Slashdot Mirror
China Puts Hold on Net Cafe Construction This Year
With government concerns about online gaming growing steadily in China, Beijing has put in place a ban on the opening of new internet cafes for the rest of the year. GigaGamez reports on the country's move, which is largely seen as a response to some high-profile deaths from unhealthily dedicated gamers. From the article: "Honestly [this] shouldn't be that big of a deal if you consider that the Chinese government has already estimated that 113,000 Internet cafes already exist. Add this to the already bizarre limitation of World of Warcraft play time and you have some very unhappy gamers." Update: 03/08 14:52 GMT by Z : GamePolitics has the word that virtual currencies are also to be restricted, in an effort to ensure that the yuan is kept secure.
The Chinese Gov is not responding to a few "deaths from unhealthily dedicated gamers" as many news sources are reporting with the tone that this is a "good idea". This is such a thin cover story its laughable. Unreported yet estimated to be large numbers (http://hazards.org.master.com/texis/master/search /mysite.html?q=china&submit=+Search+Hazards) of Chinese routinely die/maimed/disappear from very poor to zero work related safety precautions, with local courts routinely ruling against the victims and their families because awarding for better conditions/compensation "restricts Chinas progress".
This news story is simply an ongoing restriction to information/Internet policy with a very thin disguise - anybody reporting it otherwise is being uninformed or perhaps is gunning for a similar policy locally.