virtual world second life network

There is perhaps a rule somewhere (or there soon will be) that all virtuali worlds are doomed to become caricatures of the real one.  At the end of the day all governments are scared that someone might be talking about them behind their backs.  It therefore should be no surprise that the US military have suddenly identified Second Life as a new  'Big Threat'.  Of course what governments really don't like is strong encryption, or rather strong encryption that they don't control.

For discussion:

Excerpt from Thomas & Brown, Virtuali Worlds  - page 8

http://www.johnseelybrown.com/needvirtualworlds.pdf

"When someone enters a virtual world, they enter a space which is more supplemental in nature than binary. In other words, virtual worlds provide the opportunity for participants to be both/and: both inside and outside, both player and avatari, both character and person.