Tech Business
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Written by Gizmo
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Tuesday, 28 July 2009 10:44 |
By Elizabeth Dias
Time
When the film Blood Diamond came out in 2006, people were
startled at the alleged origins of the precious stones from areas of
bloody conflict and began asking whether the jewels on their fingers
cost a human life. Will consumers soon find themselves asking similar
questions about their cell phones and computers?
In a report released earlier this week, Global Witness claims that
multinational companies are furthering a trade in minerals at the heart
of the hi-tech industry that feeds the horrendous civil war in the
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). (Global Witness is the same
nongovernmental organization that helped expose the violence that
plagues many of the sources of diamonds.) However, the accused
companies, with varying degrees of hostility, deny any culpability,
saying Global Witness oversimplifies a complex economic process in a
chaotic geopolitial setting.
In a report released earlier this week, Global Witness claims that
multinational companies are furthering a trade in minerals at the heart
of the hi-tech industry that feeds the horrendous civil war in the
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). (Global Witness is the same
nongovernmental organization that helped expose the violence that
plagues many of the sources of diamonds.) However, the accused
companies, with varying degrees of hostility, deny any culpability,
saying Global Witness oversimplifies a complex economic process in a
chaotic geopolitial setting.
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