Second Life Hype
by
Randy Mears
In a bizarre yet amusing twist, Linden Labs has invited the FBI to send its real tentacles into the virtual world in a search for potential illegal activities. Is this just a publicity stunt or should we really be worried about Second Life becoming a hotbed of criminal activity? Further, does sending the FBI into Second Life to look for possible illegal activity really have any value to the taxpayer?
Look, I am as open minded as most when it comes to the Internet, virtualization and digital technology but isn’t this FBI twist just a little presumptuous. If the intention behind this invitation to law enforcement is to increase Second Life's publicity then I get it, and it did; but given the problems we have in the real world isn’t such a request both wasteful and laughable?
In “A brief history of the virtual world” by Bruce Damer, we get a good feel for the current state and future potential of virtual worlds. I have no doubt that the concept will mature and become a staple in cyberspace. I question whether the time has really come to start treating Second Life as the long awaited virtual world “killer app” when it appears to be just another grand experiment. Perhaps that's the reason for my bewilderment with respect to the timing of this whole FBI thing.
If we want to look at the potential for crime in a virtual world, shouldn’t we look at artificial economies; particularly when they have connections to our real economy? In a virtual world, do we need safeguards akin to those used in national monetary and banking systems? Safeguards that protect virtual dollars from real world dangers like insider manipulation, counterfeiting, theft and inflation? What will be the impact on a real participant’s real world worth when a virtual economy crashes or the virtual world itself comes to an end? Perhaps Linden Lab should have invited the SEC to have a look at Second Life as well.
Second Life is not unique in its ability to generate real value for virtual currency. Long before Second Life was touting its “economy,” games like World of Warcraft and Ultima Underworld were generating real dollars from virtual activities. In Ultima Underworld (UO) clever users have found ways to duplicate items, including virtual gold, and ultimately convert them to real dollars using eBay and Web based game trading sites. Industrious World of Warcraft (WOW) users can get to real dollars by gold farming and selling artifacts.
Like Second Life, video games such as World of Warcraft (WOW) and Ultima Online (UO) are clearly virtual worlds. WOW and UO just happen to be game worlds as well. Is Second Life really anything more? Am I wrong or would Second Life benefit if it were even half as much fun or engaging as WOW or UO?
So, with so much opportunity for crime out there in all those virtual worlds, as a virtual FBI agent, in which world would you want to spend your time looking for crime?v
