Petition

Business
February 23, 2012
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Protestors to deliver poisoned iPhone factory workers’ letter to Apple shareholder meeting

By on February 23, 2012 at 10:40 AM.

Protestors to deliver poisoned iPhone factory workers’ letter to Apple shareholder meeting

SumOfUs, the organization behind the Ethical iPhone campaign, plans to deliver new petitions to Apple during its annual shareholder meeting on Thursday. Along with the petitions, the group plans to hand over a copy of a letter it distributed on Wednesday written by two factory workers who were allegedly poisoned while assembling iPhone displays. “Apple has a moral obligation to fully compensate workers like Guo Rui-Qiang and Jia Jing-Chuan and to take the hard steps required make sure that tragedies like this never happen again,” SumOfUs Executive Director Taren Stinebrickner-Kauffman said in a statement. “Ethical consumers won’t be fooled by whitewashing by organizations like the Fair Labor Association. We insist that Apple grant truly independent NGOs full access to its factories to truly independent NGOs, not groups funded and controlled by the corporations they’re supposed to monitor.” SumOfUs’s press release follows below. More →

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Business
February 8, 2012
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Protesters to rally against Apple at Grand Central store tomorrow

By on February 8, 2012 at 1:35 PM.

Protesters to rally against Apple at Grand Central store tomorrow

Protesters plan to stage a demonstration tomorrow in an effort to take Apple to task for partnering with Eastern manufacturers repeatedly accused of mistreating factory workers. Change.org and SomeOfUs have combined their efforts to raise awareness of poor working conditions in factories operated by Foxconn that manufacture consumer electronics for Apple and other vendors. The two organizations have gathered more than 250,000 electronic signatures on petitions that call for Apple to demand improvements be made to the working conditions in the factories that build iPhones, iPads and other Apple products. Representatives from both groups will join protesters on Thursday at 10:00 a.m. at Apple’s new Grand Central Terminal retail store to deliver the signed petition to Apple. “I have been a lifelong Apple customer and was shocked to learn of the abusive working conditions in many of Apple’s supplier factories,” Change.org’s Mark Shields said in a statement. “At Foxconn, one of Apple’s biggest manufacturers, there is a history of suicides, abusive working conditions, and almost no pay. These working conditions are appalling, especially for Apple.” The groups’ full press release follows below. More →

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Business
February 1, 2012
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Workers should not have to die so Apple can build the iPhone 5, petition says

By on February 1, 2012 at 12:25 PM.

Workers should not have to die so Apple can build the iPhone 5, petition says

A new web-based petition singles out Apple and calls for the company to force its suppliers to reform the working conditions at their factories. Original device manufacturer Hon Hai and its subsidiary Foxconn are among the Eastern firms repeatedly accused of mistreating workers, and Apple has again been called upon to demand change as Foxconn’s biggest customer. Read on for more. More →

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Internet
January 18, 2012
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Google censors homepage, urges people to fight SOPA and PIPA

By on January 18, 2012 at 10:40 AM.

Google censors homepage, urges people to fight SOPA and PIPA

While a number of high-profile websites such as Wikipedia and Reddit went dark on Wednesday to protest web censorship bills, Google made its opinions known and urged users to do the same. Two bills before congress known as SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect IP Act) have caused outrage among internet users who fear the bills may bring about unwarranted censorship. Google has come out in opposition of the bills, and it wants users to sign a petition to make their voices heard by Congress. “Two bills before Congress, known as the Protect IP Act (PIPA) in the Senate and the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the House, would censor the Web and impose harmful regulations on American business,” Google said on its site. “Millions of Internet users and entrepreneurs already oppose SOPA and PIPA. The Senate will begin voting on January 24th. Please let them know how you feel. Sign this petition urging Congress to vote NO on PIPA and SOPA before it is too late.” People can sign Google’s petition by following the read link below. More →

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mobile
January 5, 2012
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Motorola’s failed bootloader promise pushes users to the edge

By on January 5, 2012 at 8:25 AM.

Motorola’s failed bootloader promise pushes users to the edge

Throughout the years, numerous companies have made the decision to lock the bootloader on a smartphone or tablet, making it impossible for savvy users to run custom kernels and have complete control of the device. The Android community is perhaps one of the most vocal user bases in the world when it comes to the practice of locking bootloaders. When HTC and ASUS began to lock their bootloaders, thousands of users took to social networks and had the decisions overturned. Motorola began locking the bootloader with the company’s DROID X and DROID 2 smartphones in the Spring of 2010. Since then, users have bombarded the company with petitions, emails, posts and comments in an attempt to overturn the policy… and it worked, somewhat. Motorola announced that with carrier approval, it would begin to unlock devices in the later part of 2011. However, unlike HTC, Motorola caved to the carriers and devices such as the DROID RAZR were released locked with no unlocking tool having been made available. Users at XDA-Developers are at it again with “OPERATION: Make Ourselves Heard (#OPMOSH),” a movement to have Motorola’s policy reversed. Similar to the methods used towards HTC and ASUS, users are encouraged to email company executives, sign petitions and let their voices be heard through social networks. It remains to be seen if users’ efforts will pay off, however. More →

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