Wednesday, April 15, 2009

A Brave New Second Life

Second Life’s entertainment value has ensured its rapid and vast growth. This growth has changed Second Life into a virtual world with amazing new capabilities.  The ever-expanding Second Life population has led companies to consider providing a Second Life shopping experience similar to that of real-life.   This mimicry of real-life experience is creating a world from which real-life problems are arising.  As we saw in class, real Second Life issues are ever-increasing; crimes encouraged by the internet’s anonymity, such as prostitution and pedophilia, are threatening the Second Life society.  This raises the question of whether to regulate Second Life.  Should there be a Second Life government?  The psychologist from the video that we viewed in class suggested that Second Life be shut down as child predators are acting out their fantasies in the virtual world and then doing so in real-life.   Would shutting down Second Life for all because of the abuse by some be considered a violation of people’s first amendment by taking away this collaborative creative expression?

There may be a way to keep Second Life running while discouraging acts of Second Life crime.  Maybe there should be a police force, judges, lawyers and the like.  It sounds absurd, but at one point Second Life did also.  If actual retailers bring their stores to Second Life, then shoplifting could be introduced into this virtual world.  Could avatars walk out with stolen goods and then be stopped by Avatar security guards and policemen?  If a Second Life government is created, then what real-life people would be considered good candidates for these positions?  Could it become a real government official’s role to perform their real-life duties on Second Life as well?  Would the government be global and would the laws mimic those that govern real-life?  What about the punishments for committing a crime?   Would they occur to the actual individual or his or her avatar?

If this government were to be created, then this would mean that identification of some sort would be necessary.  How might this effect privacy?  Would this identification system leak over into the rest of the Internet?  Might it be more beneficial to a Second Life gamer to have what Lessig refers to as a “least revealing means” system where only select information such as age is revealed, or a “one-card-shows all” system where information discloses your true identity by revealing information such as your name, address, and profession?  How might this change in the code that Lessig discusses effect people’s Second Life experiences as well as experiences on the rest of the Internet?  Furthermore, might an identification and regulation system change Second Life’s appeal, or do you think that people will continue to want to engage in this virtual community?  

18 comments:

  1. I would counter your questions with another question: is Second Life really important enough to warrant the sort of governmental treatment you suggest? Two years ago, Second life was up and coming, fresh, and popular, but that popularity has waned somewhat.

    Also, if one company can change the rules of the virtual world (LindenLabs, that is), why not just have them change the rules to get rid of the illegal content? So long as one company owns the virtual world, having a separate government for the world seems highly unnecessary.

    Lastly, if there were a government in Second Life, all of the users who did illegal things would simply leave. This kind of ties back to my first point: Second life is neither ubiquitous enough of a social medium (like, say, Facebook) nor important enough (like, say, the internet in general) to need its own governing body.

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  2. I agree, I think it's ridiculous to think that it could become so important that it needs a governing body. It was just something to consider.

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  3. I don't think people who began using Second Life would stop doing so because of virtual child prostitution or other crimes. They were attracted to certain aspects of Second Life, and they will stick to those things. True, these virtual crimes are simply sickening--however, I don't think it would be the strongest argument to assert that Second Life should be shut down altogether because of these things. I mean people are not going to stop using the Internet because there's porn or invasion of privacy from using it. I think for almost any new innovative technology that benefits society in some way, there will definitely be people out there who will use it in harmful ways.

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  4. I think it would be too much efforts to set up a government in Second Life, and it is almost impossible to set up universal roles to regulate the Second Life. In the real word, laws vary from countries to countries. Regulations are established according to different cultures to meet demand for different situations. In my opinion, it does not make sense to ask all people , who are involved in the Second Life, to follow the same regulation. I mean, if people live in the different places around the world follow different laws in their nations, should there be different laws established for the Second Life according to different regional cultures as well?
    I think it would not be efficient. After all, although there are many people involved in the Second Life today, most people still live a real life.

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  5. Crimes in Second Life are not real crimes. In turn, although the activities that take place on Second Life may be disturbing, it is illogical to have regulations and a governing body. It is also debatable as to whether performing crimes in Second Life will make one more likely to commit real crimes later down the road. One could argue, for instance, that providing people with the opportunity to commit crimes on Second Life will keep them from committing crimes in the real world. If committing crime in Second Life can serve as an outlet for aggression or the desire to perform inappropriate behavior, then one could argue that continuing to allow "crimes" to take place will lessen crime in reality.

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  6. Personally, I think that law enforcement in 'reality' is sufficient enough to carry out the law enforcement required-- even if it is in the virtual realm. Having a law enforcement force solely for Second Life seems like somewhat of a waste of resources. Also, the question that you bring up is very relevant: who is 'qualified' to decide what is right and wrong?

    Then again, administrators in charge of most online role-playing games have the power to decide what constitutes appropriate and inappropriate behaviour online. Rules are also set by this government composed of 'admins'. Sometimes admins patrol the landscape of these virtual realms as well. How, then, is this different from having a dedicated law enforcement force for a online role-playing game? Perhaps it is just all in the way they are labeled.

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  7. I think it will be very hard to set up a government or a regulator in Second life. The biggest problem will be design the laws and regulations. We simply can not use the law we have in real life and copy it to the game, because the environment is difficult. For example, shotting some one in real life is definitely a crime and should be penalized by law, but shotting people in a game is what the game all about. People play games because of the entertaining experience it get from the virtual world. So if there are all sorts of rules in a game, whats the point of creating that game?

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  8. The negatives that were raised during the class presentation are startling. However, the fact remains that Second Life isn't real life. Since Second Life is owned by a single company, I believe that it is their responsibility to control content that may be deemed inappropriate. It is simply outside of the purview of the government to create such regulation. However, current government regulation could be extended to Second Life. Just as pornographic websites are required to verify users age, Second Life could make this a requirement for certain areas of the environment.

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  9. The banking and investing portion of second-life is what scares me. When the money you deposit can be stolen or thrown away, and this money links to real money I would be weary of investing in my avatar. I think it might be in linden labs best interest to protect there users from such actions. With 120 million US dollars in user to user transactions in the last Quarter it becomes important to our economy that these transactions are legal and that crime is not tolerated if it involves things that have real value.

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  10. Many take Second Life very seriously. They develop relationships, make money, just like they would in real life. The fact that there is no governing body on second life presents a problem monitoring and making sure content is safe. I think that there should be some sort of "police" on second life that maintains the order and shuts down things like Wonderland (the sex playground with a bunch of underage avatars offering sexual favors). It was so disturbing to see that things actually occur like that on Second Life and I was shocked to know that there was NOTHING stopping it from occuring because it was techinically "not real". Either way, fake or real, this is not okay and should be removed from the site immediately.

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  11. I think the whole draw of Second Life is that it is a world without rules... you can fly... you can make an avatar that looks and is nothing like you, etc. If a governing body entered the world of Second Life I think it may detract a lot of people from Second Life. And if there was a governing body wouldn't enforcing and punishing offenders have to be introduced into Second Life too? And then would those punishments be only in the game, or would they extend into the real world? Personally I think shutting the whole thing down wouldn't be such a bad idea... live in the real world people.

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  12. The idea of a governing force on second life is kind of crazy sounding to me. It is interesting to consider the fact the certain situations on Second Life may call for a police force such as this; but actually having one is totally different. The main reason this seems like a bad idea is the fact that there is no real way to make sure a person that is a part of the police, is actually a person with those motives. It could easily be another "bad guy" from Second Life that is trying to commit more Second Life "crime." Though, a governing force could be another interesting addition to Second Life if it were fake like everything else in the virtual world; an actual governing body would be a terrible idea though.
    Also, this would definitely have to infringe upon certain rights to privacy, however, if a person is using Second Life to commit an actual crime then there privacy rights obviously change slightly. I feel like the most realistic approach to the crime problem in Second Life is to have a few monitors (which could be considered a governing body, i guess) that are not actually in the game, but scan the areas to make sure nothing against the terms and conditions of the game is taking place.

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  13. "Maybe there should be a police force, judges, lawyers and the like." -- I remember a comedian was once talking about NASCAR's attempt to make car racing safer: "But wouldn't we just be watching traffic?"

    In a way, that's what a police force and legal system would do to Second Life. It would make it just as boring as real life. I don't like sitting through a court hearing or cramped in the back of a police car in real life. I would hate to do it on the computer as well.

    Though, maybe Second Life could enlist a couple gamers from World of Warcraft to bring their avatars over to enforce the law. They could even make a reality show about it. I would pay to watch a gang of dwarfs and witches raid a Second Life brothel. Just a thought.

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  14. I don't think its necessary to put a "police force" on second life. Its an imaginary place for imaginary characters. It just so happens that real people are controlling them. If some people want to act out their disires this way instead of doing it in real life, i would prefer that. I know there has to be a line drawn somewhere, but where? and how we do know how to do it or if it would be effective?

    I dont think its reasonable to say that people could get in trouble for doing "illegal" things in a fake world if they aren't actually doing it in real life.

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  15. I think that it is ridiculous that people are taking second life so seriously. I have never heard of second life until our COMP 380 course. After the presentation and additional information from the lectures, it is just shocking how serious people are taking second life. And it is ridiculous that people are committing crimes in second life. The whole ideal of second life allows users to escape reality, and do things that they probably will not do in real life. But creating a governing agent is a far stretch. There is no need to create a governing agent because it would just be a waste of money. Second life is not real so in my opinion people should just not use it but if they need an escape they should use it leisurely and stop dedicating their lives on it.

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  16. It would be interesting to see a government set up in Second Life just because it would be interesting to see how it would work in a game with such a large number of subscribers. I think though creating a police force or whatnot to combat these crimes is kind of ludicrous because as Oliver mentioned, they are not real. If someone murders another person's avatar it doesn't kill it forever nor does it hurt the player physically. Also, it would be hard to prosecute the players who are partaking in pedophile activities since the parties involved could both be adults and then it makes it more complicated in saying that what they are doing is illegal.

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  17. Although crimes on Second Life are not actually illegal but remain appalling, I do think that this kind of common behavior may condone the same actions in the real world. While Second Life maybe losing popularity, as someone mentioned earlier, that does not necessarily mean that criminals or ill-minded people are using it any less. For this reason, I think it's the moral duty of the Second Life creators to remove the option of committing such acts.

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  18. Second Life has made a valid case for its continuance. However, in order for it to exist productively, regulation must exist. Its value certainly does not warrant the investment of time and funding by the government, but the government should require Linden Labs to provide regulation. Considering the devotion of many users to their beloved virtual world of Second Life, it is likely that Linden Labs could assemble a volunteer regulation squad.

    Prior to enforcing Second Life rules, however, rules need to be more strict and clear. Throughout the Wonderland controversy, investigators continued to question whether the acts of pedophilia should be illegal in Second Life. Of course it should be! Anyone found to be behaving this way should be immediately banned from Second Life, and that user's real-world name should then be added to a real-world file.

    Which brings me to my next point: anonymity needs to be reduced drastically. While users do not necessarily need to know more about each other, more information needs to be provided in the registration process. It is obvious that users feel comfortable behaving inappropriately in Second Life due to the anonymity.

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