For the London Free Press – October 15, 2007

Read this on Canoe

Second Life is an online fantasy world where people adopt a resident with any appearance they choose.

The person then controls the resident, or avatar, as they go about their lives in a virtual version of the real world. Since its launch in 2003, Second Life has had more than 8.9 million accounts registered and it is growing rapidly.

Early on it was seen as little more than a hippy hangout where people took virtual drugs and participated in quirky games.

Second Life’s growth has led to the emergence of Second Life entrepreneurs who see tantalizing business prospects in this world of seemingly limitless possibilities.

The extent to which game dollars translate to real world dollars is debatable, but people do pay other gamers real world dollars to acquire game assets.

Politicians and businesses have also seen potential in this virtual world, setting up stores and campaign headquarters.

As the virtual world has been invaded by the real world it has struggled with disruptive residents known as griefers who have resisted this development.

Griefers were originally tolerated due to the anything goes attitude of the world’s residents. For those with financial investments in the world, these griefers represent not an annoyance, but a potential source of lost revenue.

Many view virtual worlds such as Second Life as the modern equivalent of the Wild West.

The question is how much real world governance of fantasy worlds should there be ?

One suggestion is to look to sport. In many sports, behaviour that would be considered assault off the field is considered acceptable on the field.

Within Second Life there are elements of self regulation by the designers and the residents. The goal of Linden Labs, the creator of Second Life, is to “foster a self-governing community where residents are empowered to act on things they feel strongly about.”

This may not be enough for those who want the law to protect their virtual assets in the same way it protects their real assets. The worry is that legislators will say virtual worlds should be like the real world and fear the evolution of Second Life into Real Life2.

But they approach the issue, in a world where even the law of gravity doesn’t necessarily apply, legislators may face a battle.