Asking an outside organization to spend several months verifying what’s already well-known and well-documented isn’t the action of a company interested in fixing the problem. It’s a delaying tactic, and remember that every weeks’ delay is another $billion in Apple’s bank account.

I’ve seen several opinion pieces bemoaning Apple’s “plight” to be saddled with such bad suppliers and unable to do anything about it, but I call bullshit: What they really mean is that Apple is afraid to jeopardize the $billion/week profit it’s been making on the backs of those Chinese workers. Apple has the economic power to call the shots and could fix this any time they want. Period.

Just for the record, the Fair Labor Association has a pretty good reputation pressing for reform of sweatshops in the apparel industry (they made their rep as Nike’s Nemesis). But there are criticisms, a big one being that a majority of its funding comes from the organizations it’s trying to monitor. I also would ding them for lack of experience inspecting electronics factories, where specialized knowledge of heavy metals and exotic carcinogens, and the explosive properties of fine grinding dust, are all part of the required mix of expertise.

And then there’s the problem of making inspections in China at all. Does anybody think the inspectors will be able to enter China without the government informing Foxconn? These inspections are about as likely to see real conditions as Red Cross inspections of POW camps in World War II. What they’ll see are sparkling little Potemkin villages, built with the complicity of the Chinese government eager to protect its hothouse sweatshop industries.

Wake me when something real happens. Like a widespread consumer boycott of Apple. Nothing else will change their behavior.