Tag: app-subdomain-redirection:second-life

What do you get if you mix the one of the world’s most important intellectuals with one of the net’s most popular virtual worlds? Noam Chomsky on Second Life is the answer.

Despite his 81 years, Professor Chomsky has always been one to try and embrace both new technologies and youth culture in his long history of political dissent and has taken the rather unusual step of appearing on Second Life. Chomsky has been invited by Metanomics, a weekly show which aims to look at the serious side of virtual worlds. Chomsky will be in conversation with host Robert Bloomfield and will take questions from other Second Life users. The event will take place Tuesday October 12th at 12:00 p.m. PST.

Jenn Forager of Metanomics told Chomsky Watch the event provides Second Life users with a rare chance to interact with a great mind within the virtual world:

One element of Second Life that never stops impressing me is the opportunity to not only hear but interact and pose questions to such thought leaders. We may be using the internet and an avatar to extend ourselves over the distance, but participating in such discussions is thrilling and allows the rare experience of speaking with remarkable people.

If you’re not a Second Life user but want to join in, the Metanomics site gives you details of how to get involved. Alternatively, you can watch a live broadcast of the event.

It seems Second Life has been hit by more controversy. After we reported the game had been rocked by a sex scandal a few weeks ago, now a lawyer in the US is taking the developers Linden Lab to court alleging that they deleted his account and thousands of dollars worth of his property.

Marc Bragg in Pennsylvania is seeking $8,000 in damages after claiming the developers froze his account after a property deal ‘went bad’. The lawyer claims he bought the property via a legitimate auction on Second Life’s website. The lawsuit states that Linden Lab ‘breached an auction contract by allowing the land to auction, accepting online payment, and then suspending plaintiff’s account.’

According to Wired, Linden Lab say they consider the lawsuit to be ‘without merit’. It reports that Bragg’s identity within Second Life is “Marc Woebegone,” who owns real estate, nightclubs and other businesses. The crux of the case rests on a $300 ‘sim’ – a large plot of land – that normally costs a minimum of $1,000 that Bragg says he legitimately won in an auction.

This latest incident once again brings into focus the difficulty of navigating the line between the real and online world. Second Life is unique in that it is one of the only online games that actually assigns real world legal rights to land purchased by users. Virtual gamers should keep a keen eye on this case because if Bragg is vindicated, it will give further credence to property purchased in Second Life and ensure that gamers who devote hours of time to it are protected in the same way as they are in the real world.

A piece of code that enables fans of the online world Second Life to simulate sex acts is at the centre of a lawsuit [PDF] in a Florida court. Kevin Alderman, creator of ‘SexGen Platinum’ alleges that his copyright has been infringed and that his software has been unlawfully copied, distributed and sold. The accused, ‘Volkov Catteneo’ is an avatar in Second Life whose true, human identity remains unknown. It seems that when challenged, Catteneo didn’t seem to think that the owners of SexGen Platinum could do anything to stop him.

“We confronted him about it and his basic response was, ‘What are you going to do? Sue me?'” Alderman said. “I guess the mentality is that because you’re an avatar … that you are untouchable. The purpose of this suit is not only to protect our income and our product, but also to show, yes, you can be prosecuted and brought to justice.”

This story is making waves in some parts of the Second Life community – and not just because of the sexual content of the script in question. It has once again shaken the hornet’s nest that is online confidentiality. Second Life owners, Linden Lab has agreed to hand over information identifying the owner of the ‘Volkov Catteneo’ – a move which has some observers concerned that spurious lawsuits could now be used to ‘out’ the owners of avatars.

To me, this doesn’t look too worrying. The owners of Second Life have a legal responsibility to provide information to the courts if a demand for such data is made in relation to a specific case. This isn’t the same as Google being forced to hand over data on hundreds of thousands of users just so the government can ‘check’ whether anyone is searching for illegal material. ‘Volkov Catteneo’, if that is his real name should face the court just like anyone else accused of stealing sexy code.

While the real world struggles against the perils of global warming, nuclear threats and terrorist warfare, the virtual world seems to get better and better. Last month the developers of Second Life launched a beta trial version which integrated sound for the first time. This long-awaited feature will provide Second Life’s users with a new way to communicate besides text chat or third party applications such as Skype.

The beta trial was accessible only to a reduced number of people. This is probably the best way to test the voice feature thoroughly before making it available for the whole Second Life universe. According to Philip Rosedale, Linden Lab’s CEO:

I hope to see voice officially launched in Second Life within the next several months.

Besides sound capabilities, Rosedale also gave some hints about other future improvements in Second Life during his keynote speech at Gartner Symposium ITxpo. These will include the ability to use your own picture as avatar and the enhancement of graphics to achieve a higher degree of realism.

When you look through a computer screen, everything will look real, like you’re looking through window glass.

Linden Lab, the makers of Second Life, have announced that they are to launch a new beta version that incorporates voice chatting. The new release will be limited to selected users to begin with, before rolling it out to everyone by the end of March.

At the moment, Second Life users chat to each other using a text editor or third party VOIP application such as Skype. The new voice function will work in individual or group mode brining a whole new dimension to the simulation.

In a move that would have control-freaks salivating, landowners in the game can even choose who and who can’t speak on in their territory. Don’t like what someone is saying on your land? Simple – just turn their voice off. Second Life follows There.com which was one of the first major role playing games to use VOIP technology. The makers claim it was one of the top demands made by users to improve the game.

During beta testing, the voice function will be free although afterwards, it will only remain free to those major users who pay anything up to $300 to maintain land and even whole islands in the game.

Whilst this will undoubtedly enrich the Second Life game, it will inevitably eliminate one of its major appeals for some users – anonymity. All those men that walk around pretending to be women – and vice versa – will have their covers blown once and for all. So for all those truckers out there that like to walk around as hot 6ft blonde bombshells – watch out, your time could soon be up!

If you’re not having much luck with job hunting in the real world, then why not try the world of fantasy? A story at CNNMoney.com tells how some Second Life gamers have been targeted by IT firms who are more than happy to conduct virtual interviews with them based on the impressive work they’ve done within the game. It seems that corporate America is finally catching onto the Second Life craze that already has around 2.6 million registered users. One IT recruiter who has employed several Second Lifers says:

People who have been in Second Life since its inception might not be professional content developers, but they have become experts.

So even if you’re no Bill Gates, there’s hope for you if your online creations inspire the imagination of employers. Another recruiter adds:

We hired people we had never met in the real world because we’d spent a year looking at the work they produced within Second Life, and the way that they approached the community…we knew that in Second Life, they were the best.

So the next time you log on, remember to put your best virtual suit on – you never know who could be watching.