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See “here for a few details.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7274377.stm

There is probably very little the UK can or indeed would do in virtual worlds other than convene an international committee to look into the subject at an EU or similar level.

The simple fact is that due to the international nature of the issues facing virtual worlds a single nation state such as the UK deciding to make unilateral decisions will have very little effect.

Pressure for change must be both international and laid upon the Industry as a whole rather than a single industry product.

David Grundy

I’m forced to agree, much of the reporting from the media on this subject is typically very knee-jerk and sensationalized (as, of course, they want to sell papers, what more do we expect?) indeed, I’ve recently had an offer for an interview from a leading UK newspaper, and clearly, from the brief, the journalist is wanting me to paint a picture of great danger lurking around the corner in the internet.

Clearly, being a site regarding MMO security issues, Metasecurity should be discussing even the knee-jerk stories (if relevant) but I think you’re quite right to also pick them apart and throw into the limelight the issues, inconsistancies, or downright fabrications in the published articles.

David

In other words, the plan of the Lindens to combat griefing — crime — is to put tools into the hands of island or mainland sim owners and let them take responsibility for griefing.

This is disturbing, because it implies that society and those chosen to elect it (if these game companies ever cede and separate power) aren’t to be concerned anymore with improving humanity, deterring bad behaviour, inculcating values of good behaviour and good neighborliness. Instead, merely an elaborate set of tools is to be designed to prevent the *effects* of bad actions from hindering anybody else. All that does is incite the griefer to find hacks and new ways of griefing, as we’ve seen from the history of Second Life, where as soon as you create one tool to end a form of griefing (i.e. the ability to turn off “push” to stop guns from teleporting avatars home), griefers “cage” you or attempt to trap your avatar, or blind you with particle blasts, etc.

I think non-technical means of the old-fashioned naming-and-shaming methods have to be used. That’s why police blotters with the names of the perpetrators, abuse-reporters, and prosecuting Lindens are needed. Given people’s fear of retaliation, in smaller communities, starting with the names of perpetrators and the reason for the landlord’s prosecution is at least a start. In RL, petitioners, respondents, prosecutors, judges are all named in judicial proceedings; if we live in such terrible places that abuse reporters have to fear retaliation, we haven’t secured the world.

So I respond to this problem by publishing my own local police blotter in my rentals, and also trying to keep a record of the official police blotter and add to it, since it’s very underdone.

Security is not achieved by tools alone, but has to work the other end of building up trust. The people fighting “blood diamonds,” for example found that rather than trying to get countries to stop diamonds obtained through conflict, they could rather get those companies that did not extract diamons through warfare to certify themselves and work outwards to expand their ranks.