“Maybe cyberbullied businesses should ask their offshore hosts to respond. Imagine the Cayman Islands …….. getting tough with Red Army intelligence”

Letter to Editor of NY Times From FRED REDMOND

Intl. Vice President (Human Affairs) United Steelworkers Pittsburgh, May 9, 2013

Re “China’s Military Is Accused by U.S. in Cyberattacks” (front page, May 7):

When China tries to steal corporations’ technology secrets, companies turn to the United States government for protection. Yet Microsoft, Google, Apple, Hewlett-Packard and many others avoid paying American taxes by keeping hundreds of billions sheltered in “offshore” no-tax havens, according to the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.

Ironically, the billions they avoid paying could support our country’s cybersecurity, among so many other services and subsidies on which big business depends. Robert M. Morgenthau, the former Manhattan district attorney, called some of this sheltering “outright tax fraud.” The rest might be legal, but it’s a slap in the face.

Maybe cyberbullied businesses should ask their offshore hosts to respond. Imagine the Cayman Islands, the British Virgin Islands, Gibraltar, Luxembourg, Switzerland and Bahrain getting tough with Red Army intelligence!

Seriously, loyalty isn’t just a word for others. Furthermore, “American” corporations that offshore profits shouldn’t count on our being suckers forever.

For more on this story go to:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/15/opinion/cyberbullied-businesses.html?_r=0