Compromise and Conceit

Infernal adventuring…

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An Australian statistician and role-player living in Japan, interested in the theory and practice of role-playing…

Is This Virtual Human Trafficking?

The Guardian today has an article on gold-farming in China about gold farming in Chinese labour camps, which claims that prisoners in labour camps in China were (are?) forced to play computer games at night after they had spent the day at hard physical labour. The prison then sold the products of their labour to free[1] computer gamers, but of course the camp workers saw none of the profits. If they failed to produce sufficient gold, or slacked off in their virtual world, they were beaten and punished in other ways. The article presents some interesting information about the way gold farming is conducted in labour camps and also in IT sweatshops. The latter represent “voluntary” labour and those doing it seem to think it pays better than factory work (it’s probably safer too), while the former are involuntary work.

These gold farmers in labour camps are being essentially forced to go and work in another world for 7 to 10 hours a day, and beaten if they don’t produce the goods they’re sent there to get. Not only is this process surreal (literally!) but it’s a model of human trafficking, enacted virtually. Are we witnessing the development of an industry based on trafficking in virtual people?

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fn1: if you can define WoW players as “free” by the standard definition of the term…

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8 responses to “Is This Virtual Human Trafficking?”

  1. Greg Christopher Avatar
    Greg Christopher

    This is the future for all of us.

  2. faustusnotes Avatar
    faustusnotes

    Yes, our vision of the future is a virtual Tauren hoof stomping on a real human face forever

  3. Paul Avatar
    Paul

    I agree the doing it on top of a days work is a bit much, but at it’s heart the prison punishment should be hard, degrading and pointless.

    WoW is perfect.

  4. Paul Avatar
    Paul

    Also the wordpress in face on a iPad (borrowed) is weird. I’m having trouble being as snarky as normal.

  5. Paul Avatar
    Paul

    *Interface

  6. Scott Avatar
    Scott

    It’s a brave new world, isn’t it? Hooray for our wonderful dystopian future!

  7. faustusnotes Avatar
    faustusnotes

    Yes Scott, I’m continually disappointed (though not surprised) at the reproduction of the worst aspects of our real world social relations in the virtual.

    Paul, I can see the conversation now, for the new prison entrant Mr. Shmuck.

    Prison Warden: Welcome to prison, Mr. Shmuck. You have a choice of 3 types of hard labour, whcih you will be doing 12 hours a day.
    Shmuck: Great! I’m really looking forward to serving society, making recompense for my crimes, and rehabilitating myself so I can return to ordinary life. What are the choices?
    Prison Warden: You can a) play monopoly with the paedophiles or b) play D&D 4th edition with the gangsters or c) gold farm in WoW
    Shmuck: What about breaking rocks? Can I break rocks?
    Prison Warden: Shmuck, your record says that you robbed a bank and killed 4 nuns. Breaking rocks is too good for you. Make a choice.
    Shmuck: gee, crime really doesn’t pay does it?
    Prison Warden: No, but you will!

    But can you imagine how it would play out in the media? “Prisoners allowed to play computer games instead of working! Prison should be a punishment, not a pinball parlour!”

  8. Paul Avatar
    Paul

    Yeah, but people complaining that WoW is too good for prisoners should be force to play WoW for a few hours.

    Either they’ll realise its numbing soul destroying work, as campaign to end it as inhumane. Or else they’ll become addicted and be way too busy to be able to complain about how prisoners deserve worse.

    Of course, that approach wouldn’t help with the technically illiterate older generation (call it 65+) that typically complain about things in the tabloid media, but my solution to them is the same for every problem. Patience plus 20 years should see the problem sorted out[1].

    [1] Grim Reaper FTW in debating!

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