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Chinese Gold-Farming Chain Gangs

[May 26, 2011, 09:31 am ET] - Share - Viewing Comments

Guardian.co.uk hears from someone claiming to be a former Chinese prisoner who explains how he and other convicts were forced to farm for gold in MMORPGs. He describes a scenario where prisoners were forced to play in 12-hour shifts on computers that were never shut off. "Prison bosses made more money forcing inmates to play games than they do forcing people to do manual labour," Liu (not his real name) told them. "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." As an aside, perhaps the most disturbing part of the story is the explanation of how this former prison guard ended up locked up in the first place, as word is he "was jailed for three years in 2004 for 'illegally petitioning' the central government about corruption in his hometown. Thanks Kxmode/Neutronbeam/Quboid.

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26.

Re: Chinese Gold-Farming Chain Gangs

May 26, 2011, 14:34

eunichron

Techie714 © wrote on May 26, 2011, 10:46: If you asked an average American if they would be willing to pay 50.00 more for a new TV that would guarantee the worker food, medical, better pay, etc. And what would these 3rd world workers be doing if they weren't making goods for the international market (America isn't the only one "subsidizing" Chinese industry)? Begging in the streets? Dead in a gutter? Bludgeoned, raped, and mangled in an alley? You're implying that if they didn't have these jobs, they would somehow be better off. Don't blame America for another country's human rights inadequacies.

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