December 14, 2003
If you build it they will come
Apparently any virtual world flexible enough to allow characters freedom of action will acquire a red light district. Case in point: The Sims Online (TSO), perhaps the most realistic of all online communities. Salon has an article about The Alphaville Herald, a blog created by Peter Ludlow, professor of philosophy and linguistics at the University of Michigan, wherein Ludlow talks about his encounters with "scammers, thieves, money launderers, prostitutes (some of whom, he says, are minors) and other dubious types". A good example is the Herald interview with one "Evangeline", a self-described minor and manager of several online brothels (Metafilter also has a link to the story, with discussion following).
In response, characters within the game have formed the "Sim Shadow Government" (SSG), which is attempting to curb some of the "misbehavior," but has proven largely ineffectual, at least at stopping griefers like Evangeline. Additionally, Electronic Arts, the company that runs TSO, has ignored complaints by Ludlow about in-game problems, threatened him with legal action related to the Herald as violating TSO's EULA, canceled his account, and declined to comment on any of the above events.
I think the subject of virtual worlds, their ontologies, and their relationship to the real world isn't receiving nearly the attention that it should be.
