When Linden Research, a software firm in San Francisco, created Second Life in 2003, it was hailed as the perfect sign of our times — an online avenue for millions of people to lead anonymous lives just as they would want in real-life fantasies.
Second Life has its own economy, its own currency and transactions, and its own lifestyles, complete with friends, spouses and partners. Two countries — the Maldives and Sweden — have even set up virtual embassies online.
Of late, though, Second Life has been at the centre of controversies spurred by the sexual behaviour of its residents. Last month, Germany launched an investigation into an incident where an animated child character was seen engaging in a sexual act with an adult character.
Earlier this year, Belgian police investigated the alleged rape of a virtual character by another Second Life ‘resident’. While web watchers dismiss this as nothing more than digital fiction, a Washington Post report on Saturday has again stirred up the debate whether online worlds need law-enforcement agencies just like in real life.
