Report: Chinese Prisoners Turned to Gold Farmers
Chinese prisoners are apparently being forced to play online games, earning money for prison guards.
It’s not unusual for prisoners to be tasked with heavy-duty manual labor. However, it seems prisoners in China are being forced to do another type of work along with their day jobs. The Guardian this week carries the story of 54-year-old Liu Dali (not his real name), a prisoner who would break rocks and dig trenches in the coalmines of north-east China by day and, at night, build up credits in online games that prison guards would then trade for real money.
He is not the only prisoner being forced to play for the profit of the prison guards. Liu says he was one of 300 prisoners being forced to play for the guards:
"Prison bosses made more money forcing inmates to play games than they do forcing people to do manual labour," he told the Guardian newspaper. "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 [between $616 and $924] a day. We didn't see any of the money. The computers were never turned off."
Gold farming, the practice of mining massive amounts of gold and then selling it on for hard cash, is an increasingly big problem in China and the country essentially banned it two years ago by making the practice of selling virtual goods for real money illegal. In 2009, WoW Insider reported that the gold farming industry was generating about $1 billion worldwide and as much of 85 percent of gold farmers were residing in China.
Liu says that despite the law banning the sale of virtual good for real money, prisoners are likely still being forced to play.
"Many prisons across the north-east of China also forced inmates to play games. It must still be happening."
Read the full report here.
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I want to check-in to this gulag.
lol
Crafty Chinese is crafty!
12hours of WoW or manual labor.. hmm hard choice.
12hours of WoW or manual labor.. hmm hard choice.
It said they had to do both.
Nuke China like General Douglas MacArthur wanted to and you solve half the world's problems. Bass Ackwards country.
Nuke China like General Douglas MacArthur wanted to and you solve half the world's problems. Bass Ackwards country.
and what answer would MacArthur have for the nukes flying to the US from the Soviets? China has more billionaires than the US, more cellphones than people in living in the US, and is poised to take over economic and technolgical global leadership within the next two decades (if not sooner)? 'Bass Ackwards' people like yourself apparently do not open your eyes.
The ONLY reason WHY China has turned into an economic power house (and manufacturing giant, and holder of huge amounts of US debt) is because Nixon and the other globalist elite allowed this fascist dictatorship to become the worlds slave wage manufacturing nation.
China and other nations like it are criminal syndicates for corporations that want to get labor for almost free and rake in huge profits .
xD
I am really enjoying this article a lot.
China and other nations like it are criminal syndicates for corporations that want to get labor for almost free and rake in huge profits .
And things are so much different here in the US ::facepalm::
The ONLY reason WHY China has turned into an economic power house (and manufacturing giant, and holder of huge amounts of US debt) is because Nixon and the other globalist elite allowed this fascist dictatorship to become the worlds slave wage manufacturing nation.
Nixon or not, it was just a matter of time.
Nuke China like General Douglas MacArthur wanted to and you solve half the world's problems. Bass Ackwards country.
Don't blame China for the irresponsible US citizens. What do you think will happen when you want to have the newest and shiniest stuff at rock bottom prices? Companies deliver what consumers want, and if consumers want cheap, companies go to China.
If Western consumers had been contented with buying high quality, durable goods and use them as long as possible, we wouldn't need low wage slave labour and huge credit lines, the two things that brought China to power. Oh, and we would avoid lots of pollution and resource wasting.
But wait... How can I possibly live if I don't get a new iDevice and way to big SUV every 5 seconds? I'll die! Corporations will die!
The Western consumerist model is a disaster for the West, not China. It's like blaming the nuke for falling on your city rather than the nation that fired it.
All I see is alot of misinformed people posting about things they do not really care about.
I could care less who makes the products as long as it is cheap. If that said country housing all the low wage workers become the wealthiest country, good for them.
The strong will survive the new coming of power.
The ONLY reason WHY China has turned into an economic power house (and manufacturing giant, and holder of huge amounts of US debt) is because Nixon and the other globalist elite allowed this fascist dictatorship to become the worlds slave wage manufacturing nation. China and other nations like it are criminal syndicates for corporations that want to get labor for almost free and rake in huge profits .
Were Chinese people better off before the economic reforms that started in the 1980s? I don't think so!
Standard of living has grown immensely since then.
China's contact with the free world will eventually lead to some sort of revolution in China unless the Chinese communists start reforms quickly.
The only question is, if the revolution is going to be peaceful like all but one of the revolutions that brought down the Soviet Union/Warsaw Pact, or if the Chinese communists are going to use force.
Nuke China like General Douglas MacArthur wanted to and you solve half the world's problems. Bass Ackwards country.
Have u forgotten that China is a nuclear power or is your chimp brain stuck in 1960s mode?
The Chinese government should do something about these practices.
U.S prisons have the highest murder rate in the world... in U.S. people die because they play wow too much and forget to eat. There have been cases where mothers forgot about their children because they were playing wow. And you say China has problems?
preety soon, China will have a living standard that cannot support the production of goods at a low cost so... they will move the factories to Africa and hire (pardon me, enslave) the people from over there.
It said they had to do both.
that's what prison is for...they get free food and a place to sleep....what are they complaining about?
And things are so much different here in the US ::facepalm::
You have got to be kidding me. Ever heard of things like labor unions or minimum wage laws? Ever heard of the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) or Equal Opportunity Act? Next time you do a facepalm, put a book into your hand first and maybe it will knock some sense into you.
a prisoner who would break rocks and dig trenches in the coalmines of north-east China by day
Hear this government hacks, you could learn a few things from the Chinese. Maybe instaed of trying to shut down our coal mines, oil wells, gas wells, nuclear and anything else that not fit your tree hugging green agenda.
This is OLD news. Seriously. I read this the better part of a week ago on Gizmodo. Seriously, give us fresh news not old news. That's just gay.
Probably it is time to change your site's name to TomsTrashNews.com from Harware.
What in the world has this news to do on your site? Nothing better to write about?
You have got to be kidding me. Ever heard of things like labor unions or minimum wage laws? Ever heard of the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) or Equal Opportunity Act? Next time you do a facepalm, put a book into your hand first and maybe it will knock some sense into you.
We are very different here in the old USA ...we just use citizens from other countries to do hard labor.
Maybe we had less criminals if they knew they are up for some hard labor in prison instead of a vacation spot.
I try not to buy chinese products, last time i envested 30$ in two beautiful USA made pipe wrenches. Could not be happier. Next thing, what do you know...those blody illigals took my job !
Nixon or not, it was just a matter of time.
WHY would you say that?
If the elite that control the US gov't were truly representing the the best interests of its citizens (and not corporate interests) trade relations would never have been established the way they were with such slave wage nations. Every time when these unconstitutional trade organizations the US general public were completely against them by an overwhelming majority yet because of lobbyists with big pockets these illegal agreements were allowed.
I'm not blaming China, although I wouldn't be surprised if the Chinese fascists dictators made agreements that would help make those that made these agreements legal (us gov't officials) very rich in the end once the arrangements were put in action.
Add to the mix "the party line" that the media and universities propagated endlessly "cheap goods are wonderful, no drawbacks" to the general public and you have what we have today.
WHY would you say that?If the elite that control the US gov't were truly representing the the best interests of its citizens (and not corporate interests) trade relations would never have been established the way they were with such slave wage nations. Every time when these unconstitutional trade organizations the US general public were completely against them by an overwhelming majority yet because of lobbyists with big pockets these illegal agreements were allowed.I'm not blaming China, although I wouldn't be surprised if the Chinese fascists dictators made agreements that would help make those that made these agreements legal (us gov't officials) very rich in the end once the arrangements were put in action. Add to the mix "the party line" that the media and universities propagated endlessly "cheap goods are wonderful, no drawbacks" to the general public and you have what we have today.
We just have to buy less unnecessary plastic goods made there. We don't need that much of it. My entire bedroom must go to dumpster, so many little things around, from toys to dvd covers to crazy glue and Dust Off cans...( correction Dust Off made in USA) we can keep that
Ughh..all because china's citizens can't keep it in their pants. overpopulation at its finest folks; soon to be a worldwide problem (hopefully after i'm dead)
how is this tech news?
more apple articles please
Soylent Green is the answer.
wow, if i ever get put in jail, i would do that...
shut down the game, problem solved! 1000's will actually experience the "outside" world again!
Did you know they have mobile execution vans in china?
Yea, it makes it more efficient to kill people.
Sad.
WHY would you say that?If the elite that control the US gov't were truly representing the the best interests of its citizens (and not corporate interests) trade relations would never have been established the way they were with such slave wage nations. Every time when these unconstitutional trade organizations the US general public were completely against them by an overwhelming majority yet because of lobbyists with big pockets these illegal agreements were allowed.I'm not blaming China, although I wouldn't be surprised if the Chinese fascists dictators made agreements that would help make those that made these agreements legal (us gov't officials) very rich in the end once the arrangements were put in action. Add to the mix "the party line" that the media and universities propagated endlessly "cheap goods are wonderful, no drawbacks" to the general public and you have what we have today.
Nixon and the likes are given too much credit for China's rise. People on the other side of the Pacific attribute it to Deng Hsiao Ping who opened the gate and let out his people's business enterprises by introducing the capitalist economy. The Chinese people are very similar to the Taiwanese, Hongkongers and even Korean and Japanese in the work ethics.