Should Apple be the first ‘fair trade’ tech company?

Ten workers at Foxconn, a Taiwanese-owned iPad factory referred to by some as a “sweatshop” have recently committed suicide, prompting tech journalists and industry watchers to ask: is it time for a Fair Trade Tech company? (Apple CEO Steve Jobs says Foxconn is “not a sweatshop,” and that the suicides are troubling, but Apple is “trying to understand right now, before we go in and say we know the solution.”)

In this conversation we’re joined by Tom Foremski, a former Financial Times journalist who is now the publisher and writer of the blog SiliconValleyWatcher.com. Tom says that while it would be a financial gamble, if any company were prepared to push the ethical technology envelope, it would be Apple. We’re also joined by BBC correspondent Chris Hogg.