Fruit themed toymaker Apple is facing fresh allegations of worker rights violations at Chinese factories of one of its suppliers Pegatron. China Labour Watch, has alleged that three factories of Pegatron violate a "great number of international and Chinese laws and standards".
These include using child labour, contract violations and excessive working hours. All things which Apple had distanced itself from. Both Apple and Pegatron said they would investigate the allegations immediately and said that it was committed to providing safe and fair working conditions throughout our supply chain. Pegatron's chief executive, Jason Cheng, said in a statement that the firm took the allegations "very seriously" too.
Apple, one of the world's biggest firms, has had to deal with similar claims in the past. when one of its biggest suppliers, Foxconn, was accused of violating worker rights. Li Qiang, executive director of China Labour Watch, claimed that its investigations have shown that labour conditions at Pegatron factories are even worse than those at Foxconn plants. The average weekly working hours in the three factories investigated by it were approximately 66 hours, 67 hours, and 69 hours, respectively.
In Pegatron Shanghai, the investigation uncovered that workers were forced to sign forms indicating that their overtime hours were less than the actual levels. Conditions at these factories are so poor that most workers refuse to continue working for long. More than 30 of the 110 new recruits at one of the factories had left within a period of two weeks.
Apple has claimed that was not true disputed those claims, saying that it had closely tracked working hours at all of these facilities. It thinks that Pegatron employees making Apple products worked 46 hours per week on average.
Other violations claimed by the campaign group include insufficient wages, poor working conditions, poor living conditions, difficulty in taking leave, abuse by management and environmental pollution.
NAIROBI, Kenya ? United Nations investigators hoped they would get some help from Facebook when they asked to see information on suspected pirates operating in Somalia.
But Facebook refused.
A report by the U.N. Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea this month pointed out that while many private companies helped in the group's investigative work on matters such as piracy, al-Qaida-linked militants and government corruption, Facebook provided no such assistance.
"Despite repeated official correspondence addressed to Facebook Inc., it has never responded to Monitoring Group requests to discuss information on Facebook accounts belonging to individuals involved in hijackings and hostage-taking," the report said.
Facebook said in a statement Tuesday that the U.N. group had no legal authority to demand data from the company. "We therefore declined their request and referred them to law enforcement authorities," the company said in an e-mailed statement.
Facebook's refusal to share information with U.N. investigators comes as reverberations continue from the disclosure by Edward Snowden, a former contractor for the National Security Agency, that the NSA has cooperated with companies as Yahoo, Google and Facebook to access emails, video chats and pictures. U.S. officials have said the program is narrowly focused on foreign targets, and technology companies say they turn over information only if required by court order.
"Facebook has faced such pressures relating to privacy and the use of account information in various jurisdictions, even just for marketing purposes, that I would expect them to be very cautious about sharing personal information even with a U.N. Monitoring Group," said Matt Bryden, a former coordinator of the Somalia monitoring group.
Pirates use social networks The nearly 500-page U.N. report said that investigations have confirmed that numerous piracy facilitators "are interlinked through various communication channels and employ social network services, such as Facebook."
In any case, two Somali pirates who spoke to The Associated Press said pirates don't use social networks for piracy work.
"There are more personal accounts than general ones for the pirates," said Bile Hussein, a Somali pirate commander in Gracad, a pirate base in central Somalia by phone. "We use emails for deals."
"Many of us keep our distance away from the Internet to avoid getting tracked or captured," said another pirate, Hassan Abdi.
The U.N. Monitoring Group would have been interested in access to non-public phone numbers and email addresses that might be listed on Facebook accounts, or to see what "friends" a pirate might have, said Bryden, now the director of Sahan Research, a think tank focusing on peace and security in the Horn of Africa
A page in Facebook's "Safety Center" titled "Information for Law Enforcement Authorities" says that a valid subpoena in connection with a criminal investigation is required to compel the disclosure of basic subscriber records. If a matter could result in the imminent harm of a child or risk of death or serious injury, a law enforcement official is asked to contact Facebook.
The U.N. Monitoring Group does not have subpoena power. Bryden said international companies often resist, at least at first, assisting the U.N. group because the companies aren't familiar with its work or authority.
"All it has is the force of the Security Council mandate that requests all member states and private entities ... to assist the Monitoring Group's efforts, so cooperation varies considerably," Bryden said.
Bradley Shear, a Washington D.C.-based lawyer who runs a blog focusing on social media law, noted that Facebook frequently cooperates with U.S. law enforcement officials investigating issues surrounding child safety, but he speculated that Facebook may be reluctant to help a U.N. body because the U.N. is trying to become involved with Internet regulation.
Shear said Facebook is not likely to be legally culpable just because Somali pirates or members of al-Shabab use their social media platforms.
"In general, absent knowledge that illegal activity is occurring on your platform, social/digital media platforms have little legal liability for the illegal activity that is occurring on their websites," Shear wrote in an email. "However, there is a growing trend to hold social media/digital media operators accountable for the illegal content/activity on their websites if they turn a blind eye towards it."
Social media use by al-Shabab militants in Somalia is common. Twitter shut down the account of an al-Shabab spokesman earlier this year after the micro-blogging site was used to post a hostage video and death threat, posts that violated Twitter's terms of service.
A new Twitter handle that the U.N. Monitoring group believes is run by a British member of al-Shabab opened a short time later and remains in use.
Associated Press reporter Abdi Guled in Mogadishu, Somalia, and Technology Writer Barbara Ortutay in New York contributed to this report.
? 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
An energy research organization finds Barack Obama's latest comments on the Keystone XL pipeline "troublesome." Those same comments also have raised the hackles of the Canadian company proposing the pipeline.
Speaking over the weekend to The New York Times, President Obama said "the most realistic estimates are this might create about 2,000 jobs during the construction of the pipeline, which might take a year or two, and then after that we're talking about somewhere between 50 and 100 jobs in an economy of 150 million working people." On that basis, he claimed Keystone?s jobs creation would be ?a blip relative to the need.?
Dan Kish, senior vice president for policy at the Institute for Energy Research, responds to those comments.
"The truth of the matter is, there is going to be direct employment and then a huge number of jobs because they have to make the steel, they have to buy the equipment, they have to do all the other things,? he explains.
?In an economy where so many millions of people are unemployed and underemployed, the idea that the president of the United States would scoff at any jobs ? especially these kinds of jobs, these family-raising wage jobs ? is troublesome."
Tweet to @IERenergy
Earlier this month, Consumer Watchdog released a report [PDF] claiming, among other things, that the initial estimate on the number of construction jobs for the Keystone project had been revised from 20,000 to 9,000. OneNewsNow contacted TransCanada for confirmation of that report and was given this response:
"TransCanada has not revised the number from 20,000 to 9,000. For the original Keystone XL project, there were 13,000 construction and 7,000 manufacturing jobs. After the original Keystone XL permit was denied, we split the project in two ? 9,000 for Keystone XL and 4,000 for Gulf Coast. And 7,000 manufacturing jobs that built equipment, pipe, pumps, etc. for both. So the 20,000 number still holds as a total."
According to The Washington Times, TransCanada ? as well as officials on both sides of the U.S.-Canada border ? ?reacted furiously? to Obama?s skeptical comments on the economic impact of the 1,600-mile Keystone XL pipeline.
[unable to retrieve full-text content]Electronic touch pads that cost just a few dollars and solar cells that cost the same as roof shingles are one step closer to reality today.
PARIS (AP) ? France's state controlled nuclear power giant EDF says its net profit rose 3.5 percent in the first half as a result of a cold winter and high electricity prices.
The company, which runs all France's 58 nuclear power plants and has a stake in one of the U.S.'s biggest nuclear power companies, made 2.88 billion euros ($3.8 billion) during the period, up from 2.78 billion euros a year earlier.
Profits were driven mainly by its home market, though earnings were solid in Italy and Britain too. EDF owns British Energy, Britain's largest electricity producer. In Italy it owns Edison, the country's second largest electricity producer.
EDF says operating profit should rise "at least" 3 percent this year on an organic basis, excluding Edison, down from 4.6 percent achieved last year.
Author: Casie Fuchs | Total views: 63 Comments: 0 Word Count: 1135 Date:
A host is generally a server or rack of servers that "hosts" the files composing your website via the Internet. Companies usually offer various packages at different rates for their hosting services, but it's important that you make a choice with your future company in mind, and not just saving a few bucks at the moment.
Look at your web hosting site to figure out what kind of websites they offer. Some free hosting sites don't allow you to add your own unique language scripts. If your site requires scripting to run, you're better off searching for some good paid shared hosting.
When choosing your web hosting service, do not rely on someone's recommendation, or only on the info you've read online. Most services have affiliate programs and the people recommending the service may not have any direct experience with it. You should take more than recommendations into consideration when choosing your web host.
It used to be more expensive, but in today's world, it is entirely possible to manage several domains without spending too much money. This helps your business grow, and it helps you reach targeted customers. Know what your options are as far as multiple domain hosting is concerned. This will give you a huge extra boost!
Choose a web host that charges a low monthly fee. You can usually find a quality web host for between $5 and $10 per month. You may also be able to save money by paying for 12, 18 or 24 months of service at one time, instead of paying for web hosting services on a monthly basis.
Consider how much downtime the web host will have when looking for one. These downtimes vary from 10% to .000001%. This means that there could be hours of downtime per week or as little as seconds. Select a host with the lowest amount of downtime that you can find.
Before choosing a web host provider, check to see how fast files can be uploaded or downloaded from their server. If this information is not readily available from them directly, use a "website speed test" service who can run a test for you. Realize, however, that accuracy varies and can be different depending on the time of day.
Make sure that you factor in the price of a host when selecting one. If you've ever heard that something is just too good to be true, then it likely is. This definitely applies to web hosting. You shouldn't purchase a web-hosting plan that is really cheap. When a plan is extremely low in cost, then it likely won't provide high-quality hosting. Therefore, purchase a service that provides a reasonable price for the quality that you expect.
When you are choosing a web hosting company, it is important that you rely on more than just one or two pieces of advice on a recommendation. Many recommendations are from people who haven't even experienced the web hosting company that they are recommending. Choose wisely, do your research, and know many things about the company that you choose.
Look for a company that offers an "uptime guarantee." Uptime is also known as the amount of time that a server is online for, as opposed to down, for service or maintenance. A reliable web host should be able to offer some sort of guarantee that your site will be available at least 98 percent of the time, with superior web hosts able to offer 99.9 percent uptime.
Find out what happens to your content in case you wish to cancel your subscription. You should be given a few days to save everything if you wish to switch hosts and you should not be charged any cancellation fees. You should also beware of signing for a contract that specifies you cannot cancel your plan.
Find out what kind of other websites your service is hosting. If you notice that a lot of spammy or unreliable websites are hosted alongside with yours, most search engines will be more likely to rank your site lower because of this. Remember that your business will be associated with the host you choose.
Make sure that you choose a host that has support 24/7. You don't want to run across a problem or an issue and not be able to get a hold of somebody quickly. This could harm your business or personal en devours. Once you've picked a host, try calling them at an odd hour to see is support service is available.
Some web hosting sites are free and can help you save money and cut costs, but these usually come with a catch. Using a free web host means that there will be advertising on your site. Also, you won't have as much space for your site's storage. If you want to create a professional-looking site, choose a paying host.
Before choosing your web hosting service, determine whether or not you will need to use web templates. Many hosts will provide easy to use templates for building your site without the need for HTML knowledge or a professional designer. If you need this service, then choose a host that give a wide range of templates.
Before picking a web host, check to see if they have some type of money-back guarantee, or even a trial special where you can test their service. There should be a way to get your investment and money back if you decide their hosting service is not for you. Most hosting companies will give you around 30 days.
There's no question that free web hosting is useful to some people. It depends on the reason for your website. If you plan on doing business online, use the tips above to help choose a web hosting company that can give you fast, reliable service so that you can build a strong business foundation upon which to grow your sales.
Everyone is talking about the benefits of cloud computing these days. They are all talking like cloud computing is some brand new concept though in reality it has been with us since the beginning of computers. Only the players are different.
If you have ever used a computer terminals and mainframes before, you already know some of the benefits of cloud computing. Cloud computing is basically terminal computing over the internet. You hire a cloud computing service provider to provide and maintain your mainframe while your own computer acts like a terminal. This relationship makes it a very popular computing environment especially among small businesses. It is by far the most efficient way to increase your cash flow among the many other benefits of cloud computing.
Make The Most From Your Web Hosting Efforts By Following These Tips. Check here benefits of cloud computing
Related to: Web Hosting guide - host your website
1: Article Marketing Strategy: Putting Together a "Class Schedule" For Your Article Topics
Businesses go to so much trouble when there is one sure-fire, simple, very inexpensive way to attract new clients to a business: Teach a free class. That is what article marketing is like. Your articles are just like free classes. You teach your target readers something helpful in your article. Your resource box then says, "If you enjoyed this article you can visit my website and apply what you have learned."
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When you look at an article, you may say, "That article looks great, but I have no idea how I would produce something that good." In this article I am going to help you break your article creation process down into "blocks"--smaller bits of information that when assembled together will form a top quality article submission.
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Being an entrepreneur and earning multiple streams of income is a dream that many have, but in reality it does take some initial hard work to achieve this. Earning multiple streams of income is the wave of the future, and here are some tips and advice for you when you are looking for ways in which to do this for yourself.
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Panda and Penquin Google has changed the game with back link building. Here are the backlink strategies I use to get quality backlinks.
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Starting a home based business to earn income online takes a significant amount of time and energy upfront to get things going. Not seeing results immediately can be discouraging and cause people to give up too early. In this article, we look at the process of starting a home based business and working through the frustrations to be there when the sales come flowing in.
Dan Kish, senior vice president for policy at the Institute for Energy Research, responds to those comments.