The next time you buy some virtual gold for World of Warcraft, you may want to stop and think about how that gold is being produced. It may be coming from the blood, sweat and toil of a Chinese prisoner.
Motivated by money, Chinese prison bosses are using prisoners to farm gold. Former prisoner Liu Dali tells the Guardian about his experience in the Jixi labour camp. He and 300 other prisoners were placed in front of a computer for 12 hours at a time and forced to slay dragons. If they didn’t reach their daily gold quotas, they were beaten. It certainly was lucrative for the guards – they could make up to 5000-6000rmb ($700-$900) each day. [The Guardian]