Sweatshops have Sunk to a New Low

Slashdot: News for nerds, stuff that matters: "Third-World Sweatshops Producing Virtual Goods
Role Playing (Games)
Posted by timothy on Sunday February 06, @08:10AM
from the what-the-market-will-bear dept.
prostoalex writes 'MSNBC points to the court cases spawned by virtual worlds. Recently, Tom Loftus notes, a virtual island in one of the MMORPGs sold for $30,000, enough to attract commercial attention. Apparently, some businesses create third-world sweatshops, where low-wage laborers are being paid to play and accumulate enough virtual merchandise, so that an eBay sale of it makes the operation profitable. 'One such business, Blacksnow Interactive, actually sued a virtual world's creator in 2002 for attempting to crack down on the practice. The first of its kind to center on virtual goods, the case was eventually dropped,'"