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Diamonds are Africa's Best Friend (or Worst Enemy)

September 22, 2008 5:05 PM

DANA HUGHES is the ABC News Digital Reporter for Africa based in Nairobi.

What could be the largest, polished, round-stone diamond ever in history has been discovered in the tiny southern African country of Lesotho.  Its 478 carats, with what industry experts  call  “outstanding" clarity.

A spokesman for Gem Diamonds, the mining group in control of the Letseng mine where the diamond was found, said in a statement that "Preliminary examination of this remarkable diamond indicates that it will yield a record-breaking polished stone of the very best color and clarity."

It’s not clear yet how much the diamond will go for, but a similar diamond found in the same mine in 2006 was bought by Graff Jewelers in London for more than $12 million. That diamond has since been cut from 603 rough, unpolished carats into 26 small pieces and turned into a necklace, the Lesotho Promise, valued at more than $50 million. The necklace, and the diamond mine in Lesotho,  have  been featured in fashion and luxury magazines such as W and Vanity Fair.

Diamond mining is a billion-dollar industry in Africa, with the continent exporting at least 65 percent of the world's diamonds. Many brutal wars have been fought over control of the diamond industry. The most famous being in Sierra Leone (think “Blood Diamonds”).  After years of international outcry, and the threat of forced international regulations, the industry agreed to become more transparent and regulate itself.

All mining and diamond trading companies have agreed to the Kimberly Process, a program designed to trace and certify a diamond from its origins in a mine to the purchase by a consumer anywhere in the world. And while there are still some countries in Africa, such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, where the political situation remains too unstable for real conflict diamond oversight, countries like Lesotho, South Africa and Botswana are working with private mine companies to bring in legitimate revenue for the country. Seventy percent of Letseng is owned by Gem Diamonds, while the other 30 percent is owned by the government.

The majority of miners at Letseng are from Lesotho and are paid one of the higher wages  for miners in the region, but the country is still extremely poor with estimates of unemployment reaching as high as 45 percent and an HIV/AIDS rate that has devastated the population. One of the main reasons for the high HIV/AIDS rate? Male miners traveling to South Africa to live and work in mining towns. As Lesotho continues to develop its own mines, like Letseng, the hope is that producing world-class diamonds won’t be the only result, but that a renewal of the economy will occur as well.

To see pictures of the nearly 500 carat diamond click here:
http://www.abcnews.go.com/Business/popup?id=2165602

September 22, 2008 in Dana Hughes | Permalink | User Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Face-to-Face With a Suicide Bomber

September 20, 2008 3:52 PM

By Jim Sciutto, ABC News Senior Foreign Correspondent

Watching the Marriott in Islamabad on fire is a jarring sight for any reporter who's covered Pakistan in the last few years. The Marriott is HQ for journalists, diplomats, U.S. politicians -- any foreigner visiting the country. It -- along with the Serena -- is one of the 'safe' hotels. Not today.

Covering Pakistan and Afghanistan, no place is truly safe. And I got a sense of why last month in Kabul when I met a captured Pakistani suicide bomber who was being held at a high-security prison in Kabul by Afghan intelligence.

Ahmad, an unemployed 30-year-old sheep herder, was caught outside a U.S. military post on the Afghan-Pakistan border wearing a suicide vest packed with explosives.

When I asked him what led him to attack, he told me it was his duty as a Muslim because "foreign invaders" were occupying Muslim land. That's a persistent rallying cry in the Muslim world -- and one I now hear even outside the ranks of jihadis like Ahmad. Men and women on the street, British-born Muslim teenagers, even Westernized democracy activists in Egypt and Iran will repeat the same rhetoric.

I asked Ahmad how he felt about the civilians he would have killed -- like the many civilians who died in today's attack. He said this is war -- and that U.S. bombing raids kill civilians as well.

Ahmad had a scary face -- cold and hard. He'd clearly had a tough life, looking far older than his 30 years, but more importantly, I could see no sign he had any regrets. He was committed to the cause. And he left me with a sobering thought: that there were many more like him willing to fight and die. Today, we saw he was right.

P.S. -- You'll get to see the bomber face-to-face in an upcoming profile to air on "World News with Charles Gibson"

September 20, 2008 in Jim Sciutto | Permalink | User Comments (52) | TrackBack (0)

Freerunning Takes a Giant Leap

September 19, 2008 2:27 PM

By JONATHAN BIERMAN, ABC News London

It started in the mid 1980s. Bored teenagers looking for a way to keep themselves occupied started leaping and rolling their way through the landscapes of suburban Paris. Their philosophy was based on fluidity and was steeped in a functional yet graceful directness of movement through ready-made obstacles. The city streets, tower blocks, rooftops and railings were their training ground, and they were the disciples and pioneers of Parkour. 

It is described by David Belle, widely considered the founder of Parkour, as “l’art du déplacement," the art of movement. “Parkour is getting over all the obstacles in your path as you would in an emergency. You want to move in such a way so as to help you gain the most ground on someone or something, whether escaping from it or chasing toward it."

Twenty years on and a new breed of daring athletes have developed this discipline into an even more visually spectacular art form known as Freerunning. The core principle remains the same:  Move with speed and fluidity from one point to another, overcoming walls, gaps, fences and railings but incorporate flips, twists, rolls and any other artistic and creative movement into the routine to add extra aesthetic finesse.

The athletes are lean and muscular, with incredible power to weight ratios  that  enable them to run up walls, jump over 6-foot railings head first, or fall several times their own height (usually) without injury. Employing a martial arts rolling technique, they transfer the downward force of the fall into forward momentum upon impact, without interrupting the flow of their run.

Their training and conditioning is done almost entirely in the field. There are no arduous hours spent pumping iron in the gym or running on the treadmill, just sprinting through the streets of their cities.

“It’s not necessarity spending your life in a gym, it’s just practicing the movements over and over again and that actually builds up the strength you need.” -- Billy “Skipper” Hughes, Americanparkour.com

The culture has become a global movement, due in no small part to YouTube and the internet "viral" phenomenon. Five years ago, a U.K.-based online message board called Urban Freeflow (www.urbanfreeflow.com) emerged, allowing young performers to post their routines and share tips and advice from other performers around the world.

It has since become a fully functioning  business vehicle for the coordination, development and promotion of the sport, and its members are now paid top dollar by the biggest brands, and film directors to star in and choreograph for their latest productions.

The director of Urban Freeflow, simply known as Ez (that’s "easy" to you and me), was initially surprised at its sudden growth in popularity but has realistic ambitions for its future. “It kind of exploded overnight, we were in the right place at the right time, and since then we’ve been involved in all manner of commercial interests and adverts and film work. But it’s very important for us to have a healthy balance with the grass-roots stuff. As long as there is, we can justify what we’re doing commercially.”

Its business model has proved extremely effective in the U.K. Over the past six years, Freerunning has featured in countless films and commercials, having emerged as the latest must-have expression of urban cool. The likes of Canon, Toyota, Nokia and almost any brand you care to imagine have been clamoring to use these athletes in their advertising campaigns.

Despite the rags to riches tale, the community is keen to secure the future of the sport by steering away from a reliance on the fleeting nature of media marketing trends. Its influence extends far beyond the big and small screens, with its strong emphasis on community development and urban renewal. London’s Metropolitan Police, working with Urban Freeflow, has promoted Freerunning as a positive influence in deprived urban areas and as an alternative to crime and antisocial behavior for its young inhabitants.

The latest event was the world’s first Freerun Championships, held in London on Sept. 3, although still firmly supported by the corporate sector with sponsorship from Barclaycard, Adidas and Sony Ericsson, and Sky Sports coverage. Top talent from the U.S. and U.K., Italy, France, the Bahamas, Latvia, Austria, Mexico and even Egypt and Turkey competed in front of an audience of 2,000, and a viewership of thousands more.

Despite its relative obscurity in the United States, the American athlete Gabriel “Jaywalker” Nunez emerged victorious, beating the U.K.'s Tim "Livewire" Sheiff and Ben "Jenx" Jenkins for the top place. There was no prize money this time around, just the kudos and respect of their peers, although the winners can expect more commercial endorsements in the near future.

One American competitor recently worked with Madonna, who saw the potential for Parkour as a feature in her tours and videos. A healthy scene is clearly developing, thanks to the U.S. organisation Americanparkour.com. With the U.S. market relatively untapped, there are still plenty of opportunities for these brave and young athletes to pursue a career doing the thing that they love, and not having to worry about the bills.

To learn more about Freerunning, watch the ABC World News Webcast on 22nd September at 1500 EST.

September 19, 2008 in Jonathan Bierman | Permalink | User Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)

Is the Miniskirt Africa's Burning Bra?

September 19, 2008 1:44 PM

DANA HUGHES is an ABC News reporter covering Africa, based in Nairobi.

This week Uganda’s ethics and integrity minister, Nsaba Buturo, held a press conference to highlight the country’s biggest moral problems: theft and embezzlement, ineffective public services, prostitution, greed and infidelity, among others. But his greatest ire was reserved for…miniskirts. Yes, miniskirts.

According to Minister Buturo, short skirts cause traffic accidents because, as he sees it, some Ugandans are “weak mentally” and will be so distracted looking at the legs of women as to cause them to crash their vehicles. He claims miniskirts are akin to being naked. "If you find a naked person you begin to concentrate on the make-up of that person and yet you are driving," he said with all seriousness to a room full of snickering reporters.  "These days you hardly know who is a mother from a daughter, they are all naked."  If Minister Buturo has his way, miniskirts will be made illegal, part of a law against “indecent” dressing.

While his statements provided journalists and bloggers around the world with a good laugh, the matter of how modern African women dress is not always so funny. Last March, hundreds of women in South Africa took to the streets wearing short skirts and tight shirts in protest of sexual harassment, and in some cases assault, by taxi drivers who claimed women were “asking for it” by wearing such revealing clothing.

According to media reports the protesters chanted women’s rights songs and carried signs saying “We love our minis,” “There are no shortcuts to women’s rights,” and “We aren’t road signs, you need to respect us.” But the taxi drivers taunted and whistled at the women, many saying it’s against African culture for women to wear revealing clothing, and very few have been prosecuted for sexual assault and harassment.

Traditional values have also violently clashed with Western ideals in parts of Kenya, where the Mungiki sect, often described as a criminal gang priding itself on being based on Kikuyu tribal traditions, have publicly stripped women wearing mini-skirts, pants, or any other form of dressing members find “indecent.” During the lawlessness of the country’s post-election violence earlier this year, there were reports of several women being stripped and whipped.

While the majority of African governments and educated people do not expressly condone this behavior, highly-defined gender roles continue to exist – even among the educated class. Women, particularly living in urban environments, are redefining what it means to be an “African” woman. Dress is one of the most visible battlefronts, but traditional attitudes about domestic violence, salary equality, fidelity in marriage, and relationship roles in general, are all being challenged by the “modern” African woman.

They’ll tell you though, that these changes don’t necessarily mean they want to dress and act more Western, but that like women everywhere, they want the right to define themselves on their own, African, terms.

September 19, 2008 in Dana Hughes | Permalink | User Comments (5) | TrackBack (0)

IN DUBAI GOOD TIMES STILL ROLL, BUT NOT SO FAST

September 19, 2008 1:40 PM

By Lara Setrakian, ABC News Digital Reporter, UAE

The crisis on Wall Street has had its impact on Gulf Arab economies. In the words of Arabian Business magazine, “the oil-fueled feeling of economic invincibility has been shaken…in its place is a new mood of caution.”

This region has gotten used to double-digit economic growth, fueled by billions in daily revenue from record-high oil prices. But by the end of this week, all of the stock exchanges except one – Kuwait's -- were down. Literally billions of dollars in value were wiped out.

We’re seeing an outflow of capital, with foreign direct investment leaving these economies because it’s needed elsewhere. In the opposite direction, there’s an influx of people. Dubai, Doha, and Abu Dhabi are being flooded by resumes. Bankers from Wall Street and Europe -- call them high-end economic refugees – are looking for jobs here in the Gulf. This is still a growth region, and that’s harder to come by given the global economic forecast. 

Having less capital and less oil revenue could dent the famous building boom throughout the region. Here in Dubai, the past few years have seen the advent of mega-projects like the “The World” (manmade islands in the shape of the global map) and the Burj Dubai (currently the world’s tallest free-standing structure). With the downturn there’s a fear that the real estate market as a whole could be vulnerable –the buildings going up could lead to an oversupply that floods the market.

With debt financing harder to come by, the global credit crunch hampers the Gulf’s eco nomic boom. But there’s a flip side to that – some say that slowing down what may be overheating economies isn’t a bad thing. A slowing of new projects could help ease inflation and lower the cost of raw materials.

Zoom out and it’s clear the Gulf economies aren’t really hurting. The region is expecting more than $5 trillion dollars in revenue between now and 2020, according to a McKinsey & Company calculation. With that the flashy spending is likely here to stay (Dubai opens the world’s largest shopping within a month, while Abu Dhabi launches its first F1 Grand Prix next year). Out here it’s still “let the good times roll” – they’re just rolling less fast and furious with the global economic downturn.

September 19, 2008 in Lara Setrakian | Permalink | User Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)

Sex Ed For 6 Year Olds?

September 18, 2008 1:39 PM

By PHILIP VICTOR, ABC News London

A U.K. charity has published a new sex education comic book directed specifically at 6- to 7-year-olds, which has angered parenting groups who say it’s up to families to speak to their children about sex.   

The FPA, formerly the Family Planning Association, has released a new 12-page booklet titled “Let's Grow With Nisha and Joe” in which the two main characters and their dog introduce kids to the physical and emotional elements of sexual development.   

FPA Press Campaign Manager Rebecca Findlay says that sex education for children is “massively important,” and that the publication was developed in response to children’s curiosity.  The group says that the target age was chosen to coincide with the English and writing development of 6- and 7-year olds. 

Findlay says that “children are asking these normal questions” and that the pamphlet was developed after sending out test comics to schoolteachers and their pupils.

But some parenting organizations disagree.

The Family and Youth Concern is among the groups outraged by the comic. Norman Wells, director of the Family Education Trust for the organization, believes that the FPA has purposely moved to overshadow the role of the parent.

“The FPA does not respect parents,” Wells told ABCNews.com. “They want to bypass parents, starting with age 4.” 

With the British government currently reviewing sex education in its schools, the Family and Youth Concern released a statement saying “There is no doubt the publication is intended to put pressure on the government”

The interactive pamphlet includes coloring and cartoons, and it is written in a comic book style to engage its young audience.  The work also features a section in which children are asked to label the parts of the body, including sexual organs -- a main factor in the outcry.      

Responding to objections, including  from parents who say that they should be the ones talking with their children about the topic of sex, Findlay  says  “We agree with that and want parents to be involved and use the guide as a resource in educating their children.”

Wells, however, said he believed that these issues “could be dealt with in the context of everyday family life.”

So far only test copies of the pamphlets have been sent out, but the FPA is taking preorders from schools at £15 for every 50 copies, and it plans to continue selling them despite the public opposition.

September 18, 2008 in Philip Victor | Permalink | User Comments (5) | TrackBack (0)

How a German Bank Lost $425M by Mistake

September 18, 2008 1:04 PM

By CHRISTEL KUCHARZ, ABC News Producer, Germany

While the German stock market is still a bit nervous and investors here are anxious about keeping their heads above water, there are some German financial institutions that see the current Wall Street crisis as a chance to enter lucrative U.S. markets.

Others, however, like the state-owned development bank KfW (Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau), are coming under scrutiny.

Today’s edition of the tabloid Bild Zeitung calls KfW “the dumbest bank in Germany” for losing “300 million euros [about $425 million] in an erroneous swap.”

Why?

Germans were shocked by news that the KfW Bank made an ill-timed $425 million transfer to Lehman Brothers on the very day the latter filed for bankruptcy protection.

“It’s a scandal, it’s shocking”, Bild Zeitung told its readers. “How could that possibly happen?”

The KfW bank declined to comment in detail on the transfer, citing an ongoing internal audit, but it did release a statement saying the transfer was made in a swap deal of a kind that is generally based on long-term contractual obligations.

The transfer exposed the government-owned KfW to $425 million in losses, triggering criticism from the Finance Ministry.

Ministry spokesman Torsten Albig told reporters in Berlin the news “was more than surprising and annoying and the government expects a very quick explanation how that could happen. For us, it is inexplicable.”

KfW’s administrative board is meeting today and the "erroneous transfer" is high on the agenda.

September 18, 2008 in Christel Kucharz | Permalink | User Comments (9) | TrackBack (0)

UN: Rio's Cops No Better Than Criminals

September 16, 2008 3:57 PM

By SONIA GALLEGO, ABC News Digital Reporter, Brazil

It’s a murky deal being a cop in South America’s largest country. High rates of violence and corruption compounded by a thriving drug trafficking industry make for a challenging job.

A United Nations report released this week has concluded that police are largely responsible for a “significant proportion” of 48,000 murders carried out in Brazil.

High crime rates in Brazil are not headline news and indeed are consigned to being a distasteful smudge in Rio’s picture postcard image. This statistic failed to cause a significant outcry amongst the locals who seem to have accepted the high crime and violence as part of a distorted normality, a result of the dysfunctional criminal justice system and people’s disbelief in the law to take on the powerful criminal factions.

But these figures read as a shocking indictment of what lies below the surface of Brazil’s most famous city. According to the UN report, conflicts with police officers killed a record 1,260 civilians in the state of Rio de Janeiro alone. That figure may well be higher as a third of the precincts lacked computers or facilities to report murders.

On average, a police officer will earn $450 per month for shifts that stretch from twelve to twenty-four hours. Security officials have long agreed that this is not a sufficient salary for a job that puts these officers in the direct line of danger. Also it does little to dissuade officers from seeking alternative means to supplement their wages.

The report claims that corruption and infiltration into criminal gangs are not uncommon and the creation of a militia in Rio has worsened the situation. The author of the report, UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Philip Alston himself alleges that "A remarkable number of police lead double lives. While on duty, they fight the drug gangs, but on their days off, they work as foot soldiers of organized crime."

Police officers by day and paid mercenaries by night, they wander around shanty towns asking resident to pay-up for services such as protection, cable TV and minivan bus journeys. Police officers have been ever-mindful that the development of such militas poses a greater threat than the much-maligned drug-trafficking factions, such as the Comando Vermelho (the Red Command).

The report also notes that part of the problem lies in a criminal justice system which is seemingly impotent and rarely achieves convictions even in ordinary murder cases. The UN report states that in Sao Paulo state, only 10% of murder cases are tried in courts and only half of those result in convictions.

The police know full well about the on-going battle to preserve their image in the face of these reports. However, when ABC News contacted the Rio de Janeiro state security department for a response to the matter, the report was rubbished, and I was told that the Secretary of State for Security would not comment on it as the Mr Alston only paid one visit to Rio.

The increased pressure to do something about the drug trafficking factions and high crime rates have pushed police squads to carry out more incursions into shanty towns. This is seen most frequently during the high summer months in Brazil in December, January and February, when more tourists visit the country. This strategy has not yielded much success. As I have found during my own reporting in the region, for every drug trafficker that is killed there are  plenty more foot soldiers to replace him.

It was not all bad news in the report – there was praise for the professionalism of Brazil’s prosecution service. While the organs that hold Brazil’s police to account are said to be impotent, this report could be seen as an important turn to repair and rebuild these broken instruments. It’s a Leviathan task and one that will take many years and much political will but is not without hope.

September 16, 2008 in Sonia Gallego | Permalink | User Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

Hizbollah Makes Inroads into South America

September 12, 2008 3:48 PM

By SONIA GALLEGO, ABC News Digital Reporter, Brazil

As the U.S.'s attention has been diverted to the hot spots in Bush’s  "war on  terror," namely Iraq and Afghanistan, their neighbors in South America have been forging other friendships with more distant lands -- in particular with China and Iran.

China has been extremely important in securing agricultural and manufacturing deals with countries such as Brazil and Argentina, but Iran has also been seen as an increasingly important partner to secure relationships with. In the past year, Iran and Venezuela have cozied up to one another, both bound by their mutual loathing of President Bush.

Trade centered on the manufacturing industries has been focal in the Venezuela-Iran get together, but both countries are also seeking to bond beyond trade  -- a prospect that has left observers in Washington -- and Jerusalem -- decidedly nervous.

A recent report in the L.A. Times claimed that the relationship between Iran and Venezuela is also being used opportunistically by organisations such as the Lebanese-based Hizbollah, setting up anti- Western terrorist cells in strategic areas of the continent. Already this year, Iran announced that it was setting up TV stations in Venezuela, Nicaragua, Ecuador and Bolivia, which could potentially be an opportunity for Hizbollah to take their operations further in to South America.

Jewish communities in South America have been vocal about their fears, citing the 1992 Israeli Embassy bomb attack, which was claimed by Islamic Jihad, a group that has ties to Hizbollah. There have long been whispered accusations of gun-running and other shady deals in the tripartite border area between Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay by Middle Eastern organizations with links to terrorism.

Much to the chagrin of the U.S. government, Hizbollah itself is not regarded as a terrorist organisation by many Latin American governments, allowing Hizbollah to engage in more activities in the region.

The deal making between Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia and Iran, is also a conscious kick in the face to  U.S.  foreign policy. No love is lost between the left-wing governments in many Latin American countries and the  U.S., exemplified by the constant anti- U.S. rhetoric of Venezuelan leader, Hugo Chavez.

Bolivia has also had tempestuous relations with Washington recently. This week, the relationship took a decidedly sour turn when, in an increasing volatile political situation, Bolivia’s President Evo Morales expelled the  U.S. ambassador for allegedly provoking and inciting riots and anti-government protests in the gas-rich region of Santa Cruz, in eastern Bolivia.

Washington responded in kind by ousting Bolivia’s envoy to the U.S. And, not one to be outdone when it comes to the politics of histrionics, Chavez also announced that as a sign of solidarity to his left-wing comrade he too would eject the U.S. ambassador from Venezuelan territory.

Chavez’s rambunctious speech, peppered with expletives last night, was made before a huge crowd of his supporters. He turned the air blue with his theatrical indignation. “Shi**y Yankees!” he cried, “Go to hell a hundred times!,” which got the big-up from his selected audience.

It has all the makings of a Latin American soap opera, were it not for the potentially frightening repercussions.

Venezuela’s oil reserves -- 100 billion barrels of the stuff -- have allowed Chavez to play the Big Man in the name of Latin American interests. But how long can he keep this up for? Food is rationed in Venezuela and the country has become dependent upon food imports from Colombia. His anti-American rhetoric may thunder across the Caribbean, but he is still reliant upon the U.S., which remains an especially important client of the Venezuelan state oil company, PDVSA, supplying it with 1.5 million barrels of oil a day. So much for an anti-Yankee rant.

September 12, 2008 in Sonia Gallego | Permalink | User Comments (44) | TrackBack (0)

Did This Man Invent the iPod?

September 12, 2008 10:16 AM

By MIKE LEE, ABC News London

British engineer Kane Kramer, 52, has a new invention that will soon be unleashed upon the world. More about that in a moment. One thing is likely. Whether the new gadget is a success or a flop, a lot of people will at least sit up and take note that the inventor is back in the game. 

In 1979, Kramer invented what was to become the iPod.   

But here’s the shocker. Kane Kramer didn’t get a dime for thinking up the concept. And, what may seem even more shocking, he is not entitled to a dime. Kane Kramer also acknowledges that Apple was not at fault for picking up his idea and turning it into a fortune without him. Don’t hit the forward scroll key: this story will play out like an iPod ballad.   

In the beginning (the 1970s), Kramer had been trying to think of a better way to deliver music to people than records or audio tape. He decided, long before the Internet was even sending public data, to try to send music to people down a phone line. Kramer told ABC News: “The only way I could get it (music) down the phone line is to convert the music into digital bits, chop it up, send it down the line, then reassemble it at the other end (in a digital audio box), and that’s what I started with.” 

“Then,” said Kramer, “I started theorizing about it and I [made] the drawings that have become famous because of the likeness to the iPod and a number of other MP3 players. Then I theorized about it and started to do some research, then subsequently in about 1981 I applied for the patents." He added:  “Everyone knew it was the leading edge state of the art.”   

No one seems to dispute Kramer’s claim on the concept that evolved into the iPod, not even Apple Computer. In fact, according to Kramer, Apple flew him to the U.S. last year to testify on its behalf in a lawsuit, to defend Apple against the patent holding company Burst.com, which had claimed that Apple used a patent held by Burst. Kramer supported Apple’s claim it had used his technology, thus admitting who was really the iPod "inventor." 

Disclosure:  Apple CEO and Chairman Steve Jobs is a major stockholder in The Walt Disney Company, the parent company of ABC News.

Kane Kramer has emailed me what seems to be an enhanced graphic representation of his original hand drawing. The new photo is described as a “3D visualisation of Kane Kramer's original IXI player. All colors and details are true to Kramer's original concepts and drawings from 1979. The only addition is the image of the album cover…” The actual Kramer machine never got to the high tech stage seen in this new photo.

So, what went wrong? 

Kane Kramer and his small company, in the 1980s, could not raise the $120,000 needed to update and keep his patent. He and other company board members were squabbling. Kramer accused some of them of being too greedy. No money for patent renewal, no patent. So his drawings and specs became public property, and anyone, including Apple, was free to use them as they wished. It may not sound fair, but it is the law, and inventors know it. 

The iPod, of course, has its own set of features, and is vastly more sophiscated than what Kramer called his "plastic music box," in the late '70s. It’s not as though Apple didn’t develop its own version of that early digital audio player. And Kramer’s prototype box might seem crude in comparison to the Apple iPod. But there is a familiar look to Kramer’s 1979 sketches. He told ABC that the digital audio machine in his drawings was about the size of a credit card. The iPod itself wasn’t launched until 2001. 

The rest of the story is a multi-million dollar blur of regret, mixed with pride, for Kane Kramer. He told ABC News: “When Apple came out and put delivery system, and my device, and the four way scrolling control, and the same look  in a digital audio player that downloads its music…it was all a bit much and I had an odd combination between really being rather pleased and happy.” He added, “I spent nine years of my life working on it, that’s a long time to believe in something and be committed to something and to really only to lose through others' greed.”

The greed he speaks of, he says, is that of his company directors who wanted to split the firm and deal others out of potential profits. He said he doesn’t speak to most of them anymore. Kramer told ABC: “There was a certain sadness and disappointment because it [the Pod] was just everything that I had conceived and basically it was everything that I had built, except for downscaling it.”    

I asked Kramer if he ever imagined how much money he would be worth now, had he not had to give up the patent? There was a long pause, then he said:  “Very very very.” He couldn’t seem to bring himself to utter the word money, but did add: “It [the patent] would have given me the time to put into place the addition two million pounds [about $4 million] to fulfil the orders which we’d taken.” Again I asked how much he might have been worth today. Another long pause, then: “I would probably have given much of it to worthy causes. More than I need.”

That may be one of the understatements of all time.

Kramer said that Apple gave him one of the early models of iPod, but that it broke down and he could not afford to replace it. He says he did receive a consultancy fee for testifying on Apple’s behalf in court, and is negotiating with Apple for what he hopes will be additional compensation for his contribution to one of the most successful gadgets ever.

So, is Kane Kramer one the world’s most successful failures? Or is he one of the biggest failures who invented one of the most successful machines of modern times? He told ABC: “Mostly I feel sorry, particually, for the people around me, who I should be able to do better for [considering] the effort I put in.”

I have not yet met Kane Kramer, but it is hard not to like him on the telephone. He has the inventor’s continous gush of enthusism, and he is obviously a bright spark. And, judging by the way he talks, Kramer seems to have kept his dignity, despite having lost a vast fortune because he couldn’t find a few peanuts to protect his patent.   

Now, Kramer is about to market his latest idea, an automated telephone conversation recorder called "Monicall," which will allow people to have a legally binding copy of phone calls stored with a legal firm. Kramer told ABC: “You’ll be able to exchange contracts over the phone.” 

And there are other uses for Monicall, according to Kramer. He told ABC: "Another use for it is relationship management. You could have a situation where the husband and wife are splitting up and the husband has to pick the children up on the weekend.” He continued: “And the husband is being abusive on the telephone, not picking the children up on time, or threatening her on the phone. An arrangement can be set up through a marriage counsellor, or legal representative where in all of their calls go through Monicall to a third party where legal copy is kept on record.”   

He assured ABC News that his new invention is well protected.

Even if his new venture takes off, his old invention has a multi-billion dollar head start. Without him.

September 12, 2008 in Mike Lee | Permalink | User Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)