[Novalug] Wal-marts music store (Challange to list)

gregory pryzby greg@pryzby.org
Sun Feb 11 21:49:19 EST 2007


Ken,

You are correct about WMT wrt workers and WMT is losing lawsuits and
sometimes they are overturned. 

There was an article in Fortune a few months back talking about the
new CEO and how he and the Walton family (iirc) are committed to
making WMT green.

While this does not address the treatment of employees and others in
world, their going green is HUGE in its impact on the environment.

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2006/08/07/8382593/

Regardless of your take on the environment, green, Walmart and the
rest, I found the article (read the dead tree version which might have
been longer, I don't recall) interesting.

On Sun, Feb 11, 2007 at 09:41:41PM -0500, Ken Kauffman wrote:
> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
> Hash: SHA1
> 
> Jay
> 
> Here's a bit of a challenge for you then.  There is a history of
> Wal-Mart destroying family owned businesses.  There is a history of
> mistreatment of its employees and the inability for them to offer benefits.
> 
> I've chosen a long time ago to stop buying from Wal-Mart.  My family has
> also chosen this path.
> 
> Keeping things in perspective. The inability to buy music from Wal-Mart
> because of a specific browser is a small agenda item in the scope of
> Wal-Marts more significant misgivings.  Keep in mind that Wal-Marts'
> policies will only alienate a very specific population
> (Firefox/Linux/Mac Safari users).  If this target group is large enough
> and were previously customers, Wal-Mart will be affected no matter what.
> 
> If that is your stance, you should also include a petition that iTunes
> is not available natively on Linux.  Given the current train of thought,
> using alternative software or techniques to get music on an iPod would
> not be acceptable.
> 
> I'm just waiting for someone to point out to the RIAA that this type of
> action forces a rather large technically savvy specific group of users
> to find other methods to obtain their music, and whether they like it or
> not, will include an increase in pirated copy distribution.
> 
> You're right, its about choice.
> I chose to boycott Wal-Mart entirely.
> 
> FWIW: I'm not trying to be negative or evil or attack you at all, *I*
> just think Wal-Marts mistreatment of people is the higher priority.  I
> also copied this to list in case there were people not aware.
> 
> Good luck with your endeavor.
> 
> Ken
> 
> Jay Hart wrote:
> > It's not about installing a plugin to make this work. If I wanted that I could just use my wifes
> > PC and setup an account and be done with it.
> > 
> > Its about choice, pure and simple.
> > 
> > Jay
> > 
> > Jay
> > 
> > Install the user agent plug-in and change yourself to "look" like IE.
> > 
> > Ken
> > 
> > Jay Hart wrote:
> >>>> Slashdot article mentions Wal-mart doesn't support Firefox.
> >>>>
> >>>> Tried to get to their music store site, site stated that I had an incompatiable OS, and needed
> >>>> to
> >>>> upgrade. Here is the message I got:
> >>>>
> >>>> We're sorry, your operating system is incompatible. To provide the best download experience, we
> >>>> can no longer support Windows 98, ME or NT. Please visit again after you upgrade to Windows 2000
> >>>> or XP. Visit our Help section for complete system requirements information.
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>> Visting their help section got me a phone number to call for technical help.
> >>>>
> >>>> >From Wal-marts site:
> >>>>
> >>>> "For help with using the Music Downloads store, system requirements, downloading music, playing
> >>>> music and other general questions, please email us or call 1-800-222-8132, from 6 a.m. to 12
> >>>> a.m.
> >>>> Central Time, seven days a week."
> >>>>
> >>>> So, I called and asked for help getting IE installed, told them I was using Suse 9.2 with
> >>>> Firefox,
> >>>> they told me they only supported IE. Asked them to help me get IE installed on my linux box,
> >>>> they
> >>>> told me they didn't support linux.
> >>>>
> >>>> So, I told them that they had lost my business, and hung up the phone.
> >>>>
> >>>> So, its a toll free number, let each and every one of us try this out, and call wal-mart if you
> >>>> can't get in to their music store (for downloading songs at .88cents/song) using Firefox.
> >>>>
> >>>> I will donate $1 to NOVALUG for each and every one on this list that calls in and tells Wal-mart
> >>>> that you won't buy from them because they don't support Firefox.  But, you need to do this test
> >>>> before you call.
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>> Jay Hart
> >>>>
> >>>> _______________________________________________
> >>>> Novalug mailing list
> >>>> Novalug@calypso.tux.org
> >>>> http://calypso.tux.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/novalug
> >>
> 
> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
> Version: GnuPG v1.4.6 (GNU/Linux)
> Comment: Using GnuPG with Mozilla - http://enigmail.mozdev.org
> 
> iD8DBQFFz9PleG7FWlPCs4ERAs6nAJ4mjA2A/AVxnL2jr75MWDvobJMfLgCfYqj/
> K4FO41vOlIz+Xay3o9OlrzA=
> =Cds4
> -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
> _______________________________________________
> Novalug mailing list
> Novalug@calypso.tux.org
> http://calypso.tux.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/novalug
> 

-- 
greg pryzby                              greg at pryzby dot org
fingerprint: 8A1A DB90 869F 5DD1 D6E9 EEB6 C156 6B04 849F A86F
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: signature.asc
Type: application/pgp-signature
Size: 189 bytes
Desc: Digital signature
URL: <https://lists.firemountain.net/pipermail/novalug/attachments/20070211/150b6253/attachment.asc>


More information about the Novalug mailing list