conditions
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Apple's new suppliers are 'even worse' than Foxconn, says China Labor Watch
Just as Pegatron has managed to snatch more Apple contracts away from Foxconn, so too has it attracted greater scrutiny of the conditions faced by its 70,000 workers. China Labor Watch, the US-based worker welfare monitor, now alleges that Chinese factories run by the up-and-coming Taiwan-based manufacturer are "even worse" than Foxconn's. It claims to have found health and safety violations, poor living conditions in dorms, and the coercion of workers by withholding their pay or identity cards -- in other words, the sort of stuff that breaches both Chinese law and Apple's supplier policy. Its latest report also accuses Apple of failing to treat abuses with the same urgency that it applies to lapses in product quality. For its part, Apple has responded by highlighting the fact that it has audited Pegatron facilities 15 times in the last six years, and that a recent survey found that Pegatron employees were working an average of 46 hours per week. It also said it had dealt promptly with earlier instances of ID cards being withheld, but admitted that China Labor Watch's report includes "claims that are new to us" and that will need to be investigated "thoroughly." [Image credit: Jay Greene, CNET]
Google revamps Play Store developer rules, looks to banish intrusive advertising
Google has tweaked the developer policy for the Play Store with an eye on reducing intrusive advertising, spoof apps and clarifying subscription cancellations. Apps that pass themselves off as others, or are "confusingly similar" will now be pulled, so say goodbye to those thousand instances of Angry Byrdz. Adverts that pop up in your notifications window, like Airpush and KDDI's au one now make their way onto the verboten list. It's also clarifying that when users cancel their subscriptions, they won't be refunded for the current billing period, but will continue to receive what they'd paid for until the term expires. Developers now have 30 days to comply with the changes, after which point apps that are found to be in violation will be pulled by Mountain View's overlords.
Microsoft gives Windows 8 developers a head start on Windows Store app submissions
If you've been jonesing to get your app into the Windows Store and don't want to compete for attention with the developing masses when Windows 8 ships, Microsoft might just have your ticket to the front of the line. Developer Evangelist Matt Harrington is offering a fast track for developers that write a "great" app, contact him through his blog and meet all the app submission conditions needed to get Microsoft's rubber stamp. Along with receiving a token to enter the store well ahead of most others, those privileged few who clear the hurdles can get help from a Microsoft engineer to give their Windows 8 apps that extra polish. When the development floodgates open to everyone is still an unknown, although a handful of workshops between May 11 and June 8 should give app writers an edge in getting started.
Protesters aimed to deliver new letter to Apple during shareholders meeting
Protestors delivered letters to Apple Stores around the world asking Apple to re-examine its use of Foxconn production factories overseas. Apple decided (relatedly or otherwise) to step up its inspections of those factories, so you probably won't be surprised to hear that protestors planned to do it all again. SumOfUs aimed to deliver a letter to Apple during its recent shareholder meeting, allegedly written by two factory workers who claim they were poisoned while working on the line. The protest and the meeting were both held the morning of February 23, so hopefully the handoff went off without a hitch. Apple hasn't officially acknowledged these protests, and I'm sure it would rather not have these kinds of claims bouncing around in public. Still, Apple hasn't been closed off to the issue; the company often runs inspections on overseas factories and has consistently said that every facility where its products are built adheres to all standard regulations. So far, all these protestors have asked for is to "reform working conditions," but exactly what that means, or what form of action that might mean for Apple, is unclear. As long as these protestors remain civil and Apple continues to hear their concerns and act on them as best it can, hopefully everyone will do what's right for any workers dealing with unfair or possibly harmful conditions at these plants.
ArenaNet blog update details changes to Guild Wars 2's boons and conditions
ArenaNet has just released a new blog post to follow up its first Guild Wars 2 press beta weekend. Lead designer Eric Flannum says that the preview event went off without a hitch, and he also indicates that the dev team has a lot on its plate as it gears up to bring the game to a wider audience. He starts things off with a look at Guild Wars 2's unique "downed" mode, which is basically a pre-death state wherein you have a limited selection of abilities to rally and potentially save yourself. The blog goes on to detail changes to the game's compass, tweaks to its meta-events, and an extensive look at the updates to boons and conditions. Head to the official ArenaNet website for all the details.
Protests against iPhone factory conditions planned at Apple Stores
Stories about troubling factory conditions at Foxconn are all too familiar, unfortunately, but hearing that protestors are planning to do something about it is new. GigaOM reports that this Thursday, representatives from Change.org and Sumofus.org are planning to bring petitions to Apple Stores in major cities around the US, asking the company from Cupertino to put together "a worker protection strategy" for the factories overseas that it contracts to make all of its products. The organizations will arrive at stores in Washington, DC, New York City, San Francisco, London, Sydney and Bangalore, and will also bring signs and leaflets along to educate Apple customers and employees about what's happening overseas. The petitions will have the names of 250,000 people on them, and one of the representatives from Sumofus.org says that the group is "asking Apple to clean up its supply chains in time to make the iPhone 5 its first ethically produced product." Obviously no one wants factories with terrible conditions for its workers, and Apple in the past has at least given lip service to wanting to make sure that conditions are as good as possible at the companies that it contracts work from. But maybe a protest like this will bring even more light to the issue, and pressure Apple even further to make sure that any of its production lines are at least benign when it comes to worker safety and labor rights.
Windows Store fine print puts consumers first
Digging into the Windows Store fine print reveals Microsoft's "consumer first" policy for the metro-style apps for next year's operating system. The company wants developers to make every app fully touch compatible, with every gesture working the same way as it does in Windows 8. It'll have to cater for every CPU architecture as well (or face having to tailor multiple editions) since users can install it on up to five machines. Video downloads are capped at 256Kb/s and audio at 64Kb/s to prevent apps maxing out the data caps on your plan -- if it wants any more, it'll have to politely ask for your permission. The only thing the company isn't offering to users is a returns policy, (except in countries where it's legally obligated to) but we can't have it all our own way, eh?
Wintek workers still experience effects from n-hexane exposure, Apple issues a report
It's been a few months since we checked in on the workers at Wintek, where they manufacture touchscreens for the likes of Apple. As you might remember, the former company was facing a lawsuit for chemical poisoning that occurred between May 2008 to August 2009 when the company substituted alcohol for n-hexane in the manufacturing process. Both Apple and Wintek maintain that ultimately a total of 137 people had been hospitalized, and all have recovered -- but as Reuters points out, daily exposure to the chemical has been known to cause "long-term and possibly irreversible nerve damage," and Wintek employees have maintained that the company has left them holding the bag for symptoms that could very well flare up again in the future (or, in some cases, never really went away). "We are unable to cope with the medical costs of treatment in the future," said Guo Ruiqiang, a worker at the plant. "We can only stay in the factory and see what happens. We just feel very helpless now." For Apple's part, the company has mandated that Wintek "work with a consultant to improve their Environmental Health and Safety processes and management systems" in anticipation of a complete reaudit of the facility in 2011. [Warning: PDF More Coverage link]
44 Chinese workers sue Wintek over screen cleaner poisoning
If you've got an early Apple iPad, chances are its screen was cleaned with a banned substance called n-hexane, which releases a toxic nerve gas upon use. 2,000 workers at Wintek's East China LCD plant went on strike in January, claiming the substance was poisoning them, and now 44 of those reportedly affected are planning to sue. According to reports, the screen cleaner was originally used because it performed better than alcohol, but Wintek has since fired the factory manager who suggested n-hexane and discontinued its use. That didn't keep 62 workers from winding up in the hospital, however. The Guardian interviewed two hospitalized workers last week, and you'll find their stories at our more coverage link below. We're sure you'll agree these Chinese labor violations are getting out of hand -- let's hope this lawsuit spurs government and industry to do something concrete about worker abuse.
National Labor Committee report on Chinese CE factories uncovers deplorable conditions
Yesterday, the National Labor Committee produced a report on the working conditions at the KYE Factory in Dongguan City, Guangdong, China. KYE operates (like many factories in China) a live-work facility and generated sales of $400 million in 2008. KYE manufactures outsourced products for HP, Best Buy, Samsung, Foxconn, Acer, Logitech, and ASUS. Their largest customer, however, is reportedly Microsoft. The report details some of what we've come to expect in stories of labor abuses -- near children, most of them women, working for 16 or 17 hours a day, living in nearly deplorable conditions, for less than a dollar an hour -- all so that the world's ever-growing need for / addiction to consumer electronics can be fed. Now, the gadget industry isn't the only offender by a stretch -- but it's quickly becoming one of the largest (in addition to producing a truly horrific amount of toxic garbage). After the break are some choice facts from the report that our readers might be interested in ingesting, so read on.
Dick Durbin presses Apple on human rights in China
Technology relations with China and their human rights situation is turning into a hot-button issue lately, especially given Google's recent troubles with that country. Now, my old senator from Illinois, Dick Durbin, has decided to raise the level of scrutiny, calling for a list of 30 companies, including Apple, to share information about their relationships in China with the companies there. Durbin won't have to look far to find issues with Apple: there have been issues in the past with Foxconn and Wintek, two contractors that Apple uses for the majority of its products, and even a recent report commissioned by Apple found that factory conditions and pay scales weren't quite up to snuff. Still, Apple has always spoken out strongly in favor human rights, so hopefully a little bit of spotlight from queries like Durbin's will ensure that their actions match up. (Apple globe art by Kevin Van Aelst.)
Verizon updates T&Cs to further redefine "unlimited" data usage
After Verizon's ambiguousness ended up hitting it right where it hurts (read: the wallet), the carrier cleaned up its act a bit and redefined "unlimited" in a hot-off-the-press version of its Terms & Conditions. While perusing through the legalese, you'll notice that checking out "continuous web camera posts or broadcasts / automatic data feeds (RSS)" are strictly prohibited, right along with P2P sharing or using your BroadbandAccess as a "substitute or backup for private lines or dedicated data connections." Moving on, you'll also see that exceeding 5GB of usage during any single billing period gives Verizon the right to "reduce throughput speeds of any application that would otherwise exceed such speed to a maximum of approximately 200Kbps." It gets worse -- these speeds are (unsurprisingly) "subject to change," so it sounds like your connection can be throttled right on down to a crawl should you pass the 5GB barrier. Have fun!*[Via jkOnTheRun]*...just keep it under 5GB if you know what's good for you.
