CyberSniper, Internet Cafes Come Under Fire

By Meg Dixit

See a bright yellow icon on a solid black background. Enter a dark room filled with colorful monitors and sounds of ships, guns, beeps and bongs. Enjoy music and food too. Bring $5 for an hour of entertainment. Stay until midnight on weekdays and 2 a.m. on weekends. Where are you? You are inside CyberSniper, located at the corner of 37th Avenue and Balboa Street, just three blocks from two grammar schools and a high school.

This Internet cafe, which opened last December, features more than 20 computers with popular video games, e-mail accessibility and business software. But some parents in the area are worried about the nature of the games, which encourage youngsters to shoot-to-kill their opponents from all over the world.

"That place is very near schools and when I went inside to see it for myself, I only saw three or four non-gun games," said Teresa Parker, the parent of an 11-year-old boy who is actively seeking the closure of the arcade.

"I see many kids going in and hanging around there at all hours," she added.

Parker is currently trying to raise public awareness about CyberSniper. She has contacted Sen. Dianne Feinstein's office as well as the Ron Owens radio program to discuss the facility and its proximity to local schools.

The cafe is owned by Insight Net World LLC and is operated by Ricky Li, who stated the cafe is not a bad influence for the patrons that it serves.

"We have USF students who come to check their e-mail and do their homework. Not all our video games have guns in them," he said.

Li was surprised about complaints and added that his business does not do what most kids already do not do on their own.

"Most kids have video games like these at home and they play them in their own homes too."

Li stressed that it is the duty of parents to educate their kids about violence. He recalled that when he was a child, his mother taught him that Superman was fake.

"I was taught correctly. I will teach my kid correctly. Parents need to guide their children," he said.

He added that CyberSniper is not just a video and computer spot, but offers free classes to senior citizens in conjunction with the Goldman Institute on Aging, located on Geary Boulevard.

"The issue isn't about his philanthropic trials, but rather about the nature of the video games in his store and the effects on the young patrons who visit it. Besides, I've never seen seniors go inside of that place. I only see teens and very young kids coming out," Parker said.

Another concerned Richmond parent, Marion Shallert, lives in the area and only sees youth entering CyberSniper.

"The cafe can easily seduce kids who may not have enough support at home due to parents working long hours," she said.

Tyrone Jue, a representative of supervisorial District 1 and District 4 from the Mayor's Office of Neighborhood Services, said there was an initial complaint about an "eyesore" when the store's sign was put up, but beyond that, there have been only a couple of complaints about the establishment.

"The neighborhood had a chance to formally complain during the proposal phase. They didn't. Now, it is too late and we can't simply shut it down or close it. The store isn't technically violating anything," Jue said.

There are five so-called Internet cafes in the Richmond District. Another one is called CyberHut on Geary Boulevard at 15th Avenue.

Manager Sammy Chan says he has a working relationship with the police department in operating the cafe.

"No kids allowed in before 2 p.m. and we try to keep them calm inside the facility. We've had no complaints," he said.

Richmond District Police Capt. Marsha Ashe said the police department has received complaints about Internet cafes in the neighborhood, but no major incidents at those establishments have been reported.

"This is a new frontier. Technology has exceeded current permit issues and laws especially in the area of entertainment," she said while discussing the out-of-date laws that were used in the operation of old pinball arcades.

Ashe plans to meet with the Internet cafe owners to discuss complaints and possible permits to be required for such businesses to operate in the neighborhood.

"When we have identified what kinds of permits are necessary, the process takes about 60 days to be official and the police department would expect full compliance with the new regulations," she said.

Until then, Internet cafes continue to operate for patrons of all ages, while parents continue to worry about the kinds of psychological effects they have on their kids. Recent studies have shown that youth who are exposed to prolonged periods of violence, such as watching an excessive amount of violence on television, tend to be more violent as adults.

"We need to do something about places like this," Parker said. "Remember Columbine?"