Spying continues to dominate the news. Just today Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff cancelled a trip to meet with President Obama over revelations that the U.S. actively spied on Brazil.
Up until recently, the prevailing view was that companies located in China and Russia had the most active industrial espionage programs.
That’s all changed after the Snowden leaks.
According to a recent report, German companies now view the U.S. as a higher risk for corporate espionage than even Russia.
I think the ridiculous comparison is worth a laugh.
Let’s face it, given the highly sophisticated intelligence infrastructure left over from the Soviet era, the fastest way for Russian companies to close the innovation gap with the U.S. is to engage in corporate espionage.
Same goes for China where the state and private enterprise are inextricably intertwined.
Are there some U.S. companies that do it? Probably.
But they really don’t need to.
The Apples, Googles and Facebooks of the world all rose to the top with American ingenuity and innovation–also known as hard work, drive and sheer determination.
You don’t get there by cheating.
What do you think?