The Dark Side of Second Life

Software that lets residents copy others' possessions is the latest reminder that this virtual world may need tougher law enforcement

by Catherine Holahan

Concerns ran high among the hundred or so gathered for a community meeting in Second Life, the online virtual world. The group had crowded into town hall to hear Second Life creator Philip Rosedale, known on the inside as "El Presidente," discuss the latest crisis to befall the digital community where members interact, buy and sell goods, and build property worth real money. Potentially many more Second Life residents were listening in though an Internet audio stream.

The fuss? Many wanted to know what Second Life's creators planned to do about a new program, nicknamed CopyBot, that enables users to quickly copy characters, objects, and buildings, potentially eroding the value of people's virtual property. Others wanted to know about viruses with the alleged potential to steal members' identifying information. Still others were worried about the growing menace of mafias and gangs that are forcing members out of public areas. "These groups are very threatening and frustrating to deal with," wrote Eric Erskine in a Nov. 16 post on a Second Life community discussion group. "They took over the SoulMates dance club and ran every AV (avatar) off except mine…permanently ban mobs, gangstas, and mafias!"

It would seem the virtual world is facing a very real-world problem: crime. As more people have joined the global virtual community—it now boasts more than 1 million members—residents are grappling with how to secure property ownership and ensure public well-being. The difficulty of that task was underscored Nov. 19 when a worm attack called "grey goo" forced Second Life to close down for a short time. The worm installed spinning objects in the virtual world that slowed the servers as users tried to interact with them.

Calling for Law and Order

Besides the town hall meeting, concerned Second Lifers staged protests over the CopyBot program (see BusinessWeek.com, 11/15/06, "Real Threat to Virtual Goods in Second Life"). In other cases, some have gone as far as to hold trials. Many are now demanding an official system of law and order. "People are clamoring for a solution, they want a solution now," says Josh Eikenberry, a virtual architect who designs homes and buildings for avatars under the name Lordfly Digeridoo. "But what is the solution?"

Every society struggles with how best to protect property. It's especially tricky in a place such as Second Life, where goods are defined by lines of software code. Many citizens make a real-life living selling goods such as clothes and homes for avatars, as the virtual versions of actual people are known. Their income is in a currency, the Linden, pegged to the dollar and openly traded on the LindeX Exchange (see BusinessWeek.com, 5/1/06, "My Virtual Life").

The currency fluctuated on Nov. 14 as residents worried that the CopyBot program would render their purchased or independently designed property worthless. Since Second Life announced that people who use the CopyBot program would be banned from the virtual world, the currency has returned to roughly normal levels of 270 to 280 Lindens to the U.S. dollar.

Peer Pressure Policing

But residents are still plenty worried. Andrea Miller, a Las Vegas marketing director who co-owns the Panache clothing store in Second Life, says she is concerned about her creations getting ripped off. She closed her store, which handles about 20,000 Linden dollars a day, in protest of what she believes is a lack of sufficient action by Second Life's creators. "You believe your work will be protected," says Miller. "But it's just not. It's disheartening."

Rosedale, who is also chief executive of Second Life owner Linden Lab, has been reluctant to put his company in the position of aggressively policing the virtual world. Second Life has announced that it will remove people who use the CopyBot program to steal others' designs.