[Corporations] Microsoft's Vista Could Harm Health in Developing Countries

[Mike Ewall]

BASEL ACTION NETWORK

~ Turning Back the Toxic Tide ~


For Immediate Release:

Microsoft's Vista Could Harm Health in Developing Countries

"Tsunami of Electronic Waste" to hit Asian and African Shores?

Seattle, WA.  30 January 2007. The Seattle based toxic trade 
watchdog, Basel Action Network (BAN), is concerned that Microsoft has 
done  little to prevent or mitigate the massive hardware obsolescence 
that is likely to be caused by the release of its latest operating 
system known as Vista.  The environmental organization predicts that 
the software launch will create a 'tsunami' of e-waste exported to 
developing countries already awash in e-waste exports, as consumers 
in rich countries dispose of their existing computers and buy new 
machines capable of running the new operating system.

BAN noted the contradiction of Microsoft founder Bill Gates latest 
high-tech progeny in light of the charitable mission of the Bill and 
Melinda Gates Foundation "to bring innovations in health and learning 
to the global community."

"Today with the release of Vista, Microsoft could bring both a 
massive digital dump and a perpetuation of the digital divide to the 
global community,"  said Jim Puckett, coordinator of the Basel Action 
Network.  "It is shameful how little innovation and concern the 
electronics industry continues to demonstrate for the long-term 
consequences of their products in light of their abilities to 
innovate front-end gadgetry to encourage sales."  he said.

A study by the Softchoice Corporation[i] estimated that about half of 
the average business PCs in North America do not meet the minimum 
requirements for Microsoft's Windows Vista operating system, and 94 
percent do not meet the system requirements for Vista Premium -- the 
enhanced business version.   While some of this obsolescence can be 
solved with RAM upgrades, it is likely that many businesses will not 
bother with such labor intensive servicing but will simply discard 
their existing computers.

According to BAN, more than 50% of these computers globally, are 
exported to developing countries either whole or dissassembled, where 
they are processed and disposed of in a manner that causes serious 
damage to workers and local environments.   The result of this is 
that the gains of the electronics industry translate into serious 
environmental costs externalized to the poor.  BAN earlier documented 
the cyber-age nightmares in such countries as China, India or Nigeria 
where women and children 'cook' lead-tin soldered circuit boards over 
small fires, soak chips in dangerous acid baths along river ways, 
smash lead and phosphor laden cathode ray tubes, and burn wires and 
plastic housings in open dumps.[ii]

Further, BAN notes that every time software makes hardware obsolete, 
the digital divide is actually perpetuated, because the divide is not 
defined by the gap between those with computers and those without, 
but by those with the latest innovations and those without.   And 
when exported obsolete computers are handed down to developing 
country consumers for re-use, a toxic timebomb is created there due 
to the fact that the electronics industry has made no effort to 
ensure that infrastructure is in put in place to properly collect and 
manage their products at end-of-life.

"Most developing countries have no infrastructure whatsoever to 
collect and recycle computers, so when they die they are simply 
dumped and burned,"  Puckett said.  "A truly responsible industry 
will take steps to ensure that innovation does not automatically 
equate to obsolescence, toxic waste and a growing population of 
hardware have-nots,"  he said.

BAN hopes to work with its Seattle area neighbor Microsoft and the 
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to ensure that innovation and 
obsolescence are de-linked in future.

For more information:

Contact Jim Puckett, +1.206.652.5555, jpuckett at ban.org
                Sarah Westervelt +1.206.652.5555, swestervelt at ban.org

Visit Basel Action Network website: www.ban.org

[i] As reported in e-week: http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,2068351,00.asp
[ii] See reports and films -- Exporting Harm: The High Tech Trashing 
of Asia, and The Digital Dump: Exporting Re-use and Abuse to Africa, 
both available on the BAN website: www.ban.org

NOTE: With this press release BAN will be sending Bill Gates a copy 
of its films, Digital Dump and Exporting Harm.


BASEL ACTION NETWORK (BAN)
c/o Earth Economics
122 S. Jackson, Suite 320
Seattle, Washington  98104 USA
Phone: 1.206.652.5555, Fax: 1.206.652.5750
Email: jpuckett at ban.org
Website: http://www.ban.org