As negotiations for their release dragged on, Lindhout says she was routinely beaten and forced to call her mother by phone to plead for payment.

VOA: standard.2009.11.26

If a payment terminal could be forced into servitude as a crude handheld gaming device, what else could it be made to do?

ENGADGET: Security experts hack payment terminals to steal credit card info, play games

That swells the payment to a boss forced to leave early.

ECONOMIST: How to say goodbye to the boss

"The threat of mass non-payment of water charges has forced the DUP and Sinn Fein to negotiate the delaying of the charges, " he said.

BBC: NEWS | UK | Northern Ireland | Water bills 'on hold' after deal