It seems the big corporations will face resistance, literally wherever they go - even in virtual worlds. Second Life became even more life-like this year after it suffered a terrorist attack. The Second Life Liberation Army "bombed" an American Apparel shop and a Reebok store to highlight their call for more democratic decision-making in their online community.
Second Life
The Observer reported in 2005 that virtual sweatshops were being run in Romania. Workers earn £70 a month working 10 hours on day playing games like World Of Warcraft and Everquest in order to create high level characters. These are then sold to gamers who want a short cut to the higher levels of games and do not have the time to work their way through the early levels.
In 2005, a South Korean man died in an internet cafe after playing Starcraft for 50 hours with hardly any breaks. Police reported that the man had barely slept or eaten during his marathon session and that they presumed he had died due to heart failure stemming from exhaustion.
Not the actual internet cafe!
In 2005, a Chinese man was stabbed to death over an argument regarding the dragon sabre he bought online while playing Legends Of Mir 3. Qiu Chengwei stabbed Zhu Caoyuan after losing patience with Caoyuan for stalling over payment. Mr Chengwei was sentenced to a life behind bars.
26th September 2007
