SL as a test run for real, real-world problems

Apparently my computer does not support the Second Life Viewer software, and so after hours of trying to access the virtual universe (I did create an avatar, but I guess she’ll remain digitally paralyzed for eternity) I abandoned hope. I did find a conference that was held by USC two years ago in Second Life, the title of which was Philanthropy and Virtual Worlds: Considering Civil Liberties. I understand Linden Labs is a private company, which of course means it has no obligation to protect civil liberties within Second Life itself, however, it is interesting to see how the discussion of civil liberties is unfolding in the virtual world. It confounds me that here in reality we are still unable to define what rights people have in the real world (as we saw in Unconstitutional) much less on the Internet, and yet discussions are unfolding online whose very subject matter is civil liberties. Does Linden Labs own the material that emerges from these digital discussions? Do they profit from them? And finally, how do the laws of the real world differ from the laws in a virtual world like Second Life?

The Global Kids’ Online Leadership Program posted two videos that were produced before and during the conference. This video discussed how one teen used the virtual infrastructure in Second Life to express concern over adults presence in the teen section of Second Life, and how his civic obligations enacted real change within SL. Blue Linden, the creator of Teen Second Life ends the video with the optimistic phrase “If teens learn to change the laws of virtual worlds, perhaps they will take their new found civic skills to the physical world too.” I’m curious to see if virtual civic responsibility really has any effect on civil liberties in the real world.

The conference apparently raised a host of issues and concerns regarding the legality of free speech in SL, as is discussed on this site Second Thoughts. The gist of the concern is that SL is virtual, every action that occurs within it is also virtual. Essentially it boils down to words only, since no actions occur in the physical reality. While there may be property damage in SL, in the real world it still only falls under free speech, and thus is not punishable. There is no such thing as Virtual Robbery. So when Linden Labs is faced with the decision to terminate accounts, what set of laws are they operating under? Well, since it is their company, it is their prerogative. To me, it is really ironic to have philanthropy and civic discourse within a non-real domain that operates as a private company. Second Life is the ultimate privatization of thought, which I guess is one of the things Web 2.0 is best at.