The biggest victims of unpaid internships don’t file lawsuits against their employers, because they can’t afford to get ahead by not getting paid.
b_b: It seems like this problem is endemic to publishing; at least that's what makes the press most commonly. Is it a supply and demand problem (i.e. too many young workers), or is that industry just full of sadists who were poorly treated as young people and are exacting "revenge" on the undeserving? By comparison, in the auto industry, its common for engineering interns to get up to $15-20/hr, depending on how much schooling they've completed.