Kiddie porn on Second Life
p2pnet.net news:-Is Second Life a playground for pedophiles? Is it a place where sick people pay to have virtual sex with virtual children?
“Second Life is a 3-D virtual world entirely built and owned by its residents,” boasts the site. It isn’t, of course, three dimensional. But its graphics suggest depth and it’s real enough to be, “inhabited by a total of 6,237,165 people from around the globe,” the site boasts.
But, “ARD, Germany’s Channel One, reported in its news show Report Mainz on Monday night that it had discovered child pornography in the virtual world of Second Life,” says Heise Online.
A German member was, “looking to sell recordings of child pornography,” it says, going on that the state prosecutor’s office in Halle has launched an investigation already, but the identity of the suspect isn’t known.
“Report Mainz found that a number of user groups in Second Life had members who were abusing childlike figures for money,” says Heise, adding:
Linden Lab, the operator of the online world, has reportedly announced that it would be looking into who is behind these events and reporting its findings to the police. In addition, an age verification system is to be implemented when users register for the game to prevent young people from having access to certain areas of the virtual world.
Report Mainz’s Nick Schader is a Second Life member who, “was asked to pay to attend meetings where virtual and real child pornography was being shown,” says the BBC, continuing:
“Members of this group also offered to put him in touch with traders of real child pornography. The investigation also uncovered so called ‘age play’ groups that revolve around the abuse of virtual children.”
Under Germany law, possession of “virtual” child pornography is punishable by up to three years in jail, says the story.
In January, when Second Life’s Anshe Chung, real name is Ailin Graef, a German citizen, was appearing during a virtual CNET interview, the virtual studio was, “bombarded by flying animated penises and modified images of Graef holding a unrealistically large penis,” as the Wikipedia describes it, going on:
Griefers, “managed to disrupt the interview sufficiently that Graef was forced to move to another location and ultimately crashed the simulator entirely.”
Her Anshe Chung Studios bills itself as “Your global leader in virtual real estate” and Graef is now a millionairess. A real one.
Also See:
Heise Online – German television discovers child pornography in Second Life, May 8, 2007
BBC – Second Life ‘child abuse’ claim, May 9, 2007
flying animated penises – Second Life goes open source, January 9, 2007
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Tired of being treated like a criminal? They depend on you, not the other way around. Don’t buy their ‘product’. Do bug your local politicians. Use emails, snail-mail, phone calls, faxes, IM, stop them in the street, blog. And if you’re into organizing, organize petitions, organize demonstrations and then turn up on your local political rep’s doorstep, making sure you’ve contacted your local tv/radio station/newspaper in advance. Don’t just complain. Do something!
May 10th, 2007 at 9:38 am
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May 10th, 2007 at 10:04 am
Way to keep your citizens safe from thoughtcrime, Germany. There’s nothing more dangerous than sexual fantasy.
May 10th, 2007 at 3:11 pm
Because those people never end up actually doing those things. Good point!