News.com.au - Terrorists in SL
July 31, 2007
Mainstream media reporting of Second Life in Australia has a mixed track record, and one of the biggest low points would have to be in this article on the news.com.au website published today. It can also be found on The Australian website.
The article starts off regurgitating the (never confirmed) accusation that the 22nd May issues with ABC Island were due to a ‘bomb’. Then it goes further downhill from there, describing how “landscapes are razed and residents are wounded or killed” after an attack by the SL Liberation Army.
It seems doubtful that the article’s author, Natalie O’Brien, has spent more than ten minutes in SL given the range of other factual errors contained in the story. Here’s one more example to get you worked up: “This terror campaign, which has been waged during the past six months, has left a trail of dead and injured, and caused hundreds of thousands of dollars’ damage”.
The sad thing is, the shoddy premise of the article overshadows the legitimate concern about the power of virtual worlds for use in criminal pursuits. Yes, terrorists groups COULD use streaming video in SL to broadcast propaganda or training. But why would you bother? I suppose potential terrorists may believe the misinformation about being able to wound or kill people in SL and decide they’ll register for some killing fun. My, how they’ll be disappointed.
Popularity: 8% [?]
Discuss on our forums
Comments
Add New Comment
Viewing 8 Comments
Thanks. Your comment is awaiting approval by a moderator.
Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.
Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.
Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.
Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9Jd5RxGDIc
Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.
By the way, that ABC "griefing" incident that was later found out to be a server error ... everyone is tut tutting the press for getting it wrong. But it was the ABC that put out a press release saying the island had been attacked by griefers.
You can see the press release here (even thought it says "news story", it's from the ABC media unit):
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/05/22/1...
Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.
Yes there are terrorists in SL, they are called griefers. Yes they are a pain, but they do not kill people in the real sense of the word.
This imbicile reporter needs to get out in the real world and experience real world events, such as having a loaded rifle pointed in your direction. Now that's scary.
Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.
Here's what the journo says at the start of that article:
"THE bomb hit the ABC's headquarters, destroying everything except one digital transmission tower. The force of the blast left Aunty's site a cratered mess."
Then she later admits:
"The ABC has discovered that its bomb was a computer server error that it was able to fix within a couple of hours."
Although even here she is still calling it a bomb.
At the end of the article it says:
Natalie O'Brien is a senior writer on The Australian.
HMMMMM.
Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.
Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.
http://www.brandrepublic.com/Blogs/showpost/fb1...
Oh dear....
Add New Comment
Trackbacks