Group boycotts 3DS because it fuels human right abuses.

[Foxi4]

Q: Do you have proof Nintendo is using minerals from the Congo?
A: No. We don't need proof Nintendo is involved with conflict minerals, because what we do know is that these minerals are going into our markets and Nintendo very well may be using them if we don't regulate trade routes and make sure they are not. Other companies have made efforts, Nintendo has not.

That is... the most retarded group I've ever seen. There's only one thing to say here.

If they're going to base their actions on speculations, aka, "We don't have proof that they don't, so they just as well might be using those materials"... well.

Screw you guys, I'm goin' home.

 

[dragon574444]

I wonder where their computer was made?

 

[DiscostewSM]

Does anyone in Japan care about "conflict materials"?

Does any gamer in the Western world care about "conflict materials"?

Just about every gamer is just grateful they are getting a 3DS.

So your supporting injustice? About every homebrew and gamer guy cares what people make their products, so wouldn't it be a good idea to buy products that were made fairly than the injustice way?

I would say supporting this injustice would get you flamed, if you ask me.

I don't think anyone can truly disagree that it would be better if products were not made with conflict materials, but a lot of them are, and a lot of those products are what drive our societies. If we were to stop purchasing and using such devices (which probably includes my computer and yours) for the sake of fighting against this injustice, then our own societies will begin to deteriorate at a more rapid pace, of which we'd have bigger problems than conflict materials. Technology is what connects the world together, and more than likely a lot of that technology is made unjustly. Should the world stop using them, and begin to lean into a lifestyle from the past, regressing instead of progressing? Unfortunately, we can't, because populations have been growing, and dependence on these products are increasing.

Not only does the group not have any proof that the 3DS was made with conflict materials, but they don't even have an estimate of how much is used in the construction of each unit if it were confirmed to be true. It could be trace amounts in comparison to other devices, but the group isn't going by amounts. They're relying on one single aspect. Popularity, and the 3DS has it with 400k units sold in Japan on the first day.

 

[nando]

it's no news that nintendo doesn't care who they hurt in their console production.

 

[Sephxus]

@twiztidsinz

Edit: @Uncle FEFL

@RoyalCardMan

------

Nintendo's 3DS is not the only piece of hardware that uses conflict materials. As many highly intelligent individuals have noticed, the 3DS is targeted because it is the cool new gadget on the market. The main reason for this group to do this is to get attention, and it worked.

Yes, there are legal ways, or moral ways, to obtain these materials, but electronic corporations choose not to, to maximize profits.

Take time to understand the culture we live in, the culture of capitalism, before judging and mocking people who understand it, and are willing to do something about global problems.

Inform yourself on the issues:

[youtube]OzMCJk9zzv0[/youtube]

Here is the video from the group that started the 3ds boycott:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aF-sJgcoY20

Here is a lovely quote from an individual I greatly admire:
[W]hat difference it would make to our understanding if we looked at the world as a whole, a totality, a system, instead of as a sum of self-contained societies and cultures; if we understood better how this totality developed over time if we took seriously the admonition to think of human aggregates as “inextricable involved with other aggregates, near and far, in weblike, netlike, connections.”
-Eric Wolf, Europe and the People without History

 

[steveo1978]

I did my own research.

Here is a link to what the Enough Project says about Nintendo

http://www.enoughproject.org/blogs/why-nintendo

Their only complain is

Nintendo, on the other hand, has been entirely unresponsive to NGO engagement efforts. They did not reply to letters sent by Enough and our coalition partners. They are not a member of the electronics industry corporate responsibility association that has been working on conflict minerals, or the trade associations that have engaged on U.S. legislation.

And here is the Facebook of the guy that started this crap

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=115366428534785

Here is a few quotes I thought to be funny

Q: Are you a representative of the Enough Project? Or a plant by the Sony Corporation? OR MICROSOFT?
A: No! I'm not directly associated with The Enough Project in any way. George Clooney, however, is. I wish I were George Clooney. In the meantime, I'm Ben Wiley, a senior in high school who liked video games made by Nintendo, read about the Enough Project, and decided to start something to make a change.

So he is not officially associated with either The Enough Project, Sony, or Microsoft. So basically dude is just some dumbass that decided one day that he will protest something and since the 3DS is new he had a target.

QUOTE

Q: Do you have proof Nintendo is using minerals from the Congo?
A: No. We don't need proof Nintendo is involved with conflict minerals, because what we do know is that these minerals are going into our markets and Nintendo very well may be using them if we don't regulate trade routes and make sure they are not. Other companies have made efforts, Nintendo has not.

That has to be the dumbest comment I ever saw. His whole defense on accusing Nintendo is that since conflict materials are sold Nintendo might be using them. Wouldn't that be the same is me saying that a person smokes crack because they dont want to take a drug test and because crack is sold?

My opinion is that the guy is a dumbass and any one that supports his theory is a dumbass.

 

[MelodieOctavia]

Does anyone in Japan care about "conflict materials"?

Does any gamer in the Western world care about "conflict materials"?

Just about every gamer is just grateful they are getting a 3DS.

So your supporting injustice? About every homebrew and gamer guy cares what people make their products, so wouldn't it be a good idea to buy products that were made fairly than the injustice way?

I would say supporting this injustice would get you flamed, if you ask me.

He has a point though. Not many people either know or care about this issue.

 

[Fireballo]

Didn't this dink get the memo that the conflict in the Congo is over?

 

[Stevetry]

Steve Try
your boycott sucks. i will now buy 50 3DS just to wipe my as IN 3D

Beautiful

 

[MelodieOctavia]

Didn't this dink get the memo that the conflict in the Congo is over?

Where did you get that info?

 

[Sephxus]

@ steveo1978

I support the rise of awareness.

I don't even have a Facebook account, I can't check the group's info.

I defended the people I mentioned earlier.

--
I read the quote you mentioned.
http://www.enoughproject.org/blogs/why-nintendo

What is surprising to me is how much you focused on the "dumbass" and not the actual problem?
What was the purpose of your research? To call him, and everyone that support his cause a dumbass?

Ignore the person that started the facebook thing. Now that you are aware of the problem, focus on it.

Edit: Typos

 

[DiscostewSM]

@ steveo1978

I support the rise of awareness.

I don't even have a Facebook account, I can't check the group's info.

I defended the people I mentioned earlier.

--
I read the quote you mentioned.
http://www.enoughproject.org/blogs/why-nintendo

What is surprising to me is how much you focused on the "dumbass" and not the actual problem?
What was the purpose of your research? To call him, and everyone that support his cause a dumbass?

Ignore the person that started the facebook thing. Now that you are aware of the problem, focus on it.

Edit: Typos

QUOTENintendo requires its suppliers...

He called him a dumbass because he's making the assumption (to assume makes an 'ass' out of 'u' and 'me') that just because conflict materials "could" be used by Nintendo, he thinks they are. Even with an auto-reply email, they clearly state that they "require" their suppliers to comply with CSR Procurement Guidelines, not "hope" they comply. If they don't comply, they don't do business with them. Simple as that. If the supplier says they are, but are secretly not, then the supplier is to blame, not Nintendo. Same goes with any other company in this predicament who go by the same guidelines. If it is found out that the supplier was not following the guidelines, Nintendo (and other companies) will surely close their accounts with them. But, what about all the components they now carry that has the stain on them?

Throwing them away post-sale because they are stained with conflict material does nothing for the actual problem from the source, so they use what they have. If you found out your product contained material that came from the death of people after you purchased and received such material, would throwing it away help the situation? If anything, throwing it away would show your ungratefulness for the suffering the people went through that worked to get it to you. This "news" of Nintendo possibly using conflict material in the 3DS is only recent, while the 3DS has been in production for months.

 

[Fireballo]

Didn't this dink get the memo that the conflict in the Congo is over?

Where did you get that info?

When it came over the AP that the civil war was over and scientists are going back to study the gorillas.

 

[twiztidsinz]

Does anyone in Japan care about "conflict materials"?

Does any gamer in the Western world care about "conflict materials"?

Just about every gamer is just grateful they are getting a 3DS.

So your supporting injustice? About every homebrew and gamer guy cares what people make their products, so wouldn't it be a good idea to buy products that were made fairly than the injustice way?

I would say supporting this injustice would get you flamed, if you ask me.

He has a point though. Not many people either know or care about this issue.

While ignorance is bliss... it doesn't make it right.

 

[Stevetry]

Does anyone in Japan care about "conflict materials"?

Does any gamer in the Western world care about "conflict materials"?

Just about every gamer is just grateful they are getting a 3DS.

So your supporting injustice? About every homebrew and gamer guy cares what people make their products, so wouldn't it be a good idea to buy products that were made fairly than the injustice way?

I would say supporting this injustice would get you flamed, if you ask me.

He has a point though. Not many people either know or care about this issue.

While ignorance is bliss... it doesn't make it right.

them dont buy it

 

[rave420]

i'd be all over this pouring fuel in their failboat, if they could bring together some conclusive evidenve to support these WILD claims.

Like, some reports and interviews with miners that are supposedly held against their will, but no. It's just a bunch of wild claims. And no sustenance for any of it.

if you want to make some impact, you dress up the next bum as a miner, put him in front of a semi tropical forrest, and have him talk about being enslaved by nintendo.
But how fast do you think nintendo would act?

 

[Gullwing]

That man who made this event is clearlya retard.. I stated that he has no proof that they really use conflict minerals but he just starting bad mouthing me... He can go fuck himself as far as I'm concerned

 

[Fireballo]

As if I give a shit about the Congo. The people of the Congo need to civilize themselves and stop acting like savages, raping and killing their neighbors. I'm not going to stop that by not buying a 3DS. Even if not one 3DS gets sold will that stop even one savage from cutting the hands off a woman before he rapes her? If these people can't afford guns they'll use machetes, clubs, and rocks like they have for thousands of years. If everyone stopped buying electronics today fifteen years from now not one life will have been saved. You can't civilize a savage buy boycotting Nintendo. It's an incredibly foolish and ignorant notion.

 

[Sephxus]

Nintendo requires its suppliers...

He called him a dumbass because he's making the assumption (to assume makes an 'ass' out of 'u' and 'me') that just because conflict materials "could" be used by Nintendo, he thinks they are. Even with an auto-reply email, they clearly state that they "require" their suppliers to comply with CSR Procurement Guidelines, not "hope" they comply. If they don't comply, they don't do business with them. Simple as that. If the supplier says they are, but are secretly not, then the supplier is to blame, not Nintendo. Same goes with any other company in this predicament who go by the same guidelines. If it is found out that the supplier was not following the guidelines, Nintendo (and other companies) will surely close their accounts with them. But, what about all the components they now carry that has the stain on them?

Throwing them away post-sale because they are stained with conflict material does nothing for the actual problem from the source, so they use what they have. If you found out your product contained material that came from the death of people after you purchased and received such material, would throwing it away help the situation? If anything, throwing it away would show your ungratefulness for the suffering the people went through that worked to get it to you. This "news" of Nintendo possibly using conflict material in the 3DS is only recent, while the 3DS has been in production for months.

There are several documentaries that contradict your assumptions:

Wal-Mart :The High Cost of Low Prices
Blood Diamonds - Sierra Leone

There are many others, but they are not as widely available.

Corporations will indeed make business with (unethical) entities to make profits.

On your second point, you assume the conflict and exploitation has stopped, when in fact it hasn’t. You assume Nintendo is not making more consoles and it is not going to make more consoles in the future. I guarantee you, the amount of consoles Nintendo sells will determine how much more consoles the company will produce.

Ungratefulness? The suffering people are still suffering massive genocides fuelled by the sale of these materials.

@Fireballo You are f---ing lucky you live in the dominant majority. That is a highly racist comment.

Edit: @Fireballo's reply.

 

[_Chaz_]

As if I give a shit about the Congo. The people of the Congo need to civilize themselves and stop acting like savages, raping and killing their neighbors. I'm not going to stop that by not buying a 3DS. Even if not one 3DS gets sold will that stop even one savage from cutting the hands off a woman before he rapes her? If these people can't afford guns they'll use machetes, clubs, and rocks like they have for thousands of years. If everyone stopped buying electronics today fifteen years from now not one life will have been saved. You can't civilize a savage buy boycotting Nintendo. It's an incredibly foolish and ignorant notion.

If you could kindly get the fuck out, that'd be great.