Why doesn't the Berlin Philharmonic record?

I lived in Berlin from 1989 to 1990 and attended concerts of the Philharmonic about three times a week. I do not speak German, but some friends gave me the synopsis... Sometime that year, THE manager of the Berlin Philharmonic signed an exclusive recording contract (for which he received a large sum of money) with Sony without consulting the members of the orchestra. I remember hearing about the newspapers shaming him for the sellout. The orchestra members felt very strongly about their relationship with DG. As a result, the entire orchestra refused to record for Sony, and to this day, I would assume Sony continues to hold the Philharmonic to the contract since there are no Philharmonic recordings. Does anyone know how long the contract was? And, what ever happened to the manager? Wouldn't it be nice if Sony released the Philharmonic?