G-Men Called on W-Hats for WMVD
More virtual WMDs, this time on Second Life. A group called the W-Hats has, several times, unleashed a self-replicating doomsday weapon, crippling the servers. Finally, Linden Labs got fed up and put a call in to the Feds.
Ed Felten’s done a nice analysis:
Some have argued that players shouldn’t be punished for doing things that the world’s coding allows them to do. But that seems to me to be the wrong rule. For one thing, that’s not how things work in the real world, where you can commit all manner of crimes without violating the laws of physics. And it’s just wrong to think that the virtual world can be coded in a way that allows everything good but prevents everything bad. Any virtual world (if I may be forgiven for that phrase) that is complicated enough to be interesting will probably enable some undesired behavior.
Interestingly, this last notion closely parallels a common argument in theodicy (that branch of theology which seeks to reconcile the notion of a wholly benevolent God with the existence of evil).
The discussion on Lambda the Ultimate is also worth reading, particularly for some links to bits about virtual currency and contracts.
(Hat Tip: Lambda the Ultimate)