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Why It's Hard to Make an Ethically Sourced Smartphone - Businessweek

by Romy＠snowyla.com

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-09-20/why-its-hard-to-make-an-eth… Why It's Hard to Make an Ethically Sourced Smartphone A Dutch startup called Fairphone has just unveiled what is being heralded as “the world’s first ethically-sourced smartphone.” That’s supposed to mean the company’s supply chains won’t end up using, say, criminal gangs in poor countries or employers of improper child labor. But the handset is nowhere close to 100 percent ethically sourced. “That would be nearly … [View More]impossible,” says Bibi Bleekemolen, a researcher for the company. Why so hard? Much of the problem has to do with sometimes hard-to-get, and hard-to-trace, minerals. “There are at least 30 minerals that go into the production chain—think copper, cobalt, tin, tungsten, tantalum—and the supply chain for electronics is very complex,” Bleekemolen explains. “There are hundreds of components attached to the printed circuit board and all of the individual components have their own suppliers and sub-suppliers.” What’s more, minerals found in smartphones often come from conflict zones, most notably the Democratic Republic of Congo, where many mines are controlled by warlords and armed groups that use the profits to bankroll the country’s brutal, ongoing battles. “Congo is one of the poorest countries, but it is rich in terms of minerals,” Bleekemollen says, noting that it holds about 40 percent of the world’s tin, among many other resources. As part of the Dodd-Frank Act, the Securities and Exchange Commission last year ruled that U.S. companies must begin reporting the origins of their minerals, as well as the refineries and smelters used to process them, by May 2014. Some electronics giants, including Intel (INTC), Motorola, Hewlett-Packard (HP), and Philips (PHIA), have reportedly begun researching their supply chains and taking steps to avoid conflict minerals. Fairphone, founded by designer Bas van Abel in 2010, is seeking incremental gains. So far the startup has managed to ethically source only tin and tantalum by partnering with NGOs that track supply chains. As for the other 28 minerals, Bleekemollen says, “We don’t have a clue where they come from.” She also notes that the tin and tantalum are only conflict-free, meaning rebel groups don’t have access to profits, but they aren’t necessarily produced with fair labor practices in mind. The goal is to improve sourcing with each new iteration of Fairphone. Funded almost entirely through crowdsourcing, Fairphone has already received 15,000 orders for its phone, which retails for $440 and will become available in December. The handset looks similar to a Samsung (005930) Galaxy or Apple (AAPL), is unlocked, works with all mobile carriers, and runs on a custom version of Google (GOOG)‘s Android operating system. To improve each phone’s lifespan and discourage waste, Fairphones are built to be opened up and will come with instruction manuals so users can perform repairs on their own. They have two sim card slots so people can merge their personal and business lines. The phones are produced in a factory in China where Bleekemollen says the startup has set up a fund to ensure fair living wages and good working conditions. It’s a small operation and an admittedly risky venture. “If the factory which makes the devices is engulfed by an earthquake, I am going to have to refund them one by one,” Fairfound founder van Abel told the AFP. “When I think about it I can’t even sleep or eat.” Still, the company is already in talks with mobile carriers such as Vodafone (VOD) and the Netherland’s VPN, which ordered 1,000 Fairphones. The hope, Bleekemollen says, is to change the industry from within and make supply chains more transparent, so other companies can more easily identify and use ethically-sourced minerals.. “As a social enterprise we can aim for impact maximization rather than profit maximization. That’s a big difference in the business model we have.” Still, to make a phone that is 100 percent ethically sourced, Bleekemollen says Fairphone will need many more reliable partnerships: “We’re 15 people in Amsterdam, what do we know?” Sent from my iPad [View Less]

11 years, 9 months

Landlord tried to kick out sudo-kids

by Yardena Cohen

Sudo-kids was off to a quiet start with some piano lessons and food preparation when our landlord came in yelling "everybody out! all kids out! no kids! everybody under 18 leave the building!" He claims that 2 weeks ago, Laurie sent all tenants an email to the effect of children being generally unwelcome. We talked him into backing down for tonight, but not before the kids were exposed to a lot of abusive behavior and language, sadly. Some reasons he cited were: * Lack of insurance * We don'… [View More]

11 years, 9 months

Learn Node.js from Substack at Sudoroom 9.21 SAT 4P

by Liberty Madison

http://libertymadison.com/learn-node-js-from-substack-at-sudoroom/ Come on by! 415.937.3785 Text/Talk About.me/LibertyMadison <http://about.me/LibertyMadison> #ThatTechGirl <http://www.instagram.com/LibertyMadison> is @LibertyMadison<http://www.twitter.com/libertymadison> Founder and Host @LifewTechnology <http://www.twitter.com/lifewtechnology>:Translating Tech </to> Talk OPRAH.com Next TV Show Host TOP 40 Finalist www.LibertyMadison.com<http://www.libertymadison.com/>

11 years, 9 months

URGENT: all hands on deck for biosafety

by Matthew Harbowy

All: The Metabolex auction pickup closes today, and there are at least *4 biosafety cabinets* in sparkling condition, certified clean and calibrated with paperwork, that have not been picked up, possibly abandoned. I am attempting to negotiate with BioSurplus to see if we could buy one of them outright for cash, but it would also likely need to be picked up TODAY. I think my negotiations might have a bit more oomph if I could get a bunch of people and a truck out to Metabolex at 3:45 today- … [View More]

11 years, 9 months

Fwd: Request for November 3rd, and info on a janitorial assistant

by Matthew Senate

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Laurie Cooperman Rosen <Lscoop(a)comcast.net> Date: Fri, Sep 20, 2013 at 8:55 PM Subject: Request for November 3rd, and info on a janitorial assistant To: Laurie Cooperman Rosen <Lscoop(a)comcast.net> Cc: eddan(a)eddan.com, mattsenate(a)gmail.com, poems(a)zachhouston.com, exchequer(a)sudoroom.org, David Keenan <dkeenan44(a)gmail.com>, wenzel505(a)gmail.com Hi All- First, I would like to request use of the kitchen area of the big … [View More]

11 years, 9 months

Sudo Room LinkedIn page

by Eddan Katz

http://www.linkedin.com/company/sudo-room/ Thanks, Marina!

11 years, 9 months

this sat 9/21 at sudo: "SQL Injection & Prevention" TIL + nodeschool.io

by Marina Kukso

hi all, in addition to your regularly scheduled hacking, we will have two things going on at sudo: 2PM: Today I Learned: "SQL Injection & Prevention" with the excellent rhodey. from the description on the wik<https://sudoroom.org/wiki/Today_I_Learned#September_21:_SQL_Injection_.26_P…>i: SQL Injection or "SQLi" is a one of the most dangerous, popular and fun :D web application exploits found today on the modern web. In this lesson we will cover the basics of SQL and then dive into … [View More]

11 years, 9 months

Fwd: conversation on fb

by Praveen Sinha

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Praveen Sinha <dmhomee(a)gmail.com> Date: Thu, Sep 19, 2013 at 5:03 PM Subject: conversation on fb To: lol-hackers <lol-hackers(a)googlegroups.com> Just for the hell of it, I decided to start a conversation about gender at tech companies this morning. If any of you are interested or have feedback, I'd love to hear it: https://www.facebook.com/praveen.sinha.121/posts/10151557415951191

11 years, 9 months

Peer Garden social, next Wednesday 9/25

by Jenny Ryan

Yo Sudo! Interested in peer-to-peer applications, mesh networking, decentralized and distributed tech? Open Garden is starting a series of social events in the interest of sparking great conversations, sharing ideas and projects, and co-learning. Also beer. The first one is next Wednesday at Biergarten: http://www.meetup.com/Tech-Garden-SF/events/139596332/ I won't be there for this one as I'm off to Berlin for a few weeks, but it would be great to have some Sudoers representing! Cheers, … [View More]

11 years, 9 months

Proposal: 5MOF Symposium; Protocols vs. Platforms

by Dan Cote

I am thinking of having a 5MOF event where we all talk about a single topic. This topic is near and dear to many of us. Protocol stacks like email have served us well since the beginning of the internet. Email continues to be the "lowest common denominator." It's the communication tool that everyone disagrees with the least. Protocols allow people, computers, companies, and other entities to communicate in a prescribed manner. Platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Google's many offerings, and … [View More]

11 years, 9 months

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