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July 09, 2007, 02:31 PM ET
Blogosphere Weighs in on Death of Woodbury U.
Since Linden Lab last month deleted the digital version of Woodbury University from the virtual world Second Life, bloggers have debated online not only whether the severe step was justified, but also what might have prompted it.
Mark Wallace, a freelance journalist, accuses the San Francisco-based company of "poor judgment" in its handling of the matter. Sure, unruly avatars--digital characters--apparently destroyed regions of Second Life and harassed other avatars using Woodbury Island as their home base, he writes in his blog. But officials of Woodbury U., which owns the island, weren't themselves engaged in the destructive behavior. Linden Lab should have identified and punished the true digital criminals, Wallace argues, especially since they're part of a clan that has caused trouble in Second Life for years.
But Sean Fitzgerald, an Australian technology consultant, says Linden Lab was justified in deleting Woodbury Island. At best, administrators of the region allowed the violent avatars to operate there; at worst, they joined in the mischief, he wrote in an e-mail message.
Besty Stoll, in the blog Binary Footprint, says that while Woodbury was "naive and negligent" in monitoring its island, Linden Lab was "very bad about communicating to its customers about problems." --Andrea L. Foster
Categories: Virtual-Worlds
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