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China Alleged To Use Prisoners In Lucrative Internet Gaming
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."
China? The article talks about prison bosses, not the Chinese government in general. And frankly, I would seriously choose farming gold in World of Warcraft over the hard labor on mines. Just clicking away seems like a breeze compared to that.
American "researchers" crying over this is quite stupid anyway. Having lived long periods in different Asian countries, the 12 hour working day is not unusual at all. It's the norm. I had a ladyboy girlfriend who worked at clothing store and her day started at 8am and lasted until 8pm. Still the pay wasn't that good, but it's nowhere. Especially not working in the farms. Farming virtual gold is actually one of the things that pay really well. So unless you want to help increase the total wealth and income in the countries, there's nothing to do about it. The people are seriously hard working tho, and if they choose to farm gold as job, it's their decision and they do it because they get paid well.