Reed Elsevier Arms Trade

I might be missing some points in this whole argument against Reed Elsevier, but I don't see why some parties are making this defense industry trade show such a big deal. Guardian also has a story on this today.

"Campaigners are angry that countries whose human rights records have been criticised by British ministers, including China, have been invited. China is subject to a European Union arms embargo."

What's next? Should we stop publishing articles that are submitted from Chinese authors?

Here is an excerpt from Reed Elsevier official response to Lancet's article:

"It is vital that trade shows serving this sector operate in as visible and tightly regulated an environment as possible. Reed Elsevier, through its Reed Exhibitions business (which manages more than 400 trade shows each year serving many different sectors) is well placed to work in conjunction with the UK Ministry of Defence to do this, and to ensure that the show adheres to the highest standards of scrutiny and compliance with the law. DSEi, like all our business activities, complies with the principles of the United Nations Global Compact, to which Reed Elsevier is a signatory."

Let's not forget defense industries contribution to our civilian life either. Like PillCam™ Capsule Endoscopy that was an idea developped by a scientist who was working in the development of Popeye Missile, or similar by products that are brainchild of defense related research









Organizing a conference like this does not change a bit my opinion about how I feel about my company. This is a great company (ok sometimes I may not not agree with everything but overall it's a great place) with great products.