[orangepeel]

Nikon punishes Cuban boy for Castro
UN camera prizes only apply to friends of the US
By Nick Farrell: Monday 30 October 2006, 07:03

A 12 year old Cuban boy has found himself in the middle of an international spat after he made the mistake of winning a Nikon digital camera in a UN painting competition.

According to the Japan Times, Nikon refused to hand over the first prize to Raysel Sosa González because the digital camera contained parts that were on a list of things drawn up by the US that Cubans should not be allowed to own.

The US drew up the list in 1962 during the Cuban missile crisis. Apparently it is very worried about 12 year olds getting their paws on digital cameras in case they disassemble it and build a nuclear missile.

The move played into the hands of the far-from-free Cuban press, which has branded Nikon as a Western capitalist running dog fellow traveller sort of a thing. Fidel Castro has presented a digital camera to González to make up for the loss in an archetypal propaganda move.

Meanwhile Nikon has admitted that it has made a huge PR stuff up and is working out if it can give González a digital camera that does not break the US embargo. So it looks like the boy could end up with a lot of digital cameras to pay with.

Give Nikon a Havana cigar!

More here. µ

L'inq



In other news, here's some scientific research on whether or not it's possible to nail jelly to the wall.

[Dave]

LOL at that 2nd link Great to have people with imagination like that I actually reckon it will be more achievable with "no more nails" {off goes Dave to buy some jelly }

As for the Nikon story, I must admit my D200 probably has enough buttons/function on it to start world war III

[Markulous]

Hmmm, hardly Nikon's fault that the Americans have such an old fashioned and pathetic embargo of Cuba! I visited Cuba when it was still impossible to get flights there (trust me, an Illuyshin bomber in Cubana Airlines colours makes you wish it were impossible!). Then they were still kicking Cuba when it was down, nowadays they just sit on the country and prevent it getting back up!

But I liked the jelly research! LOL!

[Rob Barron]

Poor kid, now if he had won a Canon camera, he'd have been fine. They aren't stupid enough to make their cameras (invented no earlier than 1997) out of parts banned by the US for poor Cubans to own some 35 years earlier! What the hell do Nikon put in their cameras that the US would want to stop cubans getting hold of? Glass maybe? Solder perhaps? Beggars belief!

I think we should now have a mass boycott of all things Nikon and all Nikon owners should buy Canon and give their Nikon snappers to poor Cuban children :o)

Cheers,
Rob

[Chris]

He might take some shots of Guantanamo with it!

Double standards?