Business-Ethics Stories Featured in World Press

Jul 21st, 2008 • Posted in: News

From Switzerland, a new wrinkle in a bribery probe; from Seoul, a conviction of a corporate titan; and from Boston, an insight into textbook piracy

VARIOUS DATELINES
Moral issues related to the business world were featured in various press reports last week. Among the pieces:

• The corruption probe of British defense contractor BAE widened last week as Swiss prosecutors expanded three criminal investigations into alleged money laundering. Prosecutors are investigating charges that BAE used Swiss bank accounts to bribe officials in Saudi Arabia in return for contracts, reports the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation. A concurrent probe into similar allegations is under way in Britain after being halted by the government there over concerns that details of the incidents in question would compromise national security.
• Lee Kun Hee, the former chairman of Samsung Group, one of South Korea’s most revered corporations, has been fined about $100 million and given a suspended three-year sentence for tax evasion. The mixed verdict cleared Lee of charges that he oversaw illegal maneuvers designed to transfer control of the company to his son. Prosecutors say they will appeal that acquittal, reports the Associated Press. Bloomberg notes that the sentence was the latest in a series of lenient judgments for high-ranking South Korean corporate officials, and may bring about renewed criticism of the nation’s tradition of family-run corporations, known as chaebols, which, critics say, perpetuate corruption and disadvantage minority shareholders.
• Textbook publishers say they are being undermined by high-tech piracy, the Boston Globe reports. Illegal copies of books, available over the Internet, are eating into profits. Textbook piracy is particularly seductive, an industry spokesman says, because academic books can cost more than $100, about three times the price of most other books. The Globe quotes a recent graduate who admitted pirating copies of textbooks during his four years in college: “Textbooks were massively overpriced,” said the student. He noted that many books were rarely or never used in class. “All of these things … lead me to pirate textbooks off the Internet whenever possible,” he said, adding that he continues to download illegally copied books.

Sources: Swiss Broadcasting Corporation, July 18 — Boston Globe, July 18 — AP, July 18 — Bloomberg, July 18 — Digital Chosunilbo, July 17.

For more information, see: Related Newsline story, June 30 — Related Newsline story, June 16 — Related Newsline story, May 12 — Related Newsline story, Apr. 28 — Related Newsline story, Feb. 25.

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2 Responses »

1. Ethics Newsline® » News » Good News, Bad News Week for Ethically Beset Defense Firm BAE on August 4th, 2008 at 6:28 pm:

   [...] more information, see: Related Newsline story, July 21 — Related Newsline story, June 30 — Related Newsline story, May 12 [...]

2. Ethics Newsline® » News » Technology and Ethics Featured in Several Reports on November 3rd, 2008 at 4:29 pm:

   [...] more information, see: Related Newsline story, July 21 — Related Newsline story, July 7 — Related Newsline story, Feb. 25 [...]

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