Tip of the hat to Adam Minter, who's burrowed in to complete his "scrap book".
I'm not really sure what to make of this story in Mainichi Daily News, which is about the arrest of a South Korean for selling used PCs to North Korea. But what is clear is what it is not about.
It's not about a dictator calling the imports e-waste. Dictators normally want to restrict the sale and distribution of cell phones, display devices, and internet. In places like Pakistan, people call computer assets commodities, they are something people bid, something people want. Labelling them "waste" leads to an SOPA-like uproar (Daily Times, April 2010 ‘No ban on import of used computers’).
In this case, the dictatorship is silent about the exchange of goods.
The outcry is from the nations who don't want North Koreans to be using the internet.
I don't know enough about this particular set of computers, who sold it, who bought it, or how they'd be used. Maybe for a weapons system, maybe to edit porn. Maybe to translate John Lennon songs...
I'm not really sure what to make of this story in Mainichi Daily News, which is about the arrest of a South Korean for selling used PCs to North Korea. But what is clear is what it is not about.
- It's not about the South Korean exploiting North Korea's poverty.
- It's not about racial guilt.
- There's no discussion of "OECD" South Korea trading with North Korea.
- There's no discussion of whether the personal computers were "fully functional", or "tested working", or ewaste.
- No one speaks about toxics, hard drive information, or other ju-ju words which elevate the e-waste crisis.
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| Silence! |
In this case, the dictatorship is silent about the exchange of goods.
The outcry is from the nations who don't want North Koreans to be using the internet.
I don't know enough about this particular set of computers, who sold it, who bought it, or how they'd be used. Maybe for a weapons system, maybe to edit porn. Maybe to translate John Lennon songs...
