If Someone Picks Your Pocket In Second Life, Who Do You Blame?

from the that-border-between-virtual-and-real dept

We've recently covered a few cases where real world laws end up in virtual worlds due to accusations of theft or fraud. These cases are always problematic, because it's impossible to know where to draw the boundaries. If a virtual world allows theft, then is it still a crime in real world? Now let's make this question a little more complicated. Some researchers have discovered that, thanks to a flaw in Apple's Quicktime, which is used within Second Life, it's possible to steal money from players within Second Life. This is important, because Second Life money can quickly be converted into US dollars. So, the virtual world "pick pocketing" can have real world implications. However, is it a crime?

Second Life is famous for pitching itself as a world where anything can happen -- and you could assume that if it can happen in the virtual world then it's legitimate activity -- or should be dealt with within the confines of the world. Otherwise, you're opening the door to people in worlds where "thieving" is encouraged or a part of game play accusing others of stealing in real world courts as well. Of course, that does open up the question of whether or not someone is to blame for the lost money here. Some could pin the blame on Second Life -- and, in fact, the article above notes that Second Life may need to upgrade its security to be more "bank like." Some could pin the blame on Apple, who has yet to patch the flaw in Quicktime. Others, of course, might blame users for keeping "valuable" currency in an unsecured environment like Second Life. And, of course, some would blame the person exploiting the security flaw in the first place. The point, though, is that it's a bit more complex than many would make it out to be, and future scenarios are only going to get more complex.

Filed Under: digital goods, theft, virtual worlds
Companies: linden labs

Real Police Cross Over Into Virtual World Again; Arrest Teen For Theft Of Virtual Furniture

from the bad-precedent dept

Just a few weeks ago, we pointed to a lawsuit involving two Second Life users, with one accusing the other of "theft." We pointed out, as we have for quite some time, how problematic it is when real world laws are applied within a virtual world. The point of a virtual world is that anything is possible -- and putting the constraints of the real world on those worlds not only seems counterproductive, but potentially dangerous. That Second Life lawsuit was between two users, but over in the UK, a similar situation has gone even further: involving the police.

The police have arrested a teenager accused of "stealing" virtual furniture from another player in the virtual world Habbo Hotel. Again, it's true that the virtual furniture has real monetary value, but it's the sort of thing that should be taken care of within the framework of Habbo Hotel. The folks who run the world should be able to deal with the situation, as they are the world's de facto government. If you don't think this is a problem that's going to get more and more problematic, then just start to think through the scenarios of what happens next. What happens in an online virtual world where "theft" is designed to be a part of the gameplay? Can players then call the real cops when they lose in the game? That situation may be a bit more black and white, but many of these virtual worlds are designed to be defined by the users. So what if the users decide that "theft" is a part of the gameplay? What if some users decide it is and others don't? Bringing real world laws and real world cops into virtual worlds is guaranteed to cause problems.

Filed Under: digital goods, theft, virtual worlds
Companies: habbo hotel

Yes, Timmy, Spending Money In Virtual Worlds Ends Up With A Real World Bill

from the funny-money dept

NetSafe, New Zealand's Internet safety group, warns that parents may be shocked to learn that their children's purchases in virtual worlds rack up real world charges on their credit cards. They warn that in virtual worlds like Second Life, it is possible to quickly run up huge credit card bills -- real money is spent when buying real estate, avatars, and clothing in the game. NetSafe used to discourage youths from spending any money in these virtual worlds, but has since changed their policy. They reason that while they might not understand the need for someone to buy a virtual good, it is not their place to judge where people spend their money. They stress instead that the most important lesson is for parents to set limits on their children's spending habits, but this seems pretty much like common sense parenting, and not something specific for online spending. Then again, our increasingly digital world has made it more difficult to teach children the value of a dollar. And with kids spending thousands of dollars on real estate that only exists in cyberspace, that lesson may get even harder to teach.

Filed Under: parenting, virtual worlds

China Planning Virtual World For People To Order Directly From Chinese Manufacturers

from the second-life-for-sweatshops dept

Apparently, the Chinese government is trying to build a huge 3D virtual world online that will function as something of a direct-to-consumer portal for Chinese manufacturers. The idea is that rather than buying "Made in China" goods through retailers, you could just log into this virtual world and order your products directly. In fact, the idea includes putting unique identifiers along with the "made in China" stickers so that people know where to go in this virtual world to order more. This raises a ton of questions, so we'll just start with the easy ones, and let you fill in the rest in the comments:

• How often have we seen big gov't projects online succeed? How often do they fail? Somehow we doubt this is going to get very far.
• To its credit, China has been somewhat successful with its big "censor the internet" project (aka The Great Firewall of China) -- so perhaps they can do it. However, how will they handle censorship in a virtual world mainly designed to deal with foreigners from countries where such censorship isn't appreciated?
• Oh wait, this should have been the first question: A 3D virtual world? Say what? Why? What's wrong with standard web pages?

This seems like the type of project gov't officials would think is cool without having any understanding of how people use the web, how they shop online or how they interact within virtual worlds. Otherwise, sounds like a fantastic idea.

Filed Under: china, virtual worlds

Second Life Experiences A Run On The Banks

from the virtual-depression dept

One of the aspects of Second Life that has gotten a lot of hype is the fact that it's not just a virtual world, but a virtual economy as well, complete with trade, currency fluctuations and banking. That being said, people that have actually tried to engage in sophisticated financial activity (e.g. forms of arbitrage) have found in-game institutions to be unsatisfactory for their purposes. These problems seem to be spreading, as in-game banks that offered depositors sky-high interest rates on their Linden Dollars are experiencing what could be described as a 'run on the bank'. It can't be a surprise to the depositors that these institutions are having trouble remaining solvent, seeing as offered interest rates were in some cases near 100%. Those are the kinds of interest rates tend to be indicative of Ponzi schemes and other fly-by-night operations rather than stable banks. If anything, this raises more of a psychological question more than an economic one: why would people trust their money to a bank offering these kinds of rates when they almost certainly wouldn't do so in the real world? Then again, these issues aren't really unique to Second Life. France's biggest bank, BNP Paribas, has just announced that it will freeze the assets of three major funds, as it struggles with issues related to the US mortgage market.

Filed Under: finance, virtual worlds
Companies: second life

IBM Decides Common Sense Isn't So Common In Virtual Worlds

from the if-you're-representing-IBM,-perhaps-your-avatar-shouldn't-be-a-grungy-rat dept

Just as companies are beginning to question the wisdom of spending time in Second Life, IBM has decided that perhaps part of the problem is that its employee representatives don't have enough common sense to recognize what's appropriate behavior in Second Life and other virtual worlds. The company has put together rather informal guidelines that basically sound like common sense: Don't discuss intellectual property with unauthorized people. Don't discriminate or harass. Make sure your avatar is appropriate as a representative of IBM. These are pretty much all things that would normally go without saying -- but apparently IBM felt they needed to be said (which is either a statement about IBM employees, or what IBM management thinks about IBM employees). In the meantime, Second Life is probably helping IBM and other corporations out by banning all the vices that made Second Life popular in the first place. Now it'll be safe for all the corporate types. Of course, that's about all who will be left since everyone else will have moved on to the next (more fun) world that isn't locked down with rules and swarming with marketers trying to pitch them.

Filed Under: corporate policies, guidelines, virtual worlds
Companies: ibm, second life

Second Life On Mission To Purge All The Fun

from the moving-on dept

Earlier this year, it was revealed that the FBI was watching the in-game Second Life casinos to see if they ran afoul of anti-gambling laws. In-game gambling is a tricky issue, since it brings up a litany of unresolved legal issues associated with virtual worlds. It looks like Second Life didn't want to take any chances, as it has summarily banned all gambling in the virtual world. Considering the harsh treatment of those affiliated with the industry, it's not surprising that Second Life would look to cover its hide. This news comes just days after Second Life announced that it would crack down on in-game sexual activity that it deemed to be "broadly offensive". In other words, so much for Second Life being a place to escape form the real world and virtually indulge all of your vices. All that's going to be left are half-baked corporate publicity stunts; too bad nobody goes there for that.

Filed Under: gambling, virtual worlds
Companies: second life

You Mean Second Life Marketing's Not All It's Cracked Up To Be?

from the hype-hype-and-more-hype dept

It seemed pretty obvious from the outset that all the corporate interest in Second Life was driven more by hype than clear thinking. Company after company set up shop in the virtual world, either coming up with some pointless way to try and do business there, or more frequently, for marketing purposes. The only problem for marketers? Second Life is a pretty worthless place to try and sell people on your company's brand and products. Wired gives a laundry list of drawbacks, but the biggest is that very few people actually use Second Life. As has been pointed out before, the number of active SL users is nowhere near the number of "residents" it's supposed to have. SL claims more than 7 million residents, but that's just the number of how many avatars have been created. Linden Labs, the company that runs Second Life, says that 4 million people have created avatars, but just 1 million have accessed the world in the past month, and less than a third of that had visited in the past week. And within the world, people seem interested in little more than gambling and sex, Wired says. Still, companies that build in-game properties for big corporations say they're doing booming business, thanks to many marketers' lemming-like attraction to fads. A quote from Coke's director of interactive marketing sort of sums things up: "This is not about reach anymore. This is about connecting. It's about establishing meaningful, impactful conversations. So when people ask, 'Why Second Life?' I ask 'Why not?'" It's lovely that he wants to have these "meaningful conversations" with people about Coke. It's too bad that the lack of real interest in Second Life and the marketing efforts within it show people aren't interested in having those conversations with him.

Filed Under: marketing, second life, virtual worlds
Companies: coke, linden labs