Another strike, at a pharmaceutical plant in Sudan, backfired when information that Mr. bin Laden was linked to the factory was challenged.
Other British retailers linked to the factory, including Primark, Asda, Debenhams and N Brown, have contributed to the fund, which is backed by the International Labour Organisation, a UN agency, to support the victims' families.
While 28 brands have been linked to the factory complex, only seven are listed as donors on the ILO website: Bonmarché, El Corte Inglés, Inditex, Mango, Mascot, Premier Clothing and Loblaw.
Sony is envisaging the module attaching to various sports use-cases, such as golf, cycling, running or tennis, and also sees potential in the enterprise market — such as being linked to a factory's internal infrastructure system to deliver hands-free instruction to workers.
The Clean Clothes Campaign put together a list of the brands that were linked to the factory and that have sourcing relationships in Bangladesh and called on them to help support the survivors and compensate families of victims.
Familiar tactics are on hand: venting the most hazardous chemicals at night, nominal compliance totally unchecked by regulators, resolutions by local governments that go nowhere, and health problems among workers and locals probably but not certainly linked to the factories.
Some of the European and Canadian retailers whose products have been linked to the factories have expressed sadness and amazement, suggesting little knowledge of the working conditions under which their clothes were being produced.
Burlington is not linked to Burlington Coat Factory, the retailer.
