Screaming Penguin - Source Does Matter

Wired has an interesting article about a federal mandate that states all unwanted computer equipment should go to a particular cause, schools (per this executive order.)

However, the main company contracted by the federal government to handle all of the incoming unwanted equipment is apparently selling off the good stuff to make a profit. The company uses federal inmates to sort and recycle the computer equipment (through another federal program) and justifiably so has to cover the overhead and make a profit.

The result is that the federal government is selling the computers it intended by its own order to donate to schools.
This is not the fault of the company per se, but the entire situation. All to often the government will come up with a fine order and good intentions, but without stipulating "how" things will get done it ends up a mess. In this case I think it is GREAT that in some manner inmates are put to work, and it is GREAT that used computer equipment does not end up in landfills but the intention of schools getting the benefit is almost completely lost.

Check out the article for the real details.   Wired: School Hardware Doing Hard Time