Virtual Spying
Surveillance appears to be as popular in virtual worlds as it is in the real one. In a post to Terra Nova, PARC computer scientist Eric Nickell discusses life as a "virtual intelligence analyst." Nickell works on PARC's PlayOn project, analyzing data gleaned from online multiplayer games like World of Warcraft. It's interesting work, but Nickell's implicit analogy between government surveillance and data mining done for quality of service, add-on coding, and research purposes is somewhat strained. Until subversives and insurgents start communicating through WoW — an unlikely scenario given what Blizzard could reveal about those connecting to its service — data monitoring in virtual worlds will have almost no impact on real life, at least in terms of politics. In fact, oppressive regimes are probably happy to have their citizens plugged into virtual worlds killing dragons rather than marching in the streets.
