incommunicado

Key reminder: "The United States is the only major nation that hasn't ratified the 1994 Basel Convention, which bans exports of hazardous electronic waste", Soenke

World's discarded computers land in China's digital scrap heap

By Tim Johnson
Knight Ridder Newspapers

(05 April 2006)

GUIYU, China - When discarded computers vanish from desktops around the world, they often end up in Guiyu, which may be the electronic-waste capital of the globe.

Stacker, Rhys. "Clean, green electronics to cut e-waste.
Rhys Stacker on: Tue 21 of Mar, 2006
Griffith News (21 March 2006)

Griffith University researchers have developed a new electronic circuit technology that is recyclable and uses less toxic materials than traditional printed circuit boards (PCBs).
Print

Computer-age leftovers
U.S., Europe export e-waste
By Giles Slade
DenverPost.com

With their eyes riveted on the rights to a new video format, electronics manufacturers have resisted a consensus about which technology will replace current DVDs. The release this month of Toshiba's introductory HD-DVD models will be followed in June by Sony's release of the first Blu-Ray machines. One of these formats is doomed to obsolescence at a considerable cost to its unlucky buyers.

Blogging about the 100 dollar laptop, Simputer and other low cost computer products aiming at solving problems in the third world may seem a bit late, as the hype of WSIS is slowly finding an everyday. However, I would like to take another approach to understanding this trend of cheap devices for alleviation of third world problems.
The logic behind these devices is that the cheaper a device is the more devices can be afforded by third world governments and placed in schools for educating poor children. The anticipated wonders and prospects of e-learning are sought to be proliferated to every little village. This could only be a project of goodness, where the possibilities of modern technology are being harnessed. However it also demonstrates a trend, which is problematic in various ways.
These devices are drawing together various discourses: it is financial: The price of the devices is the key argument for introducing these in the so-called third world, perceived as being the main barrier, when it comes to using ICTs. The countries that through the discourse of development have been dubbed as being poor logically need these devices to overcome this barrier. Secondly this is about enlightenment; information and communication technologies are providing information, which in this context equally means learning, education, knowledge and even anticipated as contributing to the development and implementation of equity (gender, economy etc.). Thirdly, the discourse on the very modern technology is being dragged in as well. These new devices are providers of connections they are windows to the world enabling every child to acquire the values and thinking from the modern western societies. So this cheap device trend is very straight forward and as a part of the modernising project of the third world it would seem like a great idea: Build a cheap, computer, sell it to poor countries and let technology educate these people for a better future. In this way, the cheap modern devices are representing a modern dream of using technology to solve problems, or as stated at the official website for the Simputer: The Simputer is a low cost portable alternative to PCs, by which the benefits of IT can reach the common man (my emphasis http://www.simputer.org/).
There are several problems in these rather simplified understandings of the problems faced by these areas and the easy solutions may even be distorting their own aims and targets.
Firstly, an interesting thing about this trend is the way in which the discourses of science and advanced technologies are increasingly being tied together with the discourses of economy i.e. in the development discourse issues around poverty. With the promise of a decrease in cost of these modern devices, technology now gets a role, where it’s benefits can be immediately harnessed and in this way fits very well into the sole focus on Socio-economic improvements by development rhetoric. Consequently, people working within science and technologies are able to fulfilling their visions of the mass proliferation of their technologies. The humanitarian ideals of socio-economic improvements are suddenly entailed in a physical artefact. With the modern institutions of Science, Enlightenment, Development Agencies and Economy working together there is an amplification of a unitary and homogenous definition of the third world countries now supported with physical devices, bringing the rhetoric of the western originating information society even closer together with development discourse. Rhetorically, the anticipated emphasis on the purely economic issue of poverty reduction as anticipated being a universal problem for virtually all countries outside North America and Europe still persist and the universal a priori anticipation of ICTs as beneficial in all cases (good here – good everywhere) adds to the homogenous picture of the third world poor country. I think that the biggest problem in this is that there is an increasing risk of easiness of ignoring perspective i.e. the trajectory and intentionality of who, who have an interest in this. Consequently, the practices from one perspective are being put forward as being universal and the only valid, ignoring the obstruction of local practices. In an interview with Wired News about the 100 dollar lap top, Nicholas Negroponte is asked the following question:

Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition (SVTC) and the Computer Take Back Campaign (CTBC) release the 2005 Computer Report Card. The Computer Report Card, issued by SVTC since 2000, tracks the progress that computer and electronics companies are making on social and environmental indicators, including materials policy, supply chain management, take back programs, and end-of-life management of their products. Report Card (as htm file)

The Independent - This year we will discard 100 million TVs, computers, stereos and mobile phones as we're seduced by ever newer models. They could all be recycled - so why aren't they? Martin Hickman investigates

"Is Chennai an e-waste hub?" The Hindu (24 Feb 2006)

Staff Reporter

Stringent laws to contain pollution in the offing

# Separate process chain for e-waste required
# Scientific recycle of electronic products essential

CHENNAI : Ever wondered what happens to that old computer monitor you got rid of while replacing it with the latest LCD monitor?

For a survey page on the "First session of the Provisional Committee on Proposals Related to the WIPO Development Agenda (PCDA) February 20- 24, 2006, in Geneva, Switzerland" with all background docs, see CPTech, sz

SUNS #5971 Wednesday 22 February 2006
south-north development monitor SUNS
Third World Network

*WIPO
G77 calls for structured talks at Development Agenda meeting

This is the first time I have heard that China provides more protection to IPR-owners than it really needs to, note that the report examines law rather than actual compliance or enforcement, sz

Via CI: "A new Consumers International report has condemned World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) technical assistance as 'thoroughly inadequate', and is demanding a wholesale review of the organisation's legislative advice to developing countries.

Boyle, James. "Cultural Environmentalism." FT (20 Feb 2006)

Ten years ago, I tried to get an article about intellectual property
published in a major US newspaper. It was a hard sell. I mentioned the
words “internet” and “free speech” and “access to information.” “Ah,” said
the editor, “so you want to write about porn and censorship.”