The Telegraph reports on a touching memorial to British soldiers killed while serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

A virtual military graveyard in an area of SL known as Tribute Island features memorials to about 250 British war dead. Nik Hewitt of lasting tribute, creator of the memorial, said:

We've replicated individual tribute markers to all the UK soldiers and military personnel who’ve lost their lives in the continuing conflicts...

We have seen avatars - characters created by serving military personnel - wandering through the graves looking for fallen comrades.

A newly-launched video game hopes to raise awareness about one of today's hot-button political issues - immigration.

The much anticipated ICED (I Can End Deportation) is available as a free download for PC and Mac from international human rights organization Breakthrough. A press release details the game and the purpose behind its creation:

Designed to spark dialogue and create awareness of unfair U.S. immigration policies, ICED... teaches players about current immigration laws on detention and deportation...

Players can choose one of five characters to inhabit and live out the day-to-day life of an immigrant youth. The youth are being chased by immigration officers, while making moral decisions and answering myth and fact questions about current immigration policies...

Breakthrough Executive Director Mallika Dutt described the creation of ICED, which is designed primarily for high school and college students:

It's important to engage young people in social issues... Games for change help people to better relate to an issue because they can put themselves into the shoes of a character experiencing injustice.

Close to two million people have been deported and thousands more affected -- many without just cause -- due to unfair immigration policies. When we let the government deny due process and human rights for some people, we're putting all of our freedoms at risk.

As part of its launch day happening, ICED will be featured on Global Kids Island in Teen Second Life at 8:30 PM EST.

A Second Life resident known for biting political commentary has turned his attention to Republican Mike Huckabee.

In a Second Life parody of the former Arkansas governor, JC Christian focused on Huckabee's anti-abortion stand by unveiling the Mike Huckabee Center for the Liberation and Housing of Spermatazoan-Americans. From his "press release":

[JC CHristian] got the idea to name the Center after presidential candidate Mike Huckabee when he heard Huckabee state his support for the Georgia Personhood Amendment and the Human Life Amendment to the United States Constitution.

"I thought if Gov. Huckabee supports granting civil rights to embryo-Americans and to the little 70 cell blastocyst-Americans, then surely he supports the rights of our tiniest citizens, the spermatazoan-Americans..."

The Center is composed of three sections. The first is called "The Liberation Station." It is here where the hard work of liberating Spermatazoan Americans is done. Special materials, including a Sears Catalog and a photo of Rosie Palm, are provided to make the liberation process easier...

As previously reported by GamePolitics, JC Christian has also used Second Life as a platform to lampoon former New York mayor and presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani.

In other politically-oriented Second Life news, Illinois congressional candidate Mark Pera (D) held what may be the first virtual political fundraiser on Monday evening. According to a post on DailyKos , about 15 people showed up and $100 was raised.

That's not especially encouraging for future efforts in Second Life...

Residents of the always politically-aware Second Life metaverse have constructed a memorial to assassinated Pakistani political figure Benazir Bhutto.

As reported by Second Life Herald, an in-game memorial service will be held on January 6th. SL Herald interviewed the creator of the Bhutto tribute, Jennette Forager:

When I heard the news of Bhutto's assassination, I felt grateful to have the SL platform to express my feelings of sadness and concern for Pakistan; and indeed, the entire world...

The politics of Pakistan are irrelevant. What is important to me is that I express my sympathy for the  pain and suffering of the Pakistani people and the Bhutto family. Through SL I am able to create an opportunity for all of us to offer them our support and compassion.

Rep. Edward Markey (D-MA) found himself unable to attend a recent United Nations summit on climate change in Bali.

So he sent his Second Life avatar instead.

The Associated Press reports that the virtual Markey, clad in a business suit, addressed the summit while the real Congressman was parked in front a PC at a staffer's Washington, D.C. home:

I believe I am the first member of the U.S. Congress to be introduced by someone with a blue dragon her shoulder... This is my first foray into Second Life, but it won't be my last.

Markey, chairman of the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming said he was unable to make the trip to Bali due to pressing discussions on an energy bill currently before Congress.



The Click Heard Round the World has more.

Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton wants to know about your gaming habits.

A lengthy list of questions from a Clinton campaign poll has been published on the Huffington Post. Along with the usual inquiries into political views, demographics and the like are a couple of questions which probe the subject's gaming and online activities:

Which of the following have you visited or played online?

Sim City
Second Life
Sims
None of the above
Other
Don’t know

It's interesting that the Clinton poll mentions only three games by name. All are either PC or primarily PC games; would seem to have a higher ratio of female players than the average game; and none of the three feature violence as a main theme. We're not sure that's the reason for their inclusion, simply trying to find a common thread.

There's also a question about Internet usage:

Which activities do you do online most?

Research issues or questions
Use a webcam
Share digital photos
Download music or video
Read or post to blogs
Research products or services
Watch video sites like youtube
Email
Shop
Read the news
Play video games
Instant message
Online banking or bill pay
Use online social networks
Talk on the phone using VOiP

Could virtual pickpockets separate your Second Life avatar from its in-game money, known as Lindens?

Dean Takahashi of the San Jose Mercury-News reports that a pair of white-hat hackers have identified an SL design flaw which allows a player's Lindens to be lifted. That's especially troubling because Lindens can easily be converted into real-world money.

Charles Miller (left) and Dino Dai Zovi discovered the vulnerability by exploiting a known issue with Apple's QuickTime video software. SL uses QuickTime to stream movies in-game. Said Dai Zovi:

It’s not kindergarten work, but this is pretty easy to do.

The hackers say that they could take over any avatar and remove all of its money and property. That represents a major threat to the players who make their living by creating and selling virtual goods within SL.  

CNET's Daniel Terdiman, author of The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Second Life, told Takahashi:

The president of the Philippines is now an official resident of Second Life.

As reported by Inquirer.net, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (left) debuted her SL persona to coincide with the launch of the Philippine National Innovation Strategy at the National Innovation Summit in Makati.

Macapagal-Arroyo's avatar will reside in IBM's Second Life Innovation Center.

Gabby Dizon, president of developer Flipside Games, said that Macapagal-Arroyo hoped to demonstrate that by joining SL she is a proponent of change and innovation.

If someone swiped your SexGen Platinum Base Unit v4.01 (left) or your Classic DeVille Floor Lamp, you'd complain wouldn't you?

Hell, yeah...

A half-dozen Second Life entrepreneurs have done a bit more than that, actually. They've filed suit in U.S. District Court against a New York Second Lifer who, they allege, stole their virtual item designs and resold them within the game.

According to the New York Post:

Here's the catch: The products aren't real, and the alleged crimes took place in a virtual world on the Web. [The lawsuit] was filed last week in Brooklyn federal court against 36-year-old Flushing resident Thomas Simon, aka Rase Kenzo on Second Life...

"It's stealing," insisted Kevin Alderman, a Florida man whose Second Life alter ego is called Stroker Serpentine.

He operates the Second Life sex store Strokerz Toyz, which sells beds, sofas, rugs and toys embedded with computer code that facilitates sex between virtual characters...

Attorney Frank Tanney, representing the plaintiffs, said:

This is not a joke. This is not a game. This hurts them.

Defendant Simon told the NY Post:

They can say whatever they want to say. It's a video game. I didn't know you could sue anyone over it.

There's actually quite a story behind all of this, including private investigators, co-conspirators and manipulations of Second Life's inventory system, as described by Reuters.

Apparently the items were copied using an exploit, as reported by VintFalken. One of the plaintiffs has posted a lengthy set of screenshots, apparently documenting the allegedly stolen items, on Flickr. For those who want all of the legal nitty-gritty, here's the complaint (73-page pdf).

Tonight's episode of CSI NY will feature an investigative foray into Second Life.

The show's website describes the episode, titled Down the Rabbit Hole, thusly:

A woman's murder sends Mac into "Second Life," the internet-based virtual world to track down the killer in both the real and cyber world.

PC World has a video report on the CSI-SL mashup, featuring an interview with CSI creator Anthony Zuiker.

Tuneup Talk has a bit more:

The Electric Sheep Company reports that this evening's edition of the ABC World News Tonight is expected to cover Second Life in relation to U.S. presidential candidates.

The ESC blog's author, Giff Constable, whose SL avatar is "Forseti Svarog", writes:

Yours truly helped the reporter tour around [Second Life]. (Of course, with these things you never quite know - the last ABC News piece I was in had a huge delay before showing up only online - I guess it depends on whether there is a world crisis on Wednesday.)

...I think most candidates have been scared away from Second Life, but would be better served if they had more of an official presence and in doing so approached this new medium in a savvy way.

I am curious to see how this piece turned out.

So there wasn't a naked avatar on hand to greet Newt Gingrich during his Second Life appearance? 

More's the pity...

When GamePolitics covered Newt's foray into the metaverse a couple of weeks back, we relied in part on a story from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution which said:

Gingrich’s figure was immediately approached by a lovely young digital lady, who arrived moments before her clothes did

But apparently Newt had hired some virtual bouncers.

A messy but entertaining trial was avoided this week as Linden Lab, publisher of the Second Life MMO, reached a settlement with Pennsylvania attorney Marc Bragg.

GamePolitics readers may recall that the dispute centered around Bragg's use of an exploit to buy up some in-game real estate at less-than-competitive prices. Virtually Blind explains the deal:

Linden Lab announced today that it reached a confidential settlement with Marc Bragg which allows Bragg to return to Second Life as avatar ‘Marc Woebegone...’

Although the settlement is not a surprise, many observers... hoped that the case would progress further and that the court would issue a substantive ruling regarding the nature of virtual property. Trial was scheduled for mid-December.

GP: A Linden Lab press release pointed out that the settlement is confidential and aks that folks not pry into the details.

Who are they kidding?

This one had the potential to be a pretty significant virtual property case. If we knew the inside dirt, we'd publish it in a New York minute.

Earlier this week GamePolitics issued a Tivo alert for an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit with a video game theme.

Titled "Avatar," the plot centered around sexual obsession in an online world similar to Second Life.

GP correspondent Colin McInnes caught the episode and blogs his impressions:

GP can tell from the low comment counts registered by Second Life stories that not everyone is a fan of the overhyped MMO.

But, either way, be sure to check out this video as commentator Rachel Maddow skewers the abortive presidential hopes of Newt Gingrich, including some laughs from Newt's recent foray into Second Life.

Second-tier presidential candidates are apparently grappling over who has the best virtual presence in the Second Life metaverse. 

In response to the YouTube video of Rep. Dennis Kucinich's new Second Life campaign headquarters covered by GamePolitics yesterday, a video of Mike Gravel's HQ is now up on YouTube.

An explanation included with the video reads:

In May of 2007, Sen. Mike Gravel became the first 2008 Presidential Candidate to endorse a presence in the virtual world of Second Life. This is a video tour (undertoned by very cheesy music) of the headquarters in Second Life.

Cheesy music indeed. Cheesy video, too. Drink a venti Starbucks before you watch this. You've been warned...

As reported by the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), a darkhorse contender for the Democratic presidential nomination, has opened a campaign presence in Second Life. 

The Plain Dealer refers to a YouTube video (see below) of Kucinich's SL site as "trippy," adding:

Earlier this week, Comedy Central posted a video by comedian Stephen Colbert that satirizes Kucinich's habit of whipping items out of his pocket and waving them around onstage during campaign appearances. Citing a 1999 Plain Dealer article in which Kucinich slipped a used tea bag into his pocket, Colbert challenges Kucinich to empty out his pockets on television.

"Not even Mike Gravel is crazy enough to keep used tea bags in his pockets," Colbert raves. "He puts them in his hobo bindle."

Kucinich's hometown newspaper also pokes fun at the age difference between the 61-year-old former mayor and his 29-year-old wife, Elizabeth.

Virtual Worlds News was kinder to Kucinich's SL foray, writing:

Last week GamePolitics reported that conservative politician (and potential 2008 presidential candidate) Newt Gingrich would be making a Second Life appearance, and so it has come to pass.

The Click Hear Round the World has a detailed report:

Gingrich spoke about a number of issues, including the environment, relations with China, social conservatism, and the upcoming elections.  He seemed quite interested in the idea of a "3D web" and seemed fairly well-informed and jazzed about Second Life...

He noted that he was most interested in Second Life being used to bring together Republic and Democratic candidates. "I'm concerned that we are going too far on partisanship," explained Gingrich...

Newt talked about creating a "Second Legislation" sim where legislators from the national and state levels could come together to share views on important subjects and bills, without the need for expensive travel.  This was pretty far-fetched, but definitely interesting.

There were also protesters:

How important is it for a candidate to maintain a presence in Second Life?

Not very, according to several presidential campaign strategists.

Website Politico spoke with senior officials from the campaigns of Republicans Mitt Romney, Fred Thompson and Rudy Giuliani at a recent forum on new media.

Also present were advisers to Democratic candidates Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

While acknowledging the importance of web-based campaigning and the emerging potential for text messaging to reach potential voters, the strategists were less sanguine about the political benefits of Second Life:

The panelists also doubted the usefulness, for now, of campaigning in the online universe Second Life, in which some candidates have virtual campaign offices.

They also wondered how the convertibility of online currency into real cash would translate into politics. How, Henke wondered, will campaign finance regulations handle a contribution in the form of imaginary gold doubloons?

As U.S. military casualties continue to mount in Iraq we note that those who gave their all in another unpopular war are to be honored in Second Life.

As reported by 3pointD, Washington, D.C.'s famed Vietnam Memorial Wall is under construction in SL:

...Timed to open in November to coincide with the 25th anniversary of its original dedication, Meme Science are building a replica of the Vietnam War Memorial, commonly known as The Wall, in Second Life. The Wall lists all 58, 253 US service personnel killed or missing in the Vietnam war.

The Second Life version of the Vietnam Wall is being funded by the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund and will be unveiled to the public in early November.

Amid rumors that he may join the crowded Republican presidential field, Newt Gingrich, conservative author of 1994's Contract with America, has plans to appear in Second Life.

The Washington Post reports:

[Gingrich's group] American Solutions for Winning the Future, is hosting workshops in Atlanta later this month, in real life. But now the former House speaker also plans to host some sessions in Second Life...

So as Gingrich gets set to potentially begin his second life in American politics, he will rent the West front of the Second Life version of the U.S. Capitol on Sept. 27 for some of his workshops.

There's symbolism in Gingrich's decision, since Sept. 27 is the 13th anniversary of the Contract With America, which Gingrich and other GOP lawmakers signed on the West front of the real U.S. Capitol.

Meanwhile, Gingrich writes about the planned SL appearance in his own blog:

The U.S. detention of suspected terrorists at Guantanamo Bay has long been a controversial issue.

Now, Seton Hall University School of Law and and the University of Southern California's Institute for Media Literacy will examine the constitutional and public policy implications surrounding Gitmo, using Second Life as a platform.

As SL devotee Rik Riel comments on his The Click Heard Round the World blog:

The larger purpose is to increase public discussion about Guantanamo... Certainly an interesting way to set the stage for a discussion on the morality, legality and efficacy of Guantanamo. 

Rik had a opportunity to check out the upcoming presentation's in-game features, including being transported to Guantanamo via a lengthy ride in a virtual military cargo plane. During the trip, Rik's avatar was hooded, an effect he described as "immersive and unsettling."

Once at the base, Rik donned an orange prison jumpsuit and entered a detention cage. At various points, videos which address the controversies surrounding Guantanamo Bay can be triggered by one's avatar.

The presentation is part of Monday's Constitution Day happenings and begins at 1:30 PM Eastern time. A Seton Hall press release has more, including comments from Prof. Mark Denbeaux:

What we hope to create is a virtual platform where people from around the world can gather together to discuss important social justice issues. As an Internet-based virtual world, Second Life will allow us to conduct a broad and diverse debate on a wide range of political, legal and international issues.

GamePolitics has expended a fair amount of ink this week speculating what popular TV shrink Dr. Phil McGraw might or might not do regarding video games in an upcoming episode.

To recap, we first learned that Dr. Phil planned to probe the game violence issue. This set many readers off, thanks to Dr. Phil's ill-informed comments about game violence in relation to the Virginia Tech massacre earlier this year.

Next, Jack Thompson weighed in, claiming that he'd been approached by Dr. Phil's producer as a "game violence specialist." However, Thompson said, the focus of the show had been re-directed from game violence to MMO addiction. GP notes that a solicitation on the Dr. Phil website seeks parents of teens addicted to Second Life.

In the latest glimpse into how mainstream TV puts together a show on video game issues, we heard from Andrew Bub, the highly-regarded Gamer Dad. Andrew reports that he was also approached by Dr. Phil's people:

It's beginning to look as if the focus of the much-discussed Dr. Phil episode has shifted to MMO addiction, not game violence.

GamePolitics reported on anti-game attorney Jack Thompson's comments to that effect yesterday. And then there is this solicitation on the Dr. Phil website, seeking parents whose teen spends all of his/her time playing Second Life:

Are you worried your teen is so consumed with the online game, Second Life, that they aren't paying attention to their own life?  Have they bragged about earning money and getting a job in the game but haven't moved from the computer screen in days?  Are you worried what they're doing in the game and if it's safe?  Does your teen argue with you that it's all innocent?  Tell us your story.

Here's something we like to see - a game publisher who is concerned about gamer rights.

Erik Bethke, CEO of GoPets, an animal-based MMO in beta, has offered a $5,000 bounty for help in creating, among other things, a EULA that outlines the rights afforded to gamers' online avatars.

Bethke writes:

We have long recognized the importance private property in GoPets but so far we have not taken any formal steps to ensure property rights to our citizens and now believe that formal recognition and other tangible forms of human and property rights will accelerate our commercial goals...

We would like to reach as high as possible to achieve the natural rights as expressed in the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights...

The ‘governing rules’ should not be developed in a private conversation with our excellent corporate lawyers but instead with the people who are active in both the research of the legal and economic issues of online worlds, other creators of worlds and most important to are the people who will actually use these governing rules to their own benefit.

Bethke, who maintains that, in terms of avatar rights, Second Life's EULA compares unfavorably with that of North Korea's constitution, recommends noted game designer Raph Koster’s 2000 treatise on the rights of avatars.

Some of the rights favored  by Bethke include:

-Due Process & Habeas Corpus  (instead of the usual ban hammer, a player tribunal, perhaps?)

-Right to free avatar expression and assembly

-Non discrimination

-Right to transfer your whole account to another individual (you listening, Blizzard?)

-Compensating users for service outages

-Permitting mashups and fan art

-Welcoming user-created content 

Via: Second Thoughts...

The 3-D online world of Second Life has been a popular hangout of late for politicians seeking to appeal to tech-savvy voters. But the SL metaverse can also be used to spread a somewhat loftier message.

Writing in Rome-based journal La Civilta Cattolica, Antonio Spadaro, a Jesuit academic, cites the popular MMO as a valuable resource for spreading the word of God.  After all, Second Life is currently home to numerous virtual churches encompassing a variety of religions.  Many SLers have already discovered organized virtual prayer.

Of course, many players also participate in the sort of virtual activities that Church leaders would find, shall we say, less than godly. Spadaro warns his fellow Catholics that while “the erotic dimension is very present” in SL, they should keep an open mind and seize the opportunity reach more people.  He writes:

Is there (cyber) space for God?  ...It's not possible to close our eyes to this phenomenon or rush to judge it. Instead it needs to be understood... the best way to understand it is to enter it...

While the virtual world might be a refuge for some people seeking to flee the real one, it is also full of people seeking something more from life, including, possibly, religious enlightenment.

Deep down, the digital world can be considered, in its way, mission territory. Second Life is somewhere where the opportunity to meet people and to grow should not be missed, therefore, any initiative that can inspire the residents in a positive way should be considered opportune.

Via: Reuters

-Reporting from San Diego, GP Correspondent Andrew Eisen

The Wonkette hasn't been quite as funny since Ana Marie Cox moved on, but it's still good for a politically-oriented larf.

And so it is that the well-known Beltway blog picked up on the recent, exceedingly silly tale involving Kirby, swastikas, and an aide to presidential candidate Mike Gravel. From the Wonkette:

“Second Life” is this internet thing that is kind of like The Sims but with more furries and anonymous strangers purchasing huge virtual genitalia with which to virtually penetrate one another. Also it’s a hotbed of modern politics!

Second Life News Network (oh, how we wish were making this up) reported last week (DATELINE — BASTIAT) that “the new Kirby Avatar Emporium” had been vandalized...

Mike Gravel has yet to respond to this flagrant example of Second Life racism by someone who may or may not be a member of his staff, kind of, except to urge voters to “follow the money,” suggesting that Kirby’s campaign is funded by and for Big Dream Land Bankers and Pop Star hedge fund managers.

With each passing day, GP becomes less convinced that the online world of Second Life is politically relevant.

Witness the outcome of the Kirby "scandal" we covered last week. Readers may recall that an aide to an unnamed senator claimed his account was used by a houseguest to deface images of Nintendo's Kirby character with swastikas and the words Kirby hates our troops.

There were unanswered questions in the badly written item on Second Life News Network, most prominently, which senator was involved and what exactly happened? MediaLoper waded into the confusion yesterday with a detailed report that answers most of the questions but which at the same time makes the idea of Second Life as a serious political venue seem ludicrous. From MediaLoper:

It's not often that Nintendo's cuddly Kirby gets mentioned in the same breath with swastikas.

But according to the Second Life News Network, an under-construction store designed to cater to "all of your cell-shaded Kirby needs" was vandalized on Saturday. Swastikas and the words "Kirby hates our troops" were used to deface the site.

Okay, vandalism and griefing goes on all the time in SL. What's unique about this case is SLNN's claim that the defacing was done using the account of an intern for an unnamed U.S. senator:

A campaign manager for the senator, who asked SLNN not to associate the "intolerant acts" with the senator or his campaign, offered an explanation about how the graffiti got there.

"When the incident took place, the intern was en route to the senator's national office in Washington, and had a house guest... his house guest utilized his account to explore Second Life, as it were..."

The campaign manager said the incident would not hurt the senator's campaign. "As the staffer was not in charge of his avatar whilst the intolerant acts were committed, I see little reason for him to start anew with a new avatar..."

SLNN also reports that the owner of the Kirby Emporium, who goes by Intlibber Brautigan, in-game was annoyed:

One has to wonder in this age of Homeland Security, that a congressional staffer, who may have highly sensitive information on his PC, leaves his password on a post-it on his desk.

GP: SLNN needs to do a much better job of explaining this story. Why not name the senator? And what is Nintendo's relationship - if any - to the defaced Kirby Emporium?

A virtual police academy?

Perhaps.

With corporations and politicians increasingly turning to the popular MMO Second Life in order to reach their target audience, law enforcement is taking an interest as well.

The Vancouver Sun reports that the city's police department will run a recruitment center in SL, staffed by officers in custom VPD uniforms, complete with badge, belt and radio. Recruiters are looking for web and tech-savvy individuals, and reasoned that online communities were a likely place to start. Insp. Kevin McQuiggin, head of the department's tech crimes division, explains: