There are times when the IT industry can appear to be the bad guy. For example, very often the ‘efficiencies’ and ‘productivity gains’ it delivers translate into people losing their jobs or their work being outsourced to countries where labour costs are much cheaper.
There are also times when it can appear to be less about empowering the individual and more about empowering corporations and governments at the expense of the individual.
So it’s always heartening when IT businesses take a stance over an issue like discrimination as Apple and Symantec are doing in Arizona this week. According to a story on The Register, the two technology companies have joined a list of businesses calling on the governor to veto a bill (SB1062) that seeks to amend the existing religious freedom law to allow businesses to refuse service to customers based on sexual orientation.
It’s a classic case of one freedom (the freedom to practice one’s religion) coming up against another (the freedom to be treated equally under the law). It’s hard to fathom why Arizona lawmakers believe someone’s religious inclinations should give them precedence to treat another person in a discriminatory manner and override an individual’s right to be treated as an equal in the land of the brave and the home of the free.
Anyway, the bill is sitting on the desk of Governor Jan Brewer waiting for her to sign it into law. But opponents of the bill such as Apple, Symantec and the 92 signatories of a letter to Brewer from the Arizona Technology Council are lobbying hard to get her to veto it.
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According to numerous reports, which have since been confirmed by the Governor’s office, Apple phoned Brewer to tell her of its opposition to the legislation. The company’s views carry some weight given that Apple is preparing to open a sapphire glass manufacturing plant in Mesa, Arizona that will employ 700 full-time employees.
As for the AZTC letter, it doesn’t pull any punches. “We feel strongly that this piece of legislation represents bad public policy with the potential of causing significant detrimental economic impact to the state of Arizona,” it states.
AZTC complains the legislation “will greatly impact our ability to not only attract top talent to move to Arizona, but will also greatly inhibit our ability to recruit businesses to relocate here. We worry about our ability to succeed in competing with other markets”.
It attacks the legislation for being “frivolous, unnecessary and fiscally perilous. Arizona business owners already have the right to refuse business to anyone. There is no need for this legislation, and we believe it is attempting to fix a problem that doesn’t exist”.
Furthermore, “when the Legislature passes bills like this, it creates a reputation that Arizona is judgmental and unwelcoming. This will haunt our business community for decades to come”.
Whatever else you can accuse technology companies of, you can’t accuse them of failing to take a (public) stance against discrimination of gay and lesbian people. That’s something that should be applauded.
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