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Law and order is one of the cornerstones of a civilized society. Establishing rules of conduct, spelling out acceptable and objectionable behavior, defining the consequences for anyone who violates those laws and deciding who will enforce them are all essential to maintaining peace and harmony. In the real world, there exist systems of laws -- civil and criminal -- that govern people's behavior. However, in the digital world, who lays down the law? As virtual worlds, who decides what goes and what doesn't?
Peter Gray needs to get a clue about the product Linden has created
Posted by: ManyAlts1Soul 2008-08-05 11:04:16 In reply to: Walaika Haskins
Commenting on Peter Gray's Comment: "Avatars are not people, they cannot be assaulted, sexually or otherwise. The one or two reports of sexual assault on avatars cannot be regarded as actual cases of assault any more than a description of an assault in a book or enacted in a play can be construed as being an actual assault."
There is an obvious disconnect here. What is seen as a virtual world, and yes, I agree that it’s a place where we are still in control, is still a place dominated by the reality of the person behind the keyboard. I have personally experienced this world and have become increasingly worried about the growing displays of disrespect I witness from many of the "role player" in-world. If you spend more than 60 minutes in your “Second Life,” you will inevitably experience odd behaviors. Spend a few days, weeks or months and you begin to experience a meshing of worlds that clouds your mind and alters your beliefs. You feel for one another, you get angry, tired, curious. You begin to push the line of your own boundaries and question your own existence….and keep in mind, I’m one of the sane ones!
I started my virtual life a few months ago and have changed so many times its crazy. I started out with the desire to just understand what it was, started to meet avatars (real people) and chat with them. You start to learn about them as you do in real life and some become friends, others are selected to be family, and a few are selected for more. As time went on, I saw myself evolving into living in world – bought my land, had a relationship, etc. all the while struggling to make sure I kept my feet in the real world.
For someone like Mr. Gray who works at the very factory producing this world to say Avatar are not people is a huge concern and blatant disregard for the underlining humanity that feeds the virtual worlds.
In a sense, Linden and other companies developing virtual worlds are god-like with the exception that they are manned by humans who are certainly not infallible. If they don’t recognize the power of that creation, they should not be in that position!
There is an obvious disconnect here. What is seen as a virtual world, and yes, I agree that it’s a place where we are still in control, is still a place dominated by the reality of the person behind the keyboard. I have personally experienced this world and have become increasingly worried about the growing displays of disrespect I witness from many of the "role player" in-world. If you spend more than 60 minutes in your “Second Life,” you will inevitably experience odd behaviors. Spend a few days, weeks or months and you begin to experience a meshing of worlds that clouds your mind and alters your beliefs. You feel for one another, you get angry, tired, curious. You begin to push the line of your own boundaries and question your own existence….and keep in mind, I’m one of the sane ones!
I started my virtual life a few months ago and have changed so many times its crazy. I started out with the desire to just understand what it was, started to meet avatars (real people) and chat with them. You start to learn about them as you do in real life and some become friends, others are selected to be family, and a few are selected for more. As time went on, I saw myself evolving into living in world – bought my land, had a relationship, etc. all the while struggling to make sure I kept my feet in the real world.
For someone like Mr. Gray who works at the very factory producing this world to say Avatar are not people is a huge concern and blatant disregard for the underlining humanity that feeds the virtual worlds.
In a sense, Linden and other companies developing virtual worlds are god-like with the exception that they are manned by humans who are certainly not infallible. If they don’t recognize the power of that creation, they should not be in that position!
...and Who Watches the Watchers?
Posted by: InaraPey 2008-08-03 15:57:27 In reply to: Walaika Haskins
Law & goverance are important issues in SecondLife (SL) in particular. People are encoruaged to invest their own income into SL on the promise of being able to extract "profits" or "funds" at a later date. However, Despite Linden Lab's claims, residents have very little protection when it comes to the risk of losing any investments made, particularly where the loss is a result of either an action taken by Linden Lab OR the company's refusal to take action.
Linden Lab themselves will frequently act arbitrarily and with no explanation. This has lead to an alarming increase in the number of user accounts summarily banned from SecondLife without any explanation from Linden Lab whatsoever. Thus, individuals who (so far as they are aware) have not violated the stated Terms of Service suddenly find themsleves unable to log into SecondLife or its supporting website. Thus, in a stroke, they are cut off from all content they have created in-world AND from any funding they have invested in the environment. Worse, they cannot even contact Linden Lab directly - as they need their account in order to lodge a Support Ticket!
There is no clear explanation on how to deal with this situation, or on what happens to individuals' funds sequester in this manner by Linden Lab.
Another area of concern is that of "basic accounts". These are essentially "free" accounts Linden Lab use to encourage players into Second Life.
"Basic account" users are typically power users in Second Life. They rent land, they buy lindens on the Lindex and they are the bulk of customers who buy products from content creators.
BUT should a Basic account holder lose "inventory" in SL through s system fault - they have absolutely no recourse within Linden Lab to recover the lost item(s).
"Inventory" refers to the items users create and buy in SL. It represents the biggest investment (next to "land") a user can make in SL. Linden Lab themselves estimate that the "average" user (i.e. Basic Account holders) spend some $3000-$4000 USD annually in SL. Yet the system that handles this inventory is crippled by poor performance, instability and frequent crashes.
While users themselves can lose items through there own errors (accidentally deleting it, for example), inventory loss through system faults in pervasive throughout SL - and has been for well over a year.
Yet when it happens, Basic Account holders are simply told by Linden Lab to either "go premium or go away" - in other words, take out a PAID account (just under $10 USD a month) or get lost.
This is, to say the least, a high-handed attitude from a comapny all too willing to benefit either directly or indirectly from these people paying up to $4K a year into their environment.
In fact, Basic Account holders are so limited in how they can file for help from Linden Lab that they are unable to even register a Support Ticket on the subject of lost inventory, as they are restricted to filing Tickets under a restricted list of subjects - and inventory loss isn't one of them. And try to file s Ticket relating to such a loss under one of the pre-defined Ticket types will result in Linden Lab simply rejecting the Ticket and closing it without investigation.
So, while the need for greate in-world goverance and regulation for resident-to-resident transactions is undoubtedly needed into SecondLife, it is also fair to ask, "who watches the watchers" - in this case, Linden Lab themselves - and holds them to account?
Linden Lab themselves will frequently act arbitrarily and with no explanation. This has lead to an alarming increase in the number of user accounts summarily banned from SecondLife without any explanation from Linden Lab whatsoever. Thus, individuals who (so far as they are aware) have not violated the stated Terms of Service suddenly find themsleves unable to log into SecondLife or its supporting website. Thus, in a stroke, they are cut off from all content they have created in-world AND from any funding they have invested in the environment. Worse, they cannot even contact Linden Lab directly - as they need their account in order to lodge a Support Ticket!
There is no clear explanation on how to deal with this situation, or on what happens to individuals' funds sequester in this manner by Linden Lab.
Another area of concern is that of "basic accounts". These are essentially "free" accounts Linden Lab use to encourage players into Second Life.
"Basic account" users are typically power users in Second Life. They rent land, they buy lindens on the Lindex and they are the bulk of customers who buy products from content creators.
BUT should a Basic account holder lose "inventory" in SL through s system fault - they have absolutely no recourse within Linden Lab to recover the lost item(s).
"Inventory" refers to the items users create and buy in SL. It represents the biggest investment (next to "land") a user can make in SL. Linden Lab themselves estimate that the "average" user (i.e. Basic Account holders) spend some $3000-$4000 USD annually in SL. Yet the system that handles this inventory is crippled by poor performance, instability and frequent crashes.
While users themselves can lose items through there own errors (accidentally deleting it, for example), inventory loss through system faults in pervasive throughout SL - and has been for well over a year.
Yet when it happens, Basic Account holders are simply told by Linden Lab to either "go premium or go away" - in other words, take out a PAID account (just under $10 USD a month) or get lost.
This is, to say the least, a high-handed attitude from a comapny all too willing to benefit either directly or indirectly from these people paying up to $4K a year into their environment.
In fact, Basic Account holders are so limited in how they can file for help from Linden Lab that they are unable to even register a Support Ticket on the subject of lost inventory, as they are restricted to filing Tickets under a restricted list of subjects - and inventory loss isn't one of them. And try to file s Ticket relating to such a loss under one of the pre-defined Ticket types will result in Linden Lab simply rejecting the Ticket and closing it without investigation.
So, while the need for greate in-world goverance and regulation for resident-to-resident transactions is undoubtedly needed into SecondLife, it is also fair to ask, "who watches the watchers" - in this case, Linden Lab themselves - and holds them to account?
On the topic of regulating cyberspace
Posted by: JosefAssad 2008-07-31 04:37:40 In reply to: Walaika Haskins
I suggest reading Lawrence Lessig's Code 2.0.
http://www.codev2.cc
http://www.codev2.cc
