That the protests are occurring is a testament to the courage of the participants (and no doubt to the desperation of the situation in Burma), given the lengths to which this regime will go to suppress dissent.

The fact that monks are at the center of the protests complicates things for the regime, because they have gone to great lengths to attempt to co-opt Buddhism for their own political purposes.

The tactic of disguising soldiers as monks is not a new tactic, I have been told. They also did this in the wake of the 1988 uprising.

As for the monks themselves, they are taking tremendous personal risks, even though their revered positions in Burmese society would give them more latitude than those of average people. This regime is notorious for using every dirty trick in the book, from hiring thugs to attack Daw Aung San Suu Kyi during her last tour of Burma, to disguising soldiers as monks. The conditions at the notorious Insein Prison outside of Rangoon are well known by everyone in Burma.

As for international pressure, it will need to come from India and China, since they are the countries with the most leverage in Burma. Thailand also would have an important role.

But I would not expect public Western pressure to have much direct effect on the generals, who have kept Daw Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest since 1991 despite frequent international protest and the fact that she received the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize.

This regime is isolated in the extreme and works from its own internal logic. As an example, they are in the process of constructing a new capital in an isolated part of the country. The new location is so isolated, that Burmese refer to it as "a place too boring for the boring." The stated reason they are doing this is because an astrologer told them to.

So speeches from the UN aren't likely to have much effect. Behind-the-scenes sweet-talking and arm-twisting by the Indian and Chinese governments (with a fair amount of sweet-talking from the Thais) might help, and that's where the real influence needs to come from in this situation.

"...requiring players to validate their gender via webcam."

I'm a little afraid of what this might entail.

I suspect the full-blown truck version will be used in the same manner that fire hoses, rubber bullets, tear gas, police dogs, and batons have been used in the past. And it will no doubt be most popular with regimes who find themselves suppressing riots and protests of various kinds.

But that set-top "demo" version is a torture device pure and simple.