How Big Are The Virtual Sweatshops In China?
from the playing-games dept
It may sound like an ideal job for some: playing video games all the time. However, when you have to do it all day every day, and you have strict quotas it isn't always so much fun. It's one thing to have it as a summer job, but when it's a full time job involving twelve hours a day, seven days a week with your bosses watching over your shoulder all the time. Over the summer we wrote about the Chinese video game sweatshops that employ young Chinese video game players to generate virtual goods and players that can be sold on eBay for quite a bit of money. Now, the NY Times has a more thorough article looking at the video game sweatshop phenomena, noting that there may be thousands of such sweatshops -- though, they don't really try to quantify how much they're making. The defenders of the practice note that those playing the games probably don't have many better employment opportunities. However, as one notes at the end, it seems like at least some of those involved know that this is a temporary gig. The market for such products may collapse, the video game companies may crack down on such accounts or (most likely) the Chinese government will look to shut down the gaming operations. In the past, they've had problems with internet cafes, and recently announced that online games need to incorporate a three hour curfew to keep people from playing too long. That would certainly slow down the sweatshops ability to pump out virtual gold.
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subject given
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w00t
The only crime here is that I'm not chinese!!
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Re: w00t
Why?
Cos that's what we do best. Bitch.
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Re: Re: w00t
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Internet curfew?
In my dealings with Chinese businesses, I have seen evidence that corruption is a way of life over there, and is considered just one of the necessities of doing business.
--
Violins, violas, cellos, and accessories
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Re: Internet curfew?
When you mix money to be made with an impoverished labor source scumbags/thugs/criminals/the fringe element will find a way to exploit the people and skirt the restrictions.
Period!
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Re: Internet curfew?
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What happened to all that chinese enginuity?
Oh wait if they had any sort of intellegence they woudl write bots to play for them instead of hire a buncha retards to play all the time, (bots can always make more than a person unless a bug occurs).
And that ladies and germs is why im not afraid of chinese cheap labor, it's stupid (and no not the idea the labor itself).
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Re: What happened to all that chinese enginuity?
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Cerfews won't make a dent
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Re: Cerfews won't make a dent
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Re: Cerfews won't make a dent
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Re: Cerfews won't make a dent
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For another take
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China is communist? LMAO.
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Re: China is communist? LMAO.
the chinese economy is not capitalistic, the government exerts complete control over the economy in order to artifically inflate it, they keep the relative value of the yuan incredably low compared to the USD in order to maintain a competative advantage. a capitalistic economy does not have such strict government controls
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Re: China is communist? LMAO.
You are a moron who has no knowledge in economics. By your definition, Japan and Hong Kong were not capitalistic pre-1990 because they also pegged their currency for an export driven economy. As of this point, every government on earth enforces labor laws and economic control, ever heard of the federal reserve? As of this moment, China is in the raw capitalism of the robber baron era, it is much more capitalistic than say europe.
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what we need...
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Time Warp
Um, this is not 1970, dude. This is 2005, and China is capitalist now.
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Re: Time Warp
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My experience..
I play a popular online game, and I've seen on the most populated servers when it's daylight in the eastern hemisphere, there are hundreds if not thousands of traders standing around all trying to speak english, and most of them trying to sell their in-game items offline for real money.
It is disturbing, as it does take away from the spirit of what the game is supposed to be about. Yet I suppose though if that's the only way of making money over there, then I can understand why they do it. Not agree, but understand.
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use bots instead
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sweatshops
In order to al least slow down the product making is to start by not buying the product. Plus we have to make at more of a stand then just publishing info on the internet.
Tell people, organize a boycott. Even we need to have people go over there and help. We need to clean places up. Organize other job offers that pay more money and treat people like there humans and not dogs. Make better jobs. Do fundraisers to suplly money to at least by the factory away from like walmart and other buisness. Take away the gold from the buisness and then take action. If we can take away the gold and lessen the money the buisnesses get. they will be week. When there week we take action and go towards it. With buisnesses being poor they'll want our money. We can by the buisness to make it a better place. At least even clean u the area. Make Better wages for the people.
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