After taking a lot of criticism over rumored poor labor practices, Apple is launching an investigation into the working conditions of a factory in China. Vowing to "not tolerate" abuse of workers, this is Apple's first big response to claims such as people getting paid as little as $50 for 15 hours of work. Apple doesn't say much other than they are looking into it and will stop any wrongdoing. The particular area in question is a factory used by Foxconn, which makes many technology devices including things like motherboards.
If bad things are found to be happening, Apple will probably look to enforcing a code of conduct that is used internationally to govern safety conditions. While Apple can't control overseas factories, they can control whom they let build iPods - and if there is enough outcry, Apple might move to another company just to save face.