14 DAY TRIAL // One of Reuters' headlines today spells "China bans new Internet cafes for a year." Why do you think this is happening? The answer is in the first line under the title: "Fear of soaring Internet addiction and juvenile crime." Now, some will say "what a bunch of crap!" but is it? China tried to restrict playing hours in 2005 with a law that said "no more than three hours of play in Internet cafes." This was a last resort for Chinese authorities, as more and more teenagers became addicted to playing WoW and Lineage II online.
Xinhua quoted NPC deputy Yu Wen as saying: "It is common to see students from primary and middle schools lingering in Internet bars overnight, puffing on cigarettes and engrossed in online games." Xinhua news agency quoted a directive jointly released by 14 government departments, including the Ministry of Culture. The notice also said that Internet cafes that had received planning approval would need to be completed by June 30, 2007.
I don't need to tell you how many mishaps were blamed on video games: teenagers killing bums, parents forgetting to feed their babies, missing out on life's most important aspects because of long hours of play, car accidents because of racing games, people literally dropping dead on their keyboards from non-stop play, too much caffeine and the list could go on. Oh, and keep in mind that Chinese teenagers' addiction to games adds to China's addiction to technology, so now you probably won't blame them so much for resorting to this radical solution.