Or so says the title of a Korea Times article, which laments the accessibility of prepaid cards for online games: unlike booze or cigarettes, they're (surprise!) not regulated. While the monthly subscription model is most common in the West, it's the pay-as-you-go or prepaid model in Asia, and the cards are easy to buy at places like 7-11, right along with your card to recharge your mobile. One concerned mother seems to be looking for an easy target to blame:

"Prepaid cards for online games are being sold to children without any restriction. More and more children are becoming addicted to games due to the free access of such cards," said Lee. "I also think it is important to educate teenagers on the use of prepaid cards."

Over at PlayNoEvil, they wonder what China's reaction will be - I'd say since China is taking more strident stance on government controls, prepaid cards are the least of their worries. After all, it doesn't really matter if you can get your hands on cards freely if a system is going to shut you out after a few hours, does it? Maggie Greene

Prepaid Cards Cause Online Addiction [Korea Times via PlayNoEvil]

Contact information for this author is not available.