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Microsoft is tied to hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign bribes

theverge.com

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Re: Microsoft is tied to hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign bribes

#31

Post by mring33621 »

legalcorrection wrote: post #19

The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act should be repealed and American companies should be allowed to compete on equal footing with their foreign competitors. No other country, even if it technically has an FCPA-like law on the books, actually enforces it to the extent the US does. It means that everyone is free to openly participate in bribery to win foreign markets, markets where bribery is just how business is done, wh…

I don't like it but I think this is a realistic opinion.

Maybe overseas bribes become legal, but must be disclosed in a publicly-accessible format.

Re: Microsoft is tied to hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign bribes

#35

Post by Overtonwindow »

lemoncookiechip wrote: post #6

> "What is a shock: This time around, the SEC and DOJ have both declined to investigate Microsoft over the same types of bribes in the Middle East and Africa. They acknowledged my evidence (which I submitted three times) yet did not take up the case, claiming that the current pandemic has prevented them from gathering more evidence from abroad—even though I have already provided documentation that I believe shows Mic…

I work in government, and I remember a story told to me by a federal official who was involved in the arrest of a former member of congress for bribery. The official told me that, essentially what the congressman did was illegal under federal law, but it was what you had to do in order to "do business" in "those parts of the world."

I found that interesting. With what is going on today in the world, between nations committing human rights abuse and war, America still does business with them. Money exchanges hands, which furthers human rights abuses' and war because that's what our policymakers believe we needed to do to achieve our goals.

One is breaking the law to achieve a goal, but what is the other called?

Re: Microsoft is tied to hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign bribes

#36

Post by otterley »

legalcorrection wrote: post #19

The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act should be repealed and American companies should be allowed to compete on equal footing with their foreign competitors. No other country, even if it technically has an FCPA-like law on the books, actually enforces it to the extent the US does. It means that everyone is free to openly participate in bribery to win foreign markets, markets where bribery is just how business is done, wh…

Do you think our laws should be tuned for maximum profit, or to reflect who we are, ethically and morally, as a society?

Re: Microsoft is tied to hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign bribes

#37

Post by fallingknife »

legalcorrection wrote: post #19

The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act should be repealed and American companies should be allowed to compete on equal footing with their foreign competitors. No other country, even if it technically has an FCPA-like law on the books, actually enforces it to the extent the US does. It means that everyone is free to openly participate in bribery to win foreign markets, markets where bribery is just how business is done, wh…

Yes. It's not our governments job to prosecute foreign bribery. It's the foreign government's job. And if they don't do their job, I don't see how that's my problem.

Re: Microsoft is tied to hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign bribes

#38

Post by mc32 »

lemoncookiechip wrote: post #6

> "What is a shock: This time around, the SEC and DOJ have both declined to investigate Microsoft over the same types of bribes in the Middle East and Africa. They acknowledged my evidence (which I submitted three times) yet did not take up the case, claiming that the current pandemic has prevented them from gathering more evidence from abroad—even though I have already provided documentation that I believe shows Mic…

Are the bribes being directed by MS US or are these things taking place in overseas offices where customs are different? One example was Hungary --I imagine Ukraine and Nigeria too would have executives there who are part of the local culture where they do things differently.

While the actions go afoul of US law, they may be in line with local customs culture and practices --that is harder to root out as now you are trying to change another culture (cultural imperialism as it was called).

If this is being directed from the US, then it's easier to root out.

Re: Microsoft is tied to hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign bribes

#39

Post by fallingknife »

otterley wrote: post #36
legalcorrection wrote: post #19

The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act should be repealed and American companies should be allowed to compete on equal footing with their foreign competitors. No other country, even if it technically has an FCPA-like law on the books, actually enforces it to the extent the US does. It means that everyone is free to openly participate in bribery to win foreign markets, markets where bribery is just how business is done, wh…

Do you think our laws should be tuned for maximum profit, or to reflect who we are, ethically and morally, as a society?

From a moral standpoint I think we have to accept how other societies are run and act accordingly, and our laws should end at our borders.

Re: Microsoft is tied to hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign bribes

#40

Post by bnt »

Let's see how The Verge falls out of Microsoft's grace moving forward. The Verge had (what feels like) direct access to top MS execs for all product launches. I guess those days are over.

Don't get me wrong, if this was picked up by the SEC or DOJ - I'd take it more seriously, but it sounds like accusations with no real proof.

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