
Apple blocks out daylight to poverty-hit families in London apartment block - fortran77
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/iphone-ad-block-windows-light-hackney-london-poverty-a9204566.html
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deogeo
Ads, like peacock plumes, are a net drain on society. Unlike peacock plumes,
they look ugly. It's time to severely restrict them by law. Hawaii, Vermont,
Maine, and Alaska all banned billboards - the move isn't even close to
unprecedented.

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booblik
I doubt Apple has anything to do with it. More likely they used an agency that
chose the location, and even that agency was probably unaware of who or how
would be affected by the ad.

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eesmith
I assume that if did have anything to do with it, you find that to be a
problem, yes?

One of the problems of our economic system is that we can "sell" our bad
things - wash our hands of responsibility and it be someone else's problem.

We can buy clothes made from slave labor, or sweatshop labor, and ... are we
responsible? Did we have anything to do with it?

We can buy electronics containing tantalum, which funds the war in the Congo.
Are we responsible? Did we have anything to do with the deaths of millions?

It seems like many people can be responsible for this. Eg, the council, for
providing substandard housing. But afters of "austerity", they probably don't
have the resources, so can we blame that austerity-mongers? Or go back to the
Thatcher-era and the selling off of council housing?

Really, this isn't simple finger pointing, but the indictment of the system -
"a 'shocking indictment' of inequality in the 21st century", to quote the
article.

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booblik
I think the landlord has absolutely no right to block the windows, I see it as
a human rights violation. Unless the tenants signed the lease when an ad was
already hanging there.

~~~
eesmith
Are there any other human rights that you can sign away?

In any case, it's clear from the article that the tenants here didn't agree.

Why can't Apple be partially at fault? Perhaps not in a legal sense, but in a
moral sense.

Couldn't they agree to only work with ad companies which don't violate human
rights? And set up compliance oversight?

Or, agree to pay more taxes in order for the government to have the resources
to do that? (Or rather, not fight having their taxes raised for this purpose.)

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peapicker
I’m blaming the landlord. Wonder if he’s violating city housing laws by
selling the space.

