French protesters hate the idea of a ‘Rue Steve Jobs’

Plans for a “Rue Steve Jobs” (that’s Steve Jobs Road) in Paris have come under criticism from far-left protesters, who are demanding that the road is instead named after a woman from tech history as part of the march toward “gender equality.”

The group, Front de Gauche, also takes issue with Jobs being name-checked due to various issues that it has with Apple as a company.

Rue Steve Jobs is a name decided by local mayor, Jérôme Coumet, who wanted to use it to inspire others based on Jobs’ history of technological innovation. The name would be given to a road in a part of Paris set to host the Halle Freyssinet, a massive $220 million startup campus that will be home to 1,000 startups.

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In addition to his roles at Apple and Pixar, Jobs often gave advice to young entrepreneurs, with some of the most notable examples including Mark Zuckerberg and Google’s founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin.

However, apparently that’s not enough for Front de Gauche who, in a statement, decry the call for Rue Steve as “controversial.”

“Firstly because Paris is trying to promote gender equality in the street names, and because women have been greatly overlooked for too long,” they write. “But the choice of Steve Jobs is even worse considering the reality of his legacy.”

They then list criticisms of Apple, ranging from its suppliers allegedly treating factory workers as “slaves,” and its own “illegal tax optimization practices.”

Instead, they want the street named Rue Ada Lovelace, after the British woman is often described as the world’s first computer programmer.

Earlier this month, Apple was slapped with a fine by French tax authorities, who want 400 million euros ($422 million) due to Apple’s tax optimizing strategy of channelling profits through its Irish subsidiary.

Source: Thelocal.fr

Luke Dormehl

Luke Dormehl is a U.K.-based journalist and author, with a background working in documentary film for Channel 4 and the BBC. He is the author of The Apple Revolution and The Formula: How Algorithms Solve All Our Problems … and Create More, both published by Penguin/Random House. His tech writing has also appeared in Wired, Fast Company, Techmeme and other publications.