More on Virtual Worlds

As we've talked more about virtual worlds and Second Life, which I mentioned 2 blogs ago, and continued reading Coming of Age in Second Life by Tom Boellstorff, governance of this particular virtual world has been discussed.  The company who created Second Life is based in California and is called Linden Lab.  This corporation has ultimate control of everything in the virtual world and anything said or done in Second Life is recorded by the companies' many servers.  The author mentions that everyone signs a Terms of Service agreement when initially creating an account and has no ability to negotiate these terms with Linden.  Nor do users get any say in the rules and laws of the virtual world (however they can form groups and stage protests with their avatars).  The author writes, "Since SL was owned by Linden Lab, its authority was absolute...such total control over virtual worlds is one of the most consequential aspects of emerging models of governance for them, raising the prospect of virtual dictatorships...This omnipotence with regard to SL's governance was a source of concern to many residents. Those accused of transgressions had no way to face their accusers or a appeal a decision" (223).  This was really interesting to me after spending a semester on democracy in AmCon.  In this virtual world you can do so many things you can't do in real life.  You can fly, embody any animal, look any way you want, talk anyway you want, build anything you want, yet you have absolutely no rights as a user when it comes to governance and the rules set in place by the company who owns the virtual world.  Part of the emphasis of using virtual worlds is having the ability to do so many otherwise impossible things, yet you can't stand up for yourself if you are accused of doing something you didn't do.  This is such a different state than what we have in the US as a democracy.  In Second Life, you can do anything except have a voice or say.