Media News - Wednesday, April 02, 2008
Avatars at US House hearing on virtual world
The founder of virtual world Second Life sought to reassure U.S. lawmakers on Tuesday that the online community is able to police itself. Second Life founder Philip Rosedale and a handful of other virtual reality experts, testified at a House of Representatives hearing that was also attended by on-line personas, or avatars, portrayed on a video screen in the hearing room. Some lawmakers raised questions about what operators of virtual worlds are doing to stop them being used to stage real-world crimes such as terrorism, money-laundering and the exploitation of children. Second Life is an online community with several hundred thousand users who create their own avatar identities and can fly around the virtual world at will. In addition to entertainment, Second Life has created its own currency - the Linden dollar which can be converted to U.S. dollars - in an active marketplace which supports millions of dollars in monthly transactions. Lawmakers on the panel said the hearing was held for informational purposes and no legislation is planned. Rosedale, appearing in both physical and avatar form, outlined steps the company takes to ‘discourage and prevent illegal activity.’ Rosedale and other experts said virtual reality was the next step in the evolution of the Internet. (Reuters)
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