A Rape in Cyberspace redux: Belgian Police Investigate Second Life Incident

Dizzy points to a Wired story gleaned from continental sources. But the scene of the crime is the six million populated virtual world Second Life.

Julian Dibbell (hypertext CV) aka Dr Bombay's 1993 Village Voice piece, from which this post gets its name, dealt with Mr Bungle and his sex crimes in Lambda Moo. The classic updated version is HERE. Wired offer comparisons with obscene calls and harrassment on the telephone where the same remedies such as hanging up apply. And these activities are recognised as criminal as are grooming and trading categories of images. Why not vile harrassment, vile threats and vile incitement online?

Lambda Moo is the mamma of all the more intellectual MOOs. Laurie Anderson and many others have been home there. Even your blogger LOL, whose sarky admin (or wizard as they like to call themselves, hey this is old school) at ATHEMoo (moved from Lambda, which is hosted at U of Virginia, to Hawaii) as "Zippy" because way back when - 15 years ago - I was not by then the quickest tapper on the virtual block.