From the AEGIS e-Journal, Volume 6 Number 5, May 2003
2003 Local Court & County Record Retrievers BRB Publications ISBN 1-879792-71-0 600 pages $39.95 http://www.brbpub.com/books/details.asp?ProductID=79 1(800) 929-3811 This book contains profiles of over 2,600 companies, with 250 new companies and 14,000 companies indexed by county of specialty. It is the Who’s Who of the record retrieval industry. It also contains a good description on how to select a professional. As investigators, we have relied on this publication for years. It is easy to use, and gets you to the people with whom you need to speak to get the information you need. The cost is more than offset the first time your staff needs to use the directory. Doing Business in Emerging Markets S. Tamer Cavusgil, Pervez N. Ghauri, and Milind R. Agarwal Sage Publications ISBN 0761913750 330 pages $32.95 http://www.sagepub.com/book.aspx?pid=8833 ÆGIS, May 2003 7 We have offices in many countries, some of which are considered to be emerging markets. Some are just horrid markets rife with soft laws, unknown customs, and a favor system of patronage that put South Philly to shame. The book covered almost all of the problems one is likely to encounter, and had excellent recommendations for solving those problems. This book is an excellent primer for developing a framework for a First Worlder, going to a Third World market and trying to survive. The book is not an easy, light, read, but it is well illustrated and well documented, and most useable. No Greater Threat C. William Michaels Algora Publishing ISBN 0-87586-154-7 360 pages $29.95 http://www.algora.com/No%20Greater%20Threat.htm Contributed by Ken Howard. (photoken7@pacbell.net) Mr. Howard is one of the world’s leading opera and theatre photographers, and has long been interested in civil liberties issues. Contributed articles do not necessarily reflect the viewpoint of the ÆGIS e-journal. The US Patriot Act (Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism) was written and reviewed, passed by congress, and signed into law in the forty- five days between 11 September and 26 October 2001. It is 342 pages long, and is, by any standard, major and significant legislation, with the same widespread social impact as the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In the opinion of some, the speed of its creation was possible because it was largely an existing wish list of un-passable legislation. While some sections deal directly with the events of September 11th – providing for victims of the attacks, increasing translation facilities to help recover from the previous purge of Middle Eastern experts from the intelligence services, and increasing forensic cyber-crime capabilities – the act goes way beyond these issues, and makes changes, some large and some small, to at least a dozen different statutes, including: • Wiretap Statute (Title III) • Electronic Communications Privacy Act • Computer Fraud and Abuse Act • Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act • Family Education Rights and Privacy Act • Pen Register and Trap and Trace Statute ÆGIS, May 2003 8 • Money Laundering Act • Immigration and Nationality Act • Money Laundering Control Act • Bank Secrecy Act • Right to Financial Privacy Act • Fair Credit Reporting Act Because it is so far reaching, and can affect the way we do many things, it should be of concern on two levels to all of us. The first level of concern is that we need to know what it says so we don’t inadvertently violate it. As you would expect of an explication of legislation this extensive, this is an extremely dense book, with almost as much information in footnotes and addenda as in the text itself. The first four parts cover in exhaustive detail every section of the act (including the potential impact each section could have on civil liberties in America). Because of the nature of the act, even this layperson’s explanation of the act is difficult reading. Nonetheless, we think No Greater Threat will be as helpful a guide to the act as you are likely to find. We recommend it even if you are only concerned with the mechanics of the act. The second level of concern is that the USA Patriot Act addresses many issues actually and potentially affecting our privacy and our civil liberties. The reason this is of concern is that many of the changes are in areas where there has repeatedly been abuse, and for which oversight put in place to control this abuse has now been largely removed. In the opinion of some, it is as if those writing the law had no confidence in the ability of the American system of justice, with its protections of the accused, to function under stress. The concern is heightened in the minds of others because there is no evidence that our previous civil liberties posed a barrier to the effective tracking or prosecution of terrorists, and the government made no showing that the previous powers of law enforcement and intelligence agencies to spy on U.S. citizens were insufficient to allow them to investigate and prosecute acts of terrorism. In fact, there has been no indication or claim that under the USA Patriot Act the events of September 11th would have been prevented. Providing a solution where there is not a problem is a concern if it weakens our Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendment rights. In this case the concerns center largely on: ÆGIS, May 2003 9 • The coupling of expanded surveillance over U.S. citizens with reduced checks and balances. • The expansion of government surveillance powers over U.S. citizens in areas not related to terrorism. • The expansion of surveillance of U.S. citizens domestically by U.S. overseas intelligence agencies. • The unchallengeable suspension of Habeas Corpus rights on the whim of the administration. The last four parts of No Greater Threat – and doubtless the reason it was written – are a wide-ranging discussion of what is happening to our civil liberties and our Constitutional rights since 9/11, and what we should watch out for. How concerned are you likely to be about this second section, or how likely are you to be convinced by it? As with the other major divisive philosophical debates (gun control, abortion, and the use of a comma before the final “and” in a series), you will probably come out of the book with the same beliefs you held going in. As an example, several days ago this contributor got an e-mail from a friend who said: We DO have a responsibility that is greater than any other country, at this point. We ARE a target and must take steps to protect ourselves. Our system HAS shown itself to deliver the greatest good for the greatest number. So what is wrong with promoting and protecting our interests and the interests of our system and philosophy internationally? This person will not be moved by Michaels’ talk about the Japanese internment camps in WWII, which he believes was the right action for the U.S. to take. Nor by the difficulties some people had in the McCarthy era, since he believes that the fact that there were communists in the government justified what happened. These “lefty” issues will guarantee that a lot of people will rather easily dismiss the book. Further weakening his argument, near the end he marshals poets, a Buddhist writer, and a vegetarian to his side. When he quotes someone who says that not eating meat is a key to world peace, well, one’s mind begins to drift…. Obviously, many of the issues discussed in the book will eventually make their way to the Supreme Court. However, no matter what your philosophical beliefs, this book will help you understand the USA Patriot act, and understanding is always a good first step toward wisdom. ÆGIS, May 2003 10 7. Free-Subscription/Unsubscription/Copyright Information •• ÆGIS e-journal is supported and maintained by voluntary efforts. This publication is owned, published, and copyright © 2003 by The LUBRINCO Group Ltd, Inc. and Financial Examinations and Evaluations, Inc. It is edited jointly by Richard Isaacs (RBIsaacs@lubrinco.com) and L. Burke Files (LBFiles@lubrinco.com). The LUBRINCO Group provides services in three high-threat areas, too specialized to be dealt-with in-house, that can adversely affect domestic and international bottom lines. • Protection of trade secrets and intellectual assets. o Anti-economic espionage. o OPSEC: The identification and protection of information that would give your competitors and adversaries an advantage. • International financial investigations and due diligence consulting. o Location and recovery of missing and hidden assets. o Establishing business relationships and strategic partnerships in Central and Eastern Europe, the offshore financial centers, Beijing and Shanghai, Central Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean. o Anti-money laundering and financial fraud requirements under the International Money Laundering Abatement and Anti-Terrorist Financing Act of 2003 and the EU Revised Money Laundering Directive of 2003. • Protection of management, staff, and families. o In the high-threat environments of Latin America, Africa, the Mid- East, and Southeast Asia. o When traveling and living overseas. o When transporting items of substantial value. LUBRINCO identifies and quantifies threats and vulnerabilities, and their associated risk, then manages the vulnerabilities so you can transfer or live with the residual risk. We prevent disastrous financial loss to your company, and physical harm to you, your family, and your staff. For information on The LUBRINCO Group and its services, or for the archive of all past issues of ÆGIS e-journal in PDF format, please go to http://www.lubrinco.com/. ÆGIS, May 2003 11 To sign up for a complimentary subscription to ÆGIS e-journal or the ÆGIS e- journal PDF notification list, go to http://lb.bcentral.com/ex/manage/subscriberprefs?customerid=7768 or send an email to ejournal@lubrinco.com. To subscribe to our AvantGo channel, go to http://avantgo.com/channels/_add_channel.pl?cha_id=1773 To be removed from the subscription list, follow the instructions on the mailing you received, or send an e-mail to ejournal@lubrinco.com. If you know of anyone else who should be receiving ÆGIS e-journal, please send their e-mail address to ejournal@lubrinco.com. If there is a topic that you would like to know more about, send it to ejournal@lubrinco.com and the editors will consider it as the topic for an article in an upcoming issue. If you would like to submit an article for publication in ÆGIS e-journal, send it as an attachment to an e-mail to ejournal@lubrinco.com. Submission of an article certifies that (a) all information in the article is in the public record, or (b) that you are authorized to release any personal or corporate proprietary information contained in the article, and (c) that none of the article has previously been copyrighted. The submission of materials for publication in ÆGIS e-journal constitutes a license to The LUBRINCO Group Ltd, Inc., and/or Financial Examinations and Evaluations, Inc, their assigns, associates, or affiliates, to abridge and/or edit said submission, and to copyright and publish/republish any submitted materials in whatever written and/or electronic form they may choose. If you would like to go beyond normal fair-use in reproducing articles from this issue of ÆGIS e-journal, you may do so freely as long as appropriate source, copyright, accreditation, and link to the LUBRINCO website is included. This should be in the form
Article Title, from the May 2003 ÆGIS e-journal (© 2003 LUBRINCO & FEE), to be found at http://www.lubrinco.com/. ÆGIS e-journal is a forum for the exchange of information, ideas, operating styles, theories, and related topics for corporate managers who make decisions about threats typically outside the expertise available in-house, yet which have the potential to affect their company’s domestic and international bottom lines. Nothing appearing in ÆGIS e-journal should be ÆGIS, May 2003 12 construed as legal advice. The information provided is “general information,” not “specific advice.” The solution to any problem is highly dependent upon the precise facts involved. Thus, before making any reliance upon anything said here, you should consult with an appropriately skilled professional. Opinions expressed by contributors are not necessarily endorsed by the publisher, and may be presented to encourage a dialogue among subscribers. The publisher and any re-publisher cannot be held responsible for any loss incurred as a result of the application of any information published in ÆGIS e-journal. Please be safe, and be smart.