should bribing foreigners be legal?

On Fri, 11 Apr 2008 at 12:42:34, unit743 wrote in uk.legal :

*I* haven't - but western gov'ts like to try, while turning a blind eye to corruption by their business partners...

So that makes it all right?!?

Ever heard of reductio ad absurdum?

You're obviously a drug pusher.

Bribing foreign companies or people is illegal in the US as well, and perhaps gets prosecuted with more vigour than in the UK. It would be more difficult for the federal government to suppress a prosecution.

Exactly - if we harbour dishonesty by our citizens then we can expect no better

Perhaps they call it 'targeted aid' over there?

Besides, compensating a facilitator is not considered bribery in many other cultures.

If that was what it took.

Right in whos eyes? Who has been corrupted? The custom of working through a middle man or facilitator is long standing in some parts of the world and is not considered corrupt. It is just another expense. Do you honestly feel that had the UK negotiator refused to follow the expected custom of working through a representative of the ruling elite the deal would have gone through? When the matter came to a head and the threats to cancel the deal were made due to the investigation, the French were practically at the airport on their way to sell their planes as a replacement. You can bet your last dollar that they would have met the Yanks at the other end and both would have been prepared to do the deal under local customs and no questions asked. Why is self flagilation a such particularily British habit.

"nightjar .me.uk>" wrote

It is common "business practice" to keep Intellectual Property secrets, well, *secret*. Doesn't that distort competition, when the competing firms don't have access to the same knowledge? Is that illegal? ...