Conflict minerals

The Enough Project.
Our demand for electronics fuels the world's deadliest war. It's time to end it.

As well as the petition, check out the From Mine to Mobile Phone link (bout 2/3 down on the RHS), which is a supply chain recap, & the CNN link (bottom left) Rape & Murder: funded by cell phones, which talks about the strategic & commonplace use of rape as an intimidation tactic to deter local villagers from challenging illegal mine sites.

On a personal note: I heard about this when an entire village was held hostage by militia for 4 days, and about 45 women raped at gunpoint, repeatedly and systematically, in front of their families. I was driving home, listening to ABC Newsradio. I cried during the interviews with survivors and an aid worker, shocked and horrified that this was a business decision, part of the process that my purchases fund. I spent the next week blogging about it and trying to find a company that traced the supply chain to ensure it wasn't buying conflict minerals, or was in favour of industry-wide reform and regulation. I put off buying the netbook I'd been planning on buying until I'd done the research & checked for an ethical alternative, and when I couldn't find one I bought it anyway.