The point after: Apple’s China problem, U.S. copyright conundrums, and more

It’s been a while since I dipped into the reader mailbag and pulled out a few choice nuggets. Today, the unofficial federal holiday known as “Super Bowl Monday Hangover,” seems as good a time as any to look back with amusement and ibuprofen at what riles up the residents of Cringeville.

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My post about Apple’s amazing success being built on the backs of ultracheap Chinese labor (“As American as … Apple Inc.?“) got a big reaction. But reader W. T. says I’m being unfair by singling out Apple for relying on China’s electro-sweatshops:

In spite of our high unemployment, Apple (or any other of the technology companies in the US) could not find workers who would sit at a work station 8 to 14 hours a day assembling tiny devices even if they paid the U.S. minimum wage. …What do you suppose the suicide rate or level of drug abuse would be among those mythical American workers?

While working conditions in China are harsh, they are no worse than the conditions in the company-owned towns in the U.S. coal mining or steel industries of 100 years ago. When you speak of underage workers being exploited, think of the textile mills with 12-year old girls working long hours under the harshest conditions in America 150 years ago.

True enough. Over time, though, we eventually did away with most of these harsh practices. Will China do the same, especially now that it’s become the electronics sweatshop for the entire developed world?

My post “MegaUpload: The content cartel strikes back” also struck a nerve. In that one I argue that our law enforcement agencies seem to have morphed into copy protection agencies. Cringester T. C. agrees that the authorities seem to have their priorities askew:

I can only ask why is it our FBI and other government offices can spend so much time on “lawbreakers” [who] download movies, share music, or anything of [that] nature, but when it comes to finding the nasty people who actually hurt others it’s a bust, it seems.

On a similar note, regular correspondent B. B. chimes in on the SOPA/PIPA controversy (“Say nopa to SOPA! Now what?“):

As onerous as these laws sound, they will probably turn out to be largely toothless, like DMCA. Sure, the full weight of the government will land on a few technically inept patsies (like that woman accused of sharing 26 songs on Kazaa), but anti-infringement laws will always remain several steps behind of those who would circumvent them.

Cybercrime is flourishing, and much of it is designed for larger stakes than pirated movies and MP3s. Does our government have enough resources to investigate personal collections of unlawfully downloaded media while master criminals are stealing credit cards, wire transfer numbers and penetrating the most sensitive of our military and law enforcement systems? I think not.

More recently, in “Tinker tailor coder spy? Anonymous strikes again,” I asked readers to name what company or institution should be the next target for Anonymous and his/her/its hacking comrades. Perhaps inspired by my headline, reader K. M. suggests the Oscars, especially after they move to online voting next year:

Anonymous would be doing a great public service in revealing the inherent insecurity of Internet voting by such a hack (and it may not even violate federal election fraud laws, which are aimed at elections for government offices).

And it might just be the only way Tom Cruise will ever win an Oscar.

Finally, the kudos keep rolling in for Windows Phone 7. U.K. reader B. W. writes from across the pond about his new WinPho:

Day 1: Feelings of regret choosing Win7 over Android

Day 2: Starting to realise how bloody fast this phone is for a 1GHz single processor.

Day 3: Recommend this phone to anyone, rooter or nonrooter. It’s fast enough to be left alone, all the needed apps are there and are of exceptional quality, unlike 75 percent of Android and Apple’s stupid crappy apps.

If this trend continues, the market share for Windows Phone could soar to as much as 3.8 percent.

What do you want to read (and/or complain) about? Post your gripes and swipes below or email me: cringe@infoworld.com.

This article, “The point after: Apple’s China problem, U.S. copyright conundrums, and more,” was originally published at InfoWorld.com. Follow the crazy twists and turns of the tech industry with Robert X. Cringely’s Notes from the Field blog, and subscribe to Cringely’s Notes from the Underground newsletter.