Sony is killing African kids...

[SoCal07Si]

Playstation 2 component incites African war
Console war reaches past the couch and into the Congo, claims report.

By Ben Silverman

Has the video game industry dug up its very own blood diamond?

According to a report by activist site Toward Freedom, for the past decade the search for a rare metal necessary in the manufacturing of Sony's Playstation 2 game console has fueled a brutal conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

At the center of the conflict is the unrefined metallic ore, coltan. After processing, coltan turns into a powder called tantalum, which is used extensively in a wealth of western electronic devices including cell phones, computers and, of course, game consoles.

Allegedly, the demand for coltan prompted Rwandan military groups and western mining companies to plunder hundreds of millions of dollars worth of the rare metal, often by forcing prisoners-of-war and even children to work in the country's coltan mines.

"Kids in Congo were being sent down mines to die so that kids in Europe and America could kill imaginary aliens in their living rooms," said Ex-British Parliament Member Oona King.

So where's the connection to Sony? According to Toward Freedom, during the 2000 launch of the PS2, the electronics giant was having trouble meeting consumer demand. To pump out more units, Sony required a significant increase in the production of electric capacitors, which are primarily made with tantalum. This helped drive the world price of the powder from $49/pound to a whopping $275/pound, resulting in the frenzied scouring of the Congolese hills known for being ripe with coltan.

Sony has since sworn off using tantalum acquired from the Congo, claiming that current builds of the PS2, PSP and PS3 consoles are sourced from a variety of mines in several different countries.

But according to researcher David Barouski, they're hardly off the hook.

"SONY's PlayStation 2 launch...was a big part of the huge increase in demand for coltan that began in early 1999," he explained. "SONY and other companies like it, have the benefit of plausible deniability, because the coltan ore trades hands so many times from when it is mined to when SONY gets a processed product, that a company often has no idea where the original coltan ore came from, and frankly don't care to know. But statistical analysis shows it to be nearly inconceivable that SONY made all its PlayStations without using Congolese coltan."

Currently, the Playstation 2 is the best-selling video game console of all-time, having sold through over 140 million units.


Cliffs: It takes a certain type of metal to make the PS2 and kids in the Congo are being forced into mines to get it and dying in the process.

[e60.deluxe]

so basically, in Africa, there has is a metal called coltan, which is used in pretty much any western electronic. kids are being sent into the mines and are dying.

but because Sony sells PS2's out the ass its their fault? right...

[MBK]

srsly

[I Vtec, do you?]

The title of this thread is about as misleading as the story on Digg - "Girl gets struck by lightning, wins lottery next day". Read the story, she wins a scratch-ticket for $12.

[MBK]

i spent 7 dollars at taco bell yesterday i couldn't believe it

[shawnono]

[RaZr8252]

sounds like something out of the national inquirer..

[SoCal07Si]

Originally Posted by e60.deluxe

so basically, in Africa, there has is a metal called coltan, which is used in pretty much any western electronic. kids are being sent into the mines and are dying.

but because Sony sells PS2's out the ass its their fault? right...

[reivaj]

Originally Posted by MBK

i spent 7 dollars at taco bell yesterday i couldn't believe it

I spent like 10 bucks for 2 people and they jipped me out on my cheesy gordita crunch and caramel apple empanada

[MBK]

go get them back thats what i did when popeyes gave me red beans and rice instead of mashed potatos

[cambodianricer]

sony FTMFW.

thats right, blame it on Sony cause they're well off. Blame the company that's doing very well while other companies are taking the same metal from the same place.

[AdamLXCIV]

It's just another thing to blame on teh Americans.

Scapegoating FTMFW!

[cambodianricer]

^ lol. yea. they're haters

everyone's haters.

[AdamLXCIV]

Brush da h@terz 0ff yo shoulda, dawg.

[dcloud]

Why Sony is the only one listed is beyond me. All the major electronic companies should be on here. Tantalum caps are probably in every piece of electronic out there.

[Chase016]

So....... most all electronics have this in them, yet Sony capitalizes? Doesnt China have sweat shops for the accessories to Playstation ooooo SHUN THEM!!!!! SHUN!!!

[cambodianricer]

Originally Posted by Chase016

So....... most all electronics have this in them, yet Sony capitalizes? Doesnt China have sweat shops for the accessories to Playstation ooooo SHUN THEM!!!!! SHUN!!!

btw, Japan makes sony. not china
china probably makes the knock off controllers and illegal games