Bribing foreign officials is wrong, but not everything governments do to prevent it is wise or proportional. Firms are increasingly fed up with the way America's Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) is written (confusingly) and applied (vigorously). The law was passed in 1977, but recent years have seen a spike in enforcement, from five actions in 2004 to 74 in 2010. Five of the ten biggest settlements ever were last year, including a 400-million-dollar fine against BAE Systems, a British defence contractor, and a 365-million-dollar fine against ENI, an Italian oil firm.
On August 31st the Wall Street Journal reported that the Department of Justice has been investigating Oracle, a database software company, for a year. Unusually, Oracle has said nothing about the investigation. Ethisphere, a promoter of corporate responsibility, rated Oracle one of the world's most ethical companies in 2009.
贿赂外国官员是不对的，但是并不是政府做的每一件预防的事都是明智或者适度的。公司对美国外国腐败行为法案的立法和实施都很厌倦。该法律是在1977年通过的，但是近几年在执行上有新的高峰，从2004年的5起到2010年的74起。最大的10个案件中的5个都发生在去年，包括对英国防卫承包商BAE系统的4亿美元罚款，以及针对意大利公司ENI的3亿6千5百万罚款。
在8月31日，华尔街杂志报道，美国司法部在调查Oracle公司，这个公式是一个数据库软件公司，调查持续了1年。很反常的是，Oracle对调查时间三缄其口。Ethisphere是公司责任的提升者，将Oracle公司评价为2009年世界上最符合伦理的公司。
