-Caveat Lector- > Corporate Spooks > By Russell Mokhiber and Robert Weissman > > Corporate espionage is the dirty little secret of big business in > America > today. > > Corporations spy on other corporations. They spy on citizen groups. > They > spy on governments. > > To protect their reputations, corporations don't admit to spying. But > they > do it. > > Corporate spies call themselves "competitive intelligence > professionals." > > There is even a professional association of corporate spies -- the > Society > for Competitive Intelligence Professionals (SCIP). > > SCIP denies that "competitive intelligence" is espionage and denies > that > "competitive intelligence professionals" are spies. > > "Espionage is the use of illegal means to gather information," says > the > SCIP web site (www.scip.org). > > And SCIP says its members do not practice espionage. > > SCIP says that its members gather their information legally from > public > sources and are bound by a strict code of ethics, which requires > compliance with all laws and disclosure of "all relevant information, > including one's identity and organization, prior to all interviews." > > Marc Barry is out to upend SCIP's apple cart. > > Barry is a corporate spy. He's not a member of SCIP, because he says > he's > not a hypocrite. > > Of course corporations spy, he says. > > Of course SCIP's members spy, he says. > > In fact, they hire him when they don't want to get caught doing a > company's dirty work. > > In the business, he's known as a kite. > > "A kite is somebody who is essentially expendable, somebody who is > flown > out there, and if it hits the fan, the controller can cut the string, > deny > knowledge and let the kite fly off on its own," Barry told us last > week. > > "I provide my clients with actionable intelligence that they either > don't > know how to get themselves, or they don't want to get caught > collecting > themselves," Barry said. "I provide plausible deniability to my > clients. > In the event that an operation is blown and there is litigation or > worse > -- a criminal charge -- they can deny all responsibility by denying > knowledge." > > With plausible deniability, Barry's corporate clients "can claim > ignorance > by demonstrating in court that I am in fact a consultant, that I > signed > documents saying that I would abide by all ethical rules, and that > they > had no idea what I was doing," he says. > > Barry runs about 40 capers a year. > > "I do very well for myself," Barry said. "All of my clients are > Fortune > 500 companies. I deal at the executive level. I'm either dealing at > the > chief executive officer, or the chief operating officer level. The > very > lowest would be vice president of marketing." > > Recently, a SCIP board member hired Barry to run an operation against > Kraft Foods on behalf of Schwan's Sales Enterprises. > > In the winter of 1997, Kraft had developed a new "rising crust" pizza > under the brand name DiGiorno. Schwan's was moving a similar pizza > under > the name Tony's. > > Kraft, a unit of Phillip Morris, was planning a massive advertising > campaign to position DiGiorno's as the only frozen pizza to taste > like > pizza-parlor pizza. > > The SCIP member phoned Barry. > > He knew Barry could quickly get information on the Kraft operation. > > Posing as a reporter for the Wall Street Journal, as an > environmentalist, > and as a graduate student, Barry collected the information Schwan's > wanted > in less than two days. Job completed. Barry wrote about the operation > in > a Spooked: Corporate Espionage in America (Perseus, 2000, co-authored > by > Adam Penenberg). > > Someone at Kraft read the book, ordered an internal investigation, > and > tripped across a second espionage operation. Last month, Kraft sued > Schwan's for theft of trade secrets. > > Isn't Barry concerned about the ethics of lying? > > "To my knowledge, in all 50 states, it is not illegal to lie," he > says. > "The only people I listen to are the United States Department of > Justice > and state and local law enforcement officials." > > What about dumpster diving -- going through someone's garbage? > > "Dumpster diving is perfectly legal, providing there is not a sign > posted," Barry says. "The courts have held that if it is left to be > accessed by commercial carters, then it is no longer private > property. It > is only private property if there is a 'no trespassing' sign and you > had > to trespass to get into the dumpster." > > What about using an answering machine pick -- a device used to > remotely > grab someone else's message off the target's answering machine? > > "That's probably a gray area," Barry says. > > "Do you use picks?" we ask. > > "Fine, and you?" Barry answers. > > Barry wonders whether SCIP members are adhering to the organization's > "code of ethics." > > "If you go to one of their functions, it looks like a sixth grade > dance -- > where you had all the boys on one side and all the girls on the other > side > and no one would talk to each other," he says. > > "At a SCIP function, on one side you have all the spooks who came out > of > Defense Intelligence Agency, the Central Intelligence Agency and the > National Security Agency. And they are all backslapping and hanging > with > each other." > > "And on the other side you have the librarians, the Lexis-Nexis > types, the > software people. So, the white hats are on one side, and the black > hats > are on the other." > > Barry sees a big business in corporate espionage. His Manhattan-based > company -- C3I Analytics -- is in a joint venture with Raytheon that > is > dumping $12 million to build a state-of-the art corporate espionage > war > room in New York City. > > The new company, to be called Intelogix, will sell services to other > corporations "intent on studying the enemy's every move." > > Could it be that, as you are reading this, some Fortune 500 company > is > picking the telephone messages off your answering machine? > > Fine, and you? > > > Russell Mokhiber is editor of the Washington, D.C.-based Corporate > Crime > Reporter. Robert Weissman is editor of the Washington, D.C.-based > Multinational Monitor. They are co-authors of Corporate Predators: > The > Hunt for MegaProfits and the Attack on Democracy (Monroe, Maine: > Common > Courage Press, 1999). > > (c) Russell Mokhiber and Robert Weissman > > > _______________________________________________ > > Focus on the Corporation is a weekly column written by Russell > Mokhiber > and Robert Weissman. Please feel free to forward the column to > friends or > repost the column on other lists. If you would like to post the > column on > a web site or publish it in print format, we ask that you first > contact us > ([EMAIL PROTECTED] or [EMAIL PROTECTED]). > > Focus on the Corporation is distributed to individuals on the > listserve > [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe to corp-focus, send an > e-mail > message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the text: > subscribe > > Focus on the Corporation columns are posted at > <http://www.corporatepredators.org>. > > Postings on corp-focus are limited to the columns. 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