Their interviews with defectors suggested it was originally a habit for the privileged and affluent, people such as state officials or black-market operators, who said it improved their ability to work long hours.
Wan Tao, one of China's first "patriotic hackers" (nationalists who in the early days of China's internet hacked into websites of foreign governments on their own initiative), offers a convenient alternative culprit: "underground hackers", or black-market operators who either sell their services or strike out on their own in hopes of finding a buyer.
WHEN La-Van Hawkins, the leading black operator of fast-food franchises in the nation, stood on the steps of the White House before President Clinton in 1996 and pledged to open 225 Burger King restaurants in several of the nation's toughest inner cities, it seemed that the company had found its urban messiah.
People like Wong, dubbed huangniu, or "yellow-bull black-market operator" in Chinese, have operated richly lucrative businesses.
The black market operators that choose to operate outside the legal market could sell their crops for a cheaper price.
In a survey covering all industrial sectors, Black Enterprise magazine ranked Mr. Hawkins among the top black franchise operators in the nation.
The December vote prompted a lawsuit from livery and black car operators, who argued that the program violated the city's ban on prearranged rides in yellow taxis.
In neighboring Vermillion parish, where June farmed the majority of his sugarcane, black farm operators decreased by 17% between 2002 and 2012, while white farmers increased by 6%.
At the urging of the Taxi and Limousine Commission, several black car operators have rented staging areas at a half-dozen parking lots.
US census of agriculture statistics show a 44.7% decrease in black farm operators in Iberia parish – where the Provosts live – between 2007 and 2012, compared with a 12.3% decrease in white farm operators.
