] I've seen a number of things like this over the years. ] While sometimes laws like that are designed to keep US ] companies from boycotting Israel or South Africa or Burma ] or black people, and sometimes even enforced, that's usually ] not the real purpose (unlike laws _requiring_ US companies to ] boycott Cuba or Iraq or France), just as the Foreign Corrupt ] Practices Act laws that forbid US companies from bribing ] foreign officials usually aren't intended to hunt down corrupt ] US companies. Anti-boycott compliance has been mentioned on MemeStreams before, but not discussed. I want to know what you think about this. I find the idea uncomfortable, but I also find the specifics thorny. Is boycotting someone an act of speech or of association, which should have first amendment protection? (Do I have a right to do business with other people of my choosing?) Should it be legal for the government to prevent you from engaging in a boycott? (I.E. compel you to agree to trade with someone?) Should it be legal for the government to compel you to engage in a boycott (i.e. economic sanctions against Cuba or North Korea)? If so, they why can't the government prevent a boycott as well? Should it be legal for the government to prevent a company from refusing to do business with black people? If so, how is this different from anti-boycott enforcement? Should it be legal for the government to prevent a company from doing business with North Korean people? |