Maybe I’m missing something, but I don’t see this claim in the article you linked to. For usage criteria, the doc defines it thusly “excessive use, often associated with a loss of sense of time or a neglect of basic drives”, which is a fairly common way to define when a normal, socially acceptable activity crosses the line into addiction/disorder/whatever.

The only time 23 hours is mentioned is in the context of the claim that in South Korea school kids spend an average of 23 hours per week “gaming”, and so they may be at increased risk of becoming addicted (and, of course, he’s more than happy to recommend “basic counseling” to asses whether or not they are, in fact, addicted).

In fact he cites Cho as estimating 210,000 children who may actually need treatment for Internet addiction which would compromise children online much more than just 23 hours, since that is a subset of the 1.2 million total children that the article sites as merely “at risk.”

Dr. Block (who, the AJP page notes, has a sideline in Internet-regulating software) thinks the “disorder” should be included in DSM-V, yes. But we’re still a long way from actual inclusion.