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Real-life terrorism in MMORPGs? |
Listed in: Titles, Opinions & Analysis Tags: Credit Card, Linden
Have you ever thought of the possibility that MMORPGs could be used by terrorists to recruit and teach people how to blow up stuff? The Counterterrorism Blog ("The first multi-expert blog dedicated solely to counterterrorism issues") has. Here are a few snippets from an entry by Andrew Cochran.
Many of the overwhelmingly positive features of Second Life can be
adapted for negative Real Life means. The rapid and potent way in which
communication takes place would seem to be an ideal platform for
recruitment into radical groups, especially given the age range of
those engaged in the world, which is typically 18-34. The teaching
capabilities of the world can clearly be adapted for use by terrorists.
Streaming video can be uploaded into Second Life and a scenario can
easily be constructed whereby an experienced terrorist bomb-maker could
demonstrate how to assemble bombs using his avatar to answer questions
as he plays the video. Using the decentralized organization effect,
already successfully used by SL companies, the bomb-maker and his
pupils can be spread around the globe and using instant language
translation tools (available in the world) could be speaking a variety
of languages.
And that's not even the worst part.
...possibly by far the most useful tool currently available to radical
groups is the ability to transfer in-world money between avatars that
can be translated into real currency. The Second Life currency of
Lindens (approximately $270L to $1US) can be bought using a credit card
in one country and credited to one avatar (account) and can be given to
a co-conspirator avatar in another country.
Please note that the article also mentions other MMORPGs, (World of Warcraft, for one), but Second Life is mainly used as an example because it is, in the author's words, the "purest version of a digital 3-D world."
The whole thing sounds a bit farfetched, but who knows? If the terrorists haven't thought about it yet, then they certainly know about it now. Click on the "via" link below for the full article on the Counterterrorism Blog.
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