Who in their right mind gives away their trade secrets to their competition?
Companies have information that allow them to keep a leg up on their competition. Intellectual property, proprietary processes, patented technology, unique ways of combining components. These are the things that make them successful.
When these company differentiators are made available to the competition, there is outrage from the company. People are fired, arrested, sued and other forms of retribution, depending on the level of damage. We all know this. We have all seen it.
This is why I am bewildered about the amount of information that is being made available about the Osama bin Laden events. The information gathered, where it was gathered from, the way it was combined, the decision making process, the action taken. Not only do billions of people know it, but so do an unspecified number of the terrorists. Doesn’t all of this publicity help the “competition” to be more successful?
Now that the terrorists know a lot more than they knew Saturday, won’t they be harder to track? I can’t imagine that the intelligence agencies are too happy that the terrorist are now better equipped to evade exposure and capture.
I understand the news media. They have to deliver 24 hours of “breaking” news every day, the more sensational the better (because the ratings say that the public demands it).
I don’t understand the people who are giving out this level of detail. Some of it is directly from the government. Some of it just seems to “appear” as facts without attribution. Leaks? Tweets? Anonymous phone calls? Doesn’t this come under heading of “giving aid and comfort to the enemy”? Isn’t this a real crime? As in against the law?
I guess it is better for me to stay in the business sector. I understand their motivation and behavior. I just don’t have a clue about the rest of this.
(Or maybe I do have a clue, but I don’t want to believe what I’m thinking.)
What is your opinion of the events? Leave a comment.
