Tech Stream

Virtual Concerns in China and Australia

3 July 2009

Listen and download: MP3

Inhabitants of Second Life, spending time on ABC Island.  Image from Flickr by Gary Hayes.

We were augmenting our realities last week, adding layers of virtual information and computer generated objects to the real world around us.  But this week we’re digging deeper on a couple of stories involving online virtual worlds – places like Second Life – and games like World of Warcraft.

It seemed that Australia’s proposed ISP-level internet filtering regime could impact upon “unclassified” virtual spaces and internet games. And some new laws were introduced in China this week aimed at stopping the flow of virtual money into the real world economy. Initial reports suggested that it might effect the practice of gold-farming in games like WoW, but it seems that’s not quite the case.

For more on both of these issues I spoke with David Holloway, editor of Metaverse Journal, a virtual worlds news site.  He kicked off with his thoughts on China’s new policy toward virtual currency and you can hear our entire conversation from the MP3 link at the top of this story.  There’s also more after the jump…

There’s been a lot of debate in Australia about the merits of a proposed internet filtering system. It would work at the ISP level, blocking access to sites deemed inappropriate by the Government or content that has been refused classification by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA).   Trials of the unpopular filtering system are currently taking place, with results expected sometime this month.  But over last week we got a clearer indication of the different kinds of material that could be blocked under the plan.

Writing in the Sydney Morning Herald on 25th of June,  Asher Moses says a spokesperson for Australian’s Communications Minister, Stephen Conroy, confirmed to him that the filtering plan would be extended to:

“downloadable games, flash-based web games and sites which sell physical copies of games that do not meet the MA15+ standard.  This means that even Australians who are aged above 15 and want to obtain the adult-level games online will be unable to do so.” Read the full article from this link.

This revelation of course stirred indignation in the gaming community who have also been calling on the Australian government to bring in an R18+ classification for games for many years.  Games failing to meet the highest MA15+ rating are refused classification and not allowed to be sold in the country.  But this has only ever applied to sales of physical games, not those downloaded from the internet or accessed through a browser.

This latest twist caused concern in the virtual online communities too – places like Second Life – which is often thought of by authorities as a den of vice, sex and deviant,or even illegal, behavior.   But the Second Life community and owners themselves have been taking steps to self-regulate adult content.  And while a few public servants use these virtual worlds and understand their social benefits… others still fail to grasp how these online spaces work which can lead to misguided knee-jerk regulation.

You can read David Holloways thoughts on this issue in Crikey and also in an open letter to Senator Steven Conroy posted in Metaverse Journal.   And while I havent’ seen it yet, there’s more on what looks like a great documentary about virtual worlds called Second Skin on Boing Boing this week.