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China Alleged To Use Prisoners In Lucrative Internet Gaming

Posted by samzenpus on from the farm-for-freedom dept.

SoyQueSoy pointed out an article that reveals it's not all fun, but forced games for some Chinese prisoners. It is alleged that after a day of hard labor some inmates are forced to work through the night as gold farmers. "Prison bosses made more money forcing inmates to play games than they do forcing people to do manual labor," [prisoner] Liu told the Guardian. "There were 300 prisoners forced to play games. We worked 12-hour shifts in the camp. I heard them say they could earn 5,000-6,000rmb [£470-570] a day. We didn't see any of the money. The computers were never turned off."

2 of 313 comments (clear)

  1. US employs 80,000 prisoners for labor by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    http://www.wsws.org/articles/2000/may2000/pris-m08.shtml

    "There are presently 80,000 inmates in the US employed in commercial activity, some earning as little as 21 cents an hour."

    "In addition, during the last 20 years more than 30 states have passed laws permitting the use of convict labor by commercial enterprises. These programs now exist in 36 states."

    "Prisoners who refuse to work under these conditions are labeled “uncooperative” and risk losing time off for “good behavior,” as well as privileges such as library access and recreation."

  2. Re:Seriously by LordLimecat · · Score: 5, Informative

    Just clicking away seems like a breeze compared to that.

    Lets see what the article says...
    "If I couldn't complete my work quota, they would punish me physically. They would make me stand with my hands raised in the air and after I returned to my dormitory they would beat me with plastic pipes. We kept playing until we could barely see things,"

    Yea, sounds super easy.