Should Second Life be banned in schools and libraries?
Matt Brown
Wednesday, 07 May 2008 14:50 UTC
One US Congressman thinks so. Mark Kirk believes the virtual world is full of filth not suitable for a minor audience.
Sites like Second Life offer no protections to keep kids from virtual ‘rape rooms,’ brothels, and drug stores. If sites like Second Life won’t protect kids from obviously inappropriate content, the Congress will.
It’s part of a wider attempt to increase restrictions on social networking sites, enshrined in the superbly named Deleting Online Predators Act.
Would banning SL in schools and libraries be in any way effective? Virtual Worlds of some description are sure to become a powerful teaching aid as the technology and software matures. Might restrictions at this early stage stifle innovation that could benefit education?
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Replies
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For me the key point is the misrepresentation of entities such as second life by the republican senator.
Instead of second life in this debate one could as easily substitute “the Internet”, “mobile phone”, “pop music”.
When a confusion occurs between the medium and the type of content that can be accessed through the medium ill considered laws are going to be passed.
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The example given was that an aid was unable to create an avatar saying he was a 10 y/o, but when he said he was 18, he was able to register. So, if you lie about your age, then you are able to get around the current protections in place.
Let’s say SL added a check for credit card, ssn, drivers license, and birth certificate. If somebody lies and uses anothers IDs, then they still can get in. Therefore, what can be done (beyond monitoring all content at all times) to protect and identify?
As Ian pointed out in his reply, this same issue applies to all forms of social networking—not just Second Life.
So, did the Senator propose any specific workable solutions to his issue?
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