p2pnet news | Games:- It’s finally happened. The Net has killed someone.

Maybe.

“A man in southern China collapsed and died after a three-day marathon online session at a cybercafe,” says Agency France-Presse, going on:

“The web-user, estimated to be 30 years old, suddenly collapsed in front of his computer terminal in Guangdong province, and emergency personnel were unable to revive him, the Beijing News reported.”

His surfing a marathon, “might have triggered heart problems,” according to a local hospital emergency medic in the city of Zhongshan, says AFP.

China recently added ‘Net addiction’ to its list of reasons why local authorities need to monitor its population’s online activities.

It’s even using electric shock therapy to ‘cure’ so-called ‘addicts’.

However, the American Medical Association Council on Science and Public Health has concluded more will have to be done before “excessive use of video and online games – a problem that affects about 10 percent of [online game] players – could be considered a mental illness“.

Says Guardian Unlimited:

“The Chinese government is trying to wean internet addicts offline and restrict access to certain content. This year, it has banned the opening of new internet cafes, and orders have been issued limiting the time internet users can spend gaming online.

“In April, the president, Hu Jintao, launched a campaign to rid the internet of “unhealthy” content including pornography, and to try to make it a platform for Communist party doctrine by getting rid of dissenting political material.

“Google has come under fire for censoring search services on subjects such as the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre to help it gain greater access to the Chinese market.”

Slashdot it!

Also See:
Agency France-Presse – Man dies after internet gaming binge, September 17, 2007
mental illness – Are you a video game addict?, June 25, 2007
Guardian Unlimited – Man dies after online gaming binge, September 17, 2007

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This entry was posted on Monday, September 17th, 2007 at 5:19 am and is filed under Games. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

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