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Silly me. I thought the only controversy in Second Life might be the excessive time some participants spend in world. Wrong. There is a group of users now calling themselves the Second Life Liberation Army, serious about protesting the encroachment of big companies like Sony and IBM into SL. They carry on in world protests and counsels, deliberately "griefing" other groups they resent, mostly corporate entities. They are demanding that Linden Lab (SL's creator) put an end to "corporate control" as they wish to set up their own independent, virtual government including voting rights. Linden Lab doesn't respond, assuming their activites are done tongue-in-cheek. But the movement is gaining momentum and attention. This YouTube video is a BBC news article about the controversy (and yes there are equally venemous right-wing groups). Just when you thought it was peaceful in paradise...(by the way, listen close and you'll get a chuckle out of the female newscaster's pronunciation of the word "avatar" in the introduction)

WOOOOOW. I don't know if that's funny or sad or strange or all f the above. I think people are taking their Gaming a little too seriously. I wonder what these people do in the real life to have enough time to 'protest' ads and corporate placement in SL. DId they really think something that is this big and gaining in popularity would remain untouched by Big Biz forever? Come on now, everything is for sale! Linden needs to make money some how to keep it all up and running. I think people need to step away from the computer once in a while and go outside and live life....

Controversial. Scary. Effective. A young woman is using SL to allow users to experience a virtual imprisonment in Camp Delta at Guantanamo Bay. She focuses on a former prisoner, a British national, whose father reads letters from his son while he was imprisoned. The project is called "Gone Gitmo" and presents the idea that such imprisonment is unconstitutional. Avatars experience realistic recreations of camp "cells" and questions are raised about the suspension of Habeas Corpus rights. Whether one finds this appealing or appalling, it certainly evokes emotion and demonstrates the power of virtual worlds as a learning environment.