illegally logged ebony and rosewood from Madagascar and unfinished wood from India that violated 2008 amendments to the century-old Lacey Act, which prohibits trade in endangered animals and plants. Some American musicians have left their instruments at home while on tour so as not to risk the possibility of having them confiscated by U.S. Customs agents. Some rent instruments while on the road. The Justice Department and the Wildlife Service tried to quell those fears, responding with a letter to a congressional committee and in a statement on the Service's website. In a September 22 posting, the agency said enforcement targets are those who "knowingly" import illegal products in bulk that violate laws in exporting countries. "To be clear: individual consumers and musicians are not the focus of any U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service law enforcement investigations pertaining to the Lacey Act, and have no need for concern about confiscation of their instruments by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service." Pomeroy said musicians were erring on the side of caution. "While the U.S. government has made it clear that musicians are currently not being targeted ... it only takes one overzealous person to create a problem," he said. The owner of a 1967 Gibson bass, Pomeroy said he had heard rumors that instruments have been seized. Many musicians play instruments that are older than they are, and do not know if they contain illegally obtained wood, he added. (Editing by Andrew Stern and Greg McCune)