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Shouting 'Pay Your Taxes', Activists Occupy Apple Stores in France (marketwatch.com)
An anonymous reader quotes MarketWatch:
A group of global activists stormed and occupied several Apple Stores in France on Saturday in a move aimed at pressuring the company to pay up on a €13 billion ($15.5 billion) tax bill to the European Union. In a press release, the France unit of the Association for the Taxation of Financial Transactions and Citizen's Action organization (Attac), said 100 of its members occupied the Opera Apple Store in Paris, demanding the company pay its taxes... Attac said dozens of protests were organized at other Apple store locations throughout France on Saturday. In the Paris store, activists were seen via videos circulating on Twitter, pushing past security and hanging a banner that said "We will stop when Apple pays." Security in Paris reportedly evacuated Apple workers from the building as those protests began.
After three hours they left the store -- leaving behind protest messages on the iPads on display. The group claims that Apple has stashed $230 billion in tax havens around the world, but also hopes to raise awareness about other issues.
"Attac said the action was part of the #PhoneRevolt movement aimed at highlighting unfair practices by Apple, that are not just about taxes, but also pollution via extraction of metals for its phones, worker exploitation and driving a global consumption binge."
After three hours they left the store -- leaving behind protest messages on the iPads on display. The group claims that Apple has stashed $230 billion in tax havens around the world, but also hopes to raise awareness about other issues.
"Attac said the action was part of the #PhoneRevolt movement aimed at highlighting unfair practices by Apple, that are not just about taxes, but also pollution via extraction of metals for its phones, worker exploitation and driving a global consumption binge."
Apple is the only phone company I know of to even both to produce something like environmental reports.
This includes things like the mildly nauseating fact that Apple makes their own artificial sweat to test watches.
And what do they get for it? Protestors flooding stores. Where are the protests at the local stores selling other phones, which engage in the same tax practices and far worse environmental hijinks? Crickets.
I'm sure it's because they can get more attention if they flood an Apple store instead of the local T-Mobile phone hut. But even so, it's just sad to see such a brazen display of showmanship over real care for the environment or taxes. Maybe Apple should just stop paying attention to any of that stuff and make phones the way the rest of the market does without all of the expense of trying to do so in a responsible way.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Protestors produced nothing of any value to anyone, instead demanding productive people — people who create value for customers, employees, shareholders, and their communities — pay more.
Why should producers listen to demanders when demanders offer nothing of any value to anyone? Are remorseless demands fair? How is demanding things while offering nothing good for a society?