In South Korea, Big Brother might actually be your big brother, or somebody’s big brother. The unemployed (and underemployed) have found a niche working as “paparazzi,” but not of the usual variety. Citizens are paid by the government to photograph anyone committing illegal acts. The opening of Choe Sang-Hun’s excellent New York Times article about the league of professional snitches:

“SEOUL, South Korea — With his debts mounting and his wages barely enough to cover the interest, Im Hyun-seok decided he needed a new job. The mild-mannered former English tutor joined South Korea’s growing ranks of camera-toting bounty hunters.

Known here sarcastically as paparazzi, people like Mr. Im stalk their prey and capture them on film. But it is not celebrities, politicians or even hardened criminals they pursue. Rather, they roam cities secretly videotaping fellow citizens breaking the law, deliver the evidence to government officials and collect the rewards.

‘Some people hate us,’ Mr. Im said. ‘But we’re only doing what the law encourages.’

The opportunities are everywhere: a factory releasing industrial waste into a river, a building owner keeping an emergency exit locked, doctors and lawyers not providing receipts for payment so that they can underreport their taxable income.”