Malindi Minute: Apple, Olivia Dean, Ticketmaster

Happy Sunday! Whether you're a new subscriber or an existing subscriber, welcome back. Here are a few articles you should check out from this week!

International Rights Advocates (IRAdvocates) filed a lawsuit in Washington, D.C., over how they’re sourcing their minerals. The lawsuit claims that Apple is still getting key minerals such as cobalt, tin, tantalum, and tungsten from Congo and Rwanda. Why does this matter, and why is it an issue? It matters, and it’s an issue because the lawsuit is claiming that these mines are tied to child labor, forced labor, and armed groups. The suit claims that some key elements were processed in China after being smuggled out of Rwanda.

IRAdvocates doesn’t want monetary damages. What they want is for the court to declare that Apple violated consumer-protection laws and to issue an injunction halting what the group calls “deceptive marketing.”

These minerals are very important  for the technology industry. They are used to make batteries, and they are used in most modern tech. Congo is one of the world's major suppliers of these minerals, and in many ways, the world needs Congo. But these minerals must be mined ethically and safely.

This isn’t the first lawsuit against Apple for similar concerns. IDAdvocates filed one in 2019, which was dismissed in 2024, because the court felt like they didn’t state a viable claim. Meaning they didn’t give any legitimate reasons why they should have suffered any damages from the situation.

In December of 2024, the government of Congo also filed a criminal complaint against subsidiaries of Apple and accused them of sourcing the minerals from war-torn places. They filed this suit in France and Belgium, and the French prosecutors dropped the case.

A case like this with many stake holders makes things complex. If it’s a civil suit, then a viable claim must be stated for it to move forward. Ex. Apple did X and Y, so we demand Z. If it’s a criminal claim, there is a lot of prosecutorial discretion. Meaning prosecutors can choose if they want to pursue something or not. With companies as big as Apple and its subsidiaries, it’s not outside the realm of possibility that prosecutors and state agencies are compromised in making the proper decision as to prosecute or not.

Olivia Dean just used her influence to challenge the ticket-resale market, and it worked. She publicly criticized Ticketmaster and resale platforms after some resale tickets for her Art of Loving Live tour were listed well above their original price. Ticketmaster responded by capping resale prices for her tour at face value, and pledged refunds for fans who’d overpaid. This move  raises a larger question: if a relatively new artist can do it, why can’t more established performers do the same?

There are easy answers for this like greed and negligence, but let’s take a step back. The average artist, big or small, most likely received an advance from the record label. They need to repay this advance in order to get any further checks. The average artist operates in the red. The way the record label attempts to sometimes make its  money back is from shows. If an artist And/or label wants to recoup that money, they can simply allow for tickets to be absurdly priced, so they can make a return on  the money invested in them. So it’s possible some artists are too much in the hole to have these conversations and penalize the resale market.

The resale market long allowed tickets to be sold for more than face value, sometimes dramatically more. But data suggest that, on average, markups are often closer to 40% above face value, though extreme outliers exist.

Still, Dean’s action is different: she used her platform to demand fairness. It’s a small victory for now. But it may shift expectations about what artists are willing to fight for, and what fans have a right to expect.

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