View Full Forums : Virtual Law


B_Delacroix
02-07-2005, 12:42 PM
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6870901/

I can't believe I didn't see this one here yet.

Interesting read and interesting concept to think about. Given this forum's penchant for political 'discussion' and being that it is on a MMORPG board this should fit nicely.

Follun
02-07-2005, 04:15 PM
Leave it to the corporate giants to take something good and ruin it for everybody. :mad2:

Tiane
02-07-2005, 05:17 PM
Some skip Dungeons & Dragon-style role-playing altogether in favor of a free-form world not unlike a virtual "Burning Man."
What the heck is a virtual burning man?

We've had threads about each of the cases mentioned in the article. Since the important ones are unresolved, it's still too early to really say anything.

I do think that 19th century ideas of intellectual property need revision, though. Trying to enforce such things in a digital information age is a foolish waste of energy. Just like the war on drugs, there is no way you can win that fight. But you can profit off of it... just look at Apple... and give the customers what they would be getting anyway.

Silxie
02-07-2005, 05:48 PM
Burning Man festivals were basically temporary autonomous zones in the middle of the desert. People would gather, bringing only what they could drive in with, and create art (often with fire) out there where it couldnt hurt anyone. The unique thing about Burning Man is that there were no cops, no laws, and normal standards of decency were suspended. By being there, you agreed to waive all normal protections... so lots of people ran around naked and broke all kinds of taboos. The original idea of a lawless (truly free) temporary community where anything goes is what I think was meant by a "virtual burning man" -- you get a blank slate in a virtual world and what you create is only up to the people who populate it.

Unfortunately real autonomous zones are temporary by nature. Chaos has a hard time holding on. While virtual spaces are being poked at by real life law, the burning man has become a victim of its own popularity -- a "buy your tickets here" and "advertise here" zone... and it is policed.

http://www.burningman.com