As one who has a serious case of G.A.S. (guitar acquisition syndrome), I have been watching this issue evolve for a number of years. The bureaucracy for this sort of thing is too entrenched and incapable of making common sense decisions when they are called for. I remember seeing a PBS program that documented the burning of a pile of ivory as big as a house. It took place at an African game preserve and the ivory was collected primarily from animals that had died from natural causes or that had been purposely killed to reduce the herd size. This country, full of desperately poor people, could have sold this resource for a small fortune. Instead, they were forced by “global do-gooders” to destroy this valuable product. I could get very political but won’t.......but this is not the singular fault of one or the other political party. We simply need to elect persons who will take action to rein in the over zealous who, at the approval of their own conscience, insist they must protect us from any and all ills real or imagined. Chuck Vetter From: Rob & Helen Goodale Sent: Saturday, August 27, 2011 11:49 AM To: pianotech at ptg.org Subject: [pianotech] Feds confiscating musical instrument materials Recently the Gibson Guitar Company was raided by federal agents asserting that the company has been using illegally obtained banned lumber from protected forests. It also discusses ivory from piano keys being confiscated by agents. A very interesting, (and scary) concern about how the government is, (likely), over-stepping their boundaries. Even if it is from a piano built before ivory is banned you are at their mercy because you don’t have paperwork proving it is pre-ban ivory, (and how are you supposed to produce that? A sales receipt from 1926?). Failure to have such a document can not only result in the materials being confiscated, but also facing heavy fines and possibly even jail time. While the government has responsibilities to ensure that banned materials such as ivory do not enter the country, it seems like that authority should be limited to boarder agents and customs inspectors, not demanding proof of origin on a vintage piano. As far as Gibson is concerned, they claim they have proof that all of their wood is legal and purchased from a "Forest Stewardship Council certified supplier". The concern here doesn't appear to be whether or not possessing wood, ivory, or other materials is legal, but rather the laws being too broadly and not properly defined. Possessing pre-band ivory and wood is not a crime, importing new material is the crime. Read here: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904787404576530520471223268.html Rob Goodale, RPT Las Vegas, NV -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/attachments/20110827/e966614f/attachment.htm>
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