iPod maker ordered to allow union
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The Chinese government has ordered a Chinese supplier of Apple's iPod to let its more than 200,000 workers set up a trade union, reports said Friday.
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(InfoWorld) - The iPod manufacturer at the heart of a furor over the treatment of workers in China has reduced theÂ damages it is seekingÂ from a pair of journalists accused of defaming the company. Hong Fujin Precision Industry Co., the largest exporter of IT products in China, slashed the amount it is seeking to 1 renminbi ($0.13) because the original figure, 30 million renminbi, had blurred the issue at hand, a company representative said Thursday. The company also requested that the courts unfreeze the journalists bank accounts and other assets. "...to refocus the public's attention back to the real issue, (Hong Fujin) will withdraw the provisional seizure motion," it said in a statement posted on the Taiwan Stock Exchange by its Taiwanese parent company, Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. The companies operate under the trade name, Foxconn Technology Group. But the company also added the publisher of the report, the China Business News, to the lawsuit as a defendant. Hong Fujin is seeking redress through the defamation lawsuit after a whirlwind of bad publicity provoked by allegations that itÂ treated workers poorly. The story was one of many to follow in the wake of an article by the British newspaper "Mail on Sunday" alleging long hours, low pay and poor working conditions at the Longhua, China, site., which produces iPods as well as other IT products. Apple ComputerÂ investigated the claims, and found Hong Fujin in compliance with the majority of its requirements despite several violations of the company's supplier code of conduct, including unsatisfactory living and transportation conditions for workers. Hong Fujin is building new dormitories for workers and seeking ways to improve the way it busses employees from factories to dormitories. Vindicated by the report, Hong Fujin decided to sue the China Business News and two journalists responsible for a June 15 story that it called "maliciously false." One charge in the June 15 story that Hong Fujin took issue with in its statement is an allegation that for every 1,000 workers at the Longhua site, 500 have pre-existing maladies. "In fact, we have documented statistics to show how over 99 percent of our employees are healthy and fit," Hong Fujin said in the statement But on its blog site, the China Business News defended itself on the point. The story was about three female workers who collapsed on the production line, and it quotes a "Miss Ho" from Foxconn as saying that the workers collapsed due to pre-existing conditions. "For every 1,000 new hires, 500 have pre-existing illnesses," 'Miss Ho' is quoted as saying in the story. The story does not give any full names of anyone cited for information in the story, and gives a false name to one worker, presumably covering his identification for protection. The surname, "Ho" is common in China. Foxconn could not immediately be reached to reply to the blog listing. Hong Fujin Precision was the top exporter of IT products in China last year at a volume of $14.47 billion, according to China's Ministry of Commerce.ADVERTISEMENTMAKE SOA REAL WITH IBM WEBSPHERE PODCASTStreamline processes and maximize efficiency within a proven service oriented architecture. Take back control of your business processes with IBM WebSphere.
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Apple Computer, maker of the iPod music player and online iTunes Music Store, is likely to be forced into a multimillion-pound payout to Apple Corporation, the Beatles&#39; management
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A Chinese firm making iPods for Apple Computer Incorporated has dropped its defamation lawsuit against two journalists who accused the company of mistreating workers.
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The maker of the iPod and the guardian of the Beatles' music resolved their long-simmering dispute yesterday over who has the right to the Apple trademark.
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IPod owners can download the Band Aid single after Apple reaches agreement with the charity.
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Apple Computer Inc., maker of the 50 percent market shareholder iPod music player, has announced a special edition U2 iPod for music fans.
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IPod maker Apple and the guardian of The Beatles' music resolved their long-simmering dispute on Monday about who has the right to the Apple trademark
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By Jordan Robertson Associated Press  SAN JOSE, Calif. -- "We can work it out." That was the message that iPod maker Apple Inc. and the Beatles' guardian Apple Corps Ltd. sent Monday in burying nearly three decades of trademark strife over the iconic apple logo and name.
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A union representing about 700 textile workers at Malden Mills Industries Inc. voted to accept a contract offer, averting a possible strike. Paul Coorey, president of the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees Union, Local 311, said workers voted 301-136 to accept a three-year pact that included annual wage increases of 2 percent, 2 percent, and 3 percent. But ...
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(InfoWorld) - With Microsoft's antitrust appeal now decided, the next U.S. technology company to get a place on the European Union (EU)'s regulatory hot seat may be Apple, an antitrust expert said Tuesday. "The decision by the Court of First Instance is a clear signal to the European [Competition] Commission that it has the leeway to go ahead," said Herbert Hovenkamp, a professor at the University of Iowa College of Law and a noted antitrust scholar. "[The commission] now has a license to go ahead, and they have a pretty aggressive posture. I think this bodes ill for some companies." Among those already facing investigations or accusations from the EU antitrust agency, which is led by Neelie Kroes of the Netherlands, are chipmakers Rambus and; Qualcomm, a wireless technology vendor; and Apple. Apple, in fact, will face two days of hearings before the commission starting Wednesday to answer charges that it and its four music label partners are violating EU laws with the pricing structure and purchase restrictions of the iTunes music store. In early April, the commission confirmed that it had sent an SO (Statement of Objections), the agency's term for an official complaint, to Apple and partners EMI, Sony BMG, Warner Music Group and Universal Music. The SO claimed consumers are restricted in their choice of where to buy music -- because each country's version of iTunes only accepts orders from customers who live in that country -- and at what price. ITunes tracks sales for varying amounts, depending on the country. But the commission steered clear of calling Apple another Microsoft in April. "The Statement of Objections does not allege that Apple is in a dominant market position," the group said in a statement at the time. Yesterday, Kroes downplayed any link between the court's rejection of Microsoft's appeal and possible action against other U.S. technology companies. "You may hear scare stories about the supposed negative consequences of this ruling for other companies," she said during a news conference Monday afternoon. "Let me be clear. There is one company that will have to change its illegal behavior as a result of this ruling: Microsoft." Microsoft, however, thought different. During his own news conference yesterday, Brad Smith, Microsoft's general counsel, repeatedly pointed to Apple. "Apple has something like a 70 percent market share for digital music," said Smith. "ITunes is far and away the leading source for music on the Internet; the iPod is far and away the leading hardware device for digital music." Even the U.S. Department of Justice weighed in. Thomas Barnett, the assistant attorney general for antitrust, yesterday said: "We are concerned that the standard applied to unilateral conduct by the CFI [Court of First Instance], rather than helping consumers, may have the unfortunate consequence of harming consumers by chilling innovation and discouraging competition." Hovenkamp was confident that yesterday's decision would embolden the commission. "This was a landmark decision and a landmark case," he said. "It stands for a couple of important things. First, it's a declaration of independence, a statement that their anticompetitive policy is not going to be dictated by U.S. policy. Second, it clears the way for the commission to pursue new cases. "You're going to see a more aggressive commission that will go after high technology companies, especially those that are involved with networks or standard setting," Hovenkamp said. "Rambus and Qualcomm, certainly," he said, are among the companies at risk from a combative commission. "Intel? Perhaps. As for Apple, there are some undeveloped issues there." In Apple's favor, he said, are European antitrust traditions that may let the iTunes operator and iPod maker off the hook. Europe's antitrust agency has typically looked differently at two kinds of pricing discrimination. The one where a company prices products differently in different countries in order to squash competition -- pricing products lower in nations where rivals exist, higher where competitors are lacking -- is usually treated harshly, said Hovenkamp. The other type of pricing discrimination, where a seller prices products based on what it thinks a particular country's buyers can bear -- more in Germany, for example, less in Portugal -- are not generally considered a competition problem. "If Apple is pricing differentially because of economies and consumer buying power," said Hovenkamp, "it is probably safe. But if [it is] doing this to suppress competition, the commission may act." Among the possible results of the hearings: fines levied to the tune of 10 percent of global net revenues. Kroes' agency could also dismiss the SO after the hearing. "Europeans are much more comfortable with regulation," said Hovenkamp. Apple did not reply to a request for comment on the court ruling yesterday or on the hearings that kick off tomorrow in Brussels. Computerworld is an InfoWorld affiliate
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The suit alleges that Apple has constricted the market by not enabling iPods to play content in the Windows Media Audio format, Microsoft's copy-protection technology.
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By Jordan Robertson THE ASSOCIATED PRESS  SAN JOSE -- For the third time in nearly three decades, iPod maker Apple Inc. has resolved a bitter trademark dispute with The Beatles' guardian Apple Corps Ltd. over use of the iconic apple logo and name.
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The company will unveil a range of products today including its version of the iPod digital music player that raises the stakes in a war between PC and electronics makers.
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The contract manufacturer of the iPod music player has filed lawsuits against two Chinese journalists who wrote articles about working conditions at factories where iPods are made, according to Chinese press reports.
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Apple Inc. has settled its long-running  trademark dispute with The Beatles' company Apple Corps Ltd.,  in a deal which could pave the way for the band's songs to be  played on Apple's iTunes music store.
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A maker of Apple Computer's iconic iPod said Thursday it has cut its demand for defamation damages over a report it mistreated its workers to a symbolic 1 yuan (12 U.S. cents) following a wave of bad publicity.