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Second Life can now add

Second Life has always been heralded as the next step in virtual living, and the Mecca of free, unhindered speech, but much like public pools, moustaches and Chinatown pedophiles had to go and ruin it for the rest of us.

According to this blurb over at the BBC (the only company to ever make the corpse of George Orwell cry), German police have been following allegations that some Second Life inhabitants have been trading in "child abuse" images. While it's entirely possible that people are trading pictures of burn marks and wire hangers, here in the Yoo-Ess-of-Ay, we prefer the term "kiddie porn", or "dude, seriously, that's f*cked up".

Here's a snippet regarding the German news programme that led to the police investigation:

Second Life, as its name implies, is a virtual world in which members create an avatar and then use that character to live out a separate existence.

The investigation was carried out by Nick Schader from the Report Mainz news programme who is also a member of Second Life.

Mr Schader was asked to pay to attend meetings where virtual and real child pornography was being shown.

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.

Information gathered during the report was passed to the prosecutor's office in Halle who said it hoped to track down the German Second Life user who shared the images of virtual child pornography.

Whatever happened to the Second Life of my youth? In those days, you would always have a kind word for your elders, you would always carry an apple to feed the copulating centaurs, and you never even contemplated child pornography (aside from the weekly Muppet Babies Scat Film Festival)

[Via Game|Life, non-sexual shoulder rub to Something Awful for the only Second Life image I've ever liked.]








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13 comments | showing # 1 to 13
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Tempus's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/11/2007 07:05
Tempus
lol nex can't spell
Aaron Mxy Yost's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/11/2007 07:26
Aaron Mxy Yost
I'm still waiting for white slavery to catch on in Linden. I know I'm doing my part to make it happen!
BahamutZero's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/11/2007 08:29
BahamutZero
Chinatown? that's a little high-brow for the kiddles, huh nex? Great fucking movie though...

"The investigation also uncovered so called "age play" groups that revolve around the abuse of virtual children."

I mean, I'm against raping children and everything but isn't the above technically "thoughtcrime"? I mean isn't it legal for people to act out their fantasies if they are consenting adults?
Words of Ivory's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/11/2007 08:39
Words of Ivory
I've been a "resident" of Second Life for quite some time, irking out a meager virtual living with work I could be getting a shit load more from if I had the common sense to get up off my arse and do something with it in my first life... and you meet a lot of diverse characters. You also meet a lot of shady ones, but I guess that's what happens when people are given complete "freedom", even if it's virtual.

The age play thing was recently cracked down on over in Linden Labs, but this is new to me, yet really not surprising. It's interesting to see that they're suceeding in using virtual means to capture real life offenders.

Here's hoping they'll do the humane thing and chop their balls off.
brad drac's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/11/2007 08:55
brad drac
I thought linden were meant to be completely passive to anything that the users do(as long as it's not harmful). I don't see how "age play" is against the law anyhow. All you have to do is say the kiddie avatars are actually 18, but with some kind of growth inhibiting genetic disorder, and badabing, legal virtual kiddiefuck. Not that I really want to support that particular group of people, but virtual child abuse, not involving actual children, where everything's consensual and noone is harmed, seems better than those people acting out their filthy urges in reality.

Trading actual child porn though, hopefully they'll get raped but good. Uh... the paedos, not the kids...
-----'s Avatar - Comment posted on 05/11/2007 09:07
-----
I could see the law changing once the avatars become realistic enough. I mean if Gran Tourismo HD can make virtual cars look more real than real cars, what's gonna happen when you can apply that technology to an 8 year old? Not that into that!
-----'s Avatar - Comment posted on 05/11/2007 09:09
-----
Not that I'm into that
BahamutZero's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/11/2007 09:20
BahamutZero
^ PEDOPHILE!!!!!
BahamutZero's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/11/2007 09:21
BahamutZero
Kiddie pr0n@Home: HD would make a killing for Sony.
winojesus's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/11/2007 09:32
winojesus
germans eh? at it again.
someone really should mobalise against those guys( i'm lookin at you poland)
CannibalCalvin 's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/11/2007 09:58
CannibalCalvin
Well as long as they allow me to rape an adult fox/person who likes it when I call him a naughty little beast, I'll be fine.
Words of Ivory's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/11/2007 10:28
Words of Ivory
@brad dac
They used to be completely passive, but that side of Second Life has been changing a lot lately. They change things and alter rules now without even passing them by the Residents, just so they won't get their asses sued by high brow governments getting their panties in a bunch.
Wheeliedude's Avatar - Comment posted on 05/11/2007 10:54
Wheeliedude
Isn't Second Life just the Internet, but 3-D, and uglier?
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