And the game of MegaUpload emerges. Well played folks, well played… Here’s the news blurb.

Last week, the Internet successfully stopped SOPA and PIPA from passing into legislation after a massive protest in which most major Internet companies and sites participated. The protest was the last installment in the saga of what has come to be defined as copyright wars that has been going on between the Internet and the entertainment industries. The last big incident that happened in this front was the Fall of 2010 when MPAA and RIAA fought to shut down The Pirate Bay and the hacker collective Anonymous took down 20 some sites in order to help defend the file sharing site.

We all knew that it wasn’t going to end there and it didn’t. This time, the entertainment industry lobbied to pass the aforementioned outrageous bills that bore the potential to cripple the true essence of the Internet. After a full day blackout, most members of the congress wouldn’t even touch the bills with a ten-foot pole. The victory of the Internet was glorious, it was beautiful, it was magical, and alas, it was too short. We all knew that there was going to be a comeback of some sort, we just didn’t think it would be the next day.

On Jan 19 2011, MegaUpload, one of the largest file-sharing sites on the Internet, was shut down by federal prosecutors in Virginia after an abrupt raid conducted by the FBI. The site’s founder Kim Dotcom and three others were arrested by the police in New Zealand and all his assets including his luxury cars were seized and the site was taken offline. The charges are racketeering, money laundering and copyright infringement. The summary of the indictment can be found here.

While the users who were storing their personal and business files onto the server got infinitely irate (though one wonders why you would store such data there to begin with), others were wondering if the Feds can bust sites like MegaUpload like this, why bother having bills like SOPA and PIPA. The very next day, Anonymous dutifully took to the task and launched a cyber attack against the usual suspects using not so kosher strategies.

Looking at Dotcom’s assets, I cannot whole-heartedly bring myself to sympathize with the guy one iota although I know, fully well, that the outcome of this case will be used against the Internet in general and the freedom we enjoy here.

The issue here, as noted in this post, is that there are two types of piracies, one that really should be the concern of the entertainment industry and the other that the source of creativity. The first one includes underground sites and networks dedicated to trading copyrighted music, software, games, and movies and are determined to elude regulations and have the technology to do so. The second kind type is when some fan remixes preexisting content and uploads it to YouTube.

The truth of the matter here is that the Internet really didn’t protest to protect the likes of Megaupload, which fall under the first category, but rather, its goal was to protect the latter which is the source of cultural creativity, as noted by Lawrence Lessig, Siva Vaidhyanathan, and others. The problem with the actions of the entertainment industry is that it fails to make the distinction between these two categories. More to the point, as long as they try to strengthen copyright laws like this, there will always be a market for underground sites that promote copyright infringement and illegal uploading. It is a losing battle, really.

Here is the syllabus of the virtual worlds course that I’ll be teaching this term at Lawrence University. It is still in revision, so I’ll be updating it till it is finalized.

Pwnd!!!
Order, Conflict, & Unrest in Virtual Worlds
Winter 2012

Instructor: Dr. Burcu S. Bakioglu
Meeting: TR 2:30PM-4:20PM
Office Hours: TR 12:00PM- 1:30PM and by appointment @Mursell House

Why study virtual worlds? While some view virtual worlds as a niche phenomenon enjoyed by a group of geeks, others perceive it as a growing reality. Those who are in the latter camp note an exodus into these worlds as a growing number of people lead alternative existence in these synthetic environments. Thousands of people are spending time in World of Warcraft, Second Life, Eve Online, and various other worlds. Players trade and sell virtual loot for hundreds and even thousands of dollars. Users open virtual businesses, get married, and hold funerals in these spaces. Regardless of the platform, these worlds have successfully built their own economies, transactions, interactions, social norms, and cultures.

This course investigates various virtual worlds including gaming worlds, social worlds, and kid/teen worlds in order to gain an in-depth understanding of how their designs elicit specific governance models. Throughout the course, students will develop the necessary skills for engaging in various virtual worlds in order to understand the significance of the contractual agreements that take place between users and virtual world developers. In doing so, the course will introduce and discuss the key players who take part in the governance of these worlds and interrogate the limits of legal jurisdiction over them. Examining the economic dimensions of these worlds will also extend the conversation onto the nature of online intellectual property and copyright debates and allow us to explore other issues that arise specifically in these worlds, in particular griefing and goldfarming.

In addition to a take-home midterm, final paper, and an accumulative final exam, students are
expected blog weekly. Gaming and engaging in virtual worlds several hours a week both in and outside of class will be mandatory.

Goals for Student Learning
• Develop the necessary skills for engaging in various virtual worlds including game worlds, social worlds, and teen/kid social worlds.
• Examine the different governance styles and the legal jurisdiction of virtual worlds.
• Gain an in-depth understanding of the different actors that take part in the governance of virtual worlds.
• Understand the significance of the contractual agreements that take place between users and virtual world developers.
• Examine the economic dimensions of virtual worlds and the significance of property and copyright in these realms.
• Explore other issues that arise in virtual worlds.

*Ability and willingness to use technology and the Internet is a prerequisite for this course as students will be expected to blog, twitter, use various technologies required for class participation. Be advised that students may encounter offensive language and sexually explicit content in this course. You may wish to choose another course if this presents a problem.
*Gaming and engaging in virtual worlds several hours a week both in and outside of class will be mandatory.
*Special thanks to The Virtual Policy Network

COURSE WORK

Because the subject-matter of this class is virtual worlds, students will be required to spend around three hours a week (if not more) in various worlds, gaming, exploring its structures, and interacting with others in these worlds. You will also be required to read/browse sites, blogs, and wikis that relate to virtual worlds and attend a film screening on raiding. One of our primary game worlds will the Lord of the Rings Online because our computer lab can support its hardware specifications. Although it also has a free play version, I would like you to purchase a two-month gaming card for $29.99 from http://store.turbine.com/store/turbine/en_US/DisplayHomePage so we can enjoy the world in its full capacity.

TECHNOLOGY: Our class has a Moodle page. In this page, you can find our syllabus, class requirements, additional background information that will help you understand your readings, useful URLs to online articles, websites, and links to web videos. Students are expected to visit our Moodle site regularly and use it to get updates on the course. I also strongly urge you to add any links you find useful on our class wiki. Please come to class having read the readings and bring a printed copy of the reading assigned for that day.

You will need to open accounts on the following sites during the first week of class and add the URL of your site onto our class wiki:
• Blogger (You will be following the students who are in your blog group and comment on their posts)
• You will also be expected to open accounts in various virtual worlds.

Following is an incomplete list of virtual worlds some of which you will be expected to open accounts in:

• Game worlds
RuneScape
Lord of the Rings Online (12Gb):
PC
MAC
DC Universe (30Gb)
Football Superstars (5Gb)
EvE Online (20Gb)

• Kids Social / Game Worlds
Habbo Hotel
Club Penguin
ToonTown
Mosh Monsters
Whyville
Dofus

• Other
Second Life
MineCraft

Wiki forums: I will use our class Wiki to post announcements, important URLs and some class notes, and study questions. What do you do in the forums?

• I will post study questions about our weekly readings in advance. These questions will likely be used in your weekly quizzes. Do not wait on the questions to be posted to start your readings as they will be posted the night before class. Please remember that this is merely a courtesy on my part. It is up to you to do your readings for each class.
• Post any questions, troublesome areas about the daily readings. I expect everyone to read these questions and help your fellow classmates out. Sometimes you will get my response, but mostly others respond before I do.
• If you see anything interesting (relevant or not relevant to our readings) and you want to share them with others you may post them here as well.
• Class announcements will be posted in the forums too.

Don’t be embarrassed to come to class with any questions you may have. Chances are, someone else has the same questions.

READINGS: For each class you will have approximately 50-60 pages of reading, some days even less. Your readings will mostly be on the e-reserve or Moodle, however, some may be found online. I have also noted secondary materials. These are fun easy things to read, watch, or browse. While your quizzes will not be from these materials, they may be useful for your blog assignment and will allow you to understand our readings better. Please come to class with a printed copy of your reading for the day. While reading the assignments, you may want to consider the following questions as guidelines when doing your readings and watching the videos assigned for the week:

• What is the author’s main idea?
• What ideas in the article intrigue you most and why? Explain.
• Can you find any examples from your own daily experience in reading books, surfing the Internet, and playing videogames that relate to some of the ideas in the article? Explain.

Midterm Paper 20%: There will be one take-home essay with two questions from your readings.

Final Paper 20%: Students will have to write an 8-10 page paper demonstrating their understanding of the readings covered after the midterm. This will be formal essay that includes a thesis statement and supporting ideas and will have to be free of any spelling and grammar errors. You will be expected to cite from class readings. The topic and guidelines will be provided later.

Final Exam 25%: You are expected to open a free blogging account at http://www.blogger.com/ and add the URL of your blogs to the class Wiki.
So what’s the assignment here?
Virtual Worlds Journal: These posts will be recounting your personal experience in virtual worlds using the topics that we discuss in class each week. These posts will be due on Fridays by 5:00PM. Late posts will result in point deduction. Steps:
• On most weeks I will give you a topic to write about but the format will mostly be the following.
• Read the assigned article and find one of the primary arguments of the reading assigned for each reading that you find intriguing or find problematic. Explain this argument.
• Summarize your experience as it relates to the argument.
• Analyze in your blog post how this experience relates to the idea that you read in the article. It may reinforce the idea expressed by the author, expand on it, or downright refute it.
• Read and edit what you have written.
• Post.
• The entry needs to be at least three paragraphs in length.

Towards the end of the semester, I will let you re-write two of your lowest blog posts for a higher grade, but these rewrites will be graded out of a 9, meaning rewrites will cost you a point.

Note: It is always easier to write your post on a Word document, edit for spelling and grammar errors, and then post it on your blog. Remember, writing online does not justify poor writing and everyone can read it, so save yourself the embarrassment by editing your posts prior to publishing them online. Suggested length for each blog post is half a page to page and a half, double-spaced, and be sure to break the text into paragraphs (remember the rule: a new idea, a new paragraph). These posts must be well-thought and should provide some insight into current events or online content.

Quizzes 5%: You will have weekly quizzes in this course. The study questions will be posted on the forums.

Participation/Attendance 5%: ATTENDANCE AND CLASS PARTICIPATION DOES COUNT, so make sure you do not miss more than two classes (excused or unexcused). Any absences after that will result in 1/3rd of a letter reduction in your final grade. You will automatically fail the course if you miss 1/3rd of the class sessions in the course. I expect you to arrive to class on time and leave only when it concludes. Please let me know ahead of time if you need to miss a class, but be aware that notifying me does not excuse your absence. Any documentation regarding a serious illness or a family urgency will have to be required within a week of the absence. But, again, you will use your two absences for those days. I won’t be granting you extra absence. I will not retroactively excuse absences at the end of the term.

Useful Links:
Terra Nova
LOTRO Wiki
Guide for players in LOTRO
Leveling guide from 1-30
Essential MMO terms
Full MMORPG Terms Glossary

CODE OF CONDUCT IN VIRTUAL WORLDS:

As this course progresses, you will find out that your experience in virtual worlds is similar to your experience in real life: you’ll find nice people as well as jerks in these spaces. You’ll experience things that are divine and you’ll witness some questionable things. Here are some guidelines to help you keep your sanity and prepare you for the brave new world that you will be introduced throughout the semester:
• There will be jerks that will bully you, call you called nasty names, and push you around. Word of the wise: log off.
• There will be offensive content that you may see. If you are one to get easily offended, log off or go to a different region.
• Be a chief, don’t grief. Remember, you are representing Lawrence University and you should always keep that in mind. Lame and inappropriate behavior has no place in a collegiate setting.
• If you plan on griefing, however, create a throwaway account that has no attachment to your real life identity (no credit cards) and use your personal computer and NOT Lawrence University computers. When accounts get banned, Game Gods ban the IP address of the offending computer. This means the university computer would be out of commission and no one else can use that computer to log on to the virtual world in which the offense was committed. If you use the wireless on campus, chances are, you’ll be found out regardless. Use the wireless at an Internet Café instead.
• Do not reveal any information that pertains to your real life under any circumstances. This includes name, address, social security number, phone number, or any personal information unless you are certain that you know the person in real life.
• This is a silly warning to note here, but you’d be surprised at how many offers you will get: Do not accept to video cam with ANYONE unless you are willing to star in the next porn video and risk your chances of becoming the future president of the United States of America.

GRADE OVERVIEW:

Blogging Assignment (15%): Blog, you will get a chance to re-write two of your lowest blogs at the end of the semester.
Midterm Paper (20%): Take home essay
Final Paper(20%): Take home essay
Final Exam (25%): Accumulative exam
Technical Benchmarks (10%): Meeting all technical benchmarks in a timely fashion.
Quizzes (5%)
Participation & Attendance (5%)
• You have two excused (with sick note) or unexcused absences. More than 2 absences will result in 1/3 letter grade deduction.
• Attendance does not mean participation. So be active in class and online in some way.

TENTATIVE SCHEDULE

Week 1

Introduction: What Are Virtual Worlds?

January 3
The Virtual Policy Network.“The Virtual World Primer”
Kzer Universe, “Virtual Worlds: Industry and User Data”

January 5
Bartle, R. “Introduction to Virtual Worlds: Some Definitions,” Designing Virtual Worlds.
Bartle, R. “Introduction to Virtual Worlds: What They Are and Whence They Came,” Designing Virtual Worlds.
Lastowka, G. “History,” Virtual Justice.
Screening: The Raid

Technical benchmark:
• Review the LOTRO guide and select a race/class for your first toon.
• Review your toon’s characteristics.
• Open a blogger account.

Week 2

Exploring Virtual Worlds

January 10
Bartle, R. ” HEARTS, CLUBS, DIAMONDS, SPADES: PLAYERS WHO SUIT MUDS”
Grimmelmann, J. “Virtual Power Politics,” The State of Play: Law, Games, & Virtual Worlds.

January 12
Taylor, T.L. Gaming Lifeworlds: Social Play in Persistent Environments. Play Between Worlds: Exploring Online Game Culture.
Lab day

Technical benchmark:
• Open an account in LOTRO and Second Life.
• Review your toon’s characteristics and begin questing.
• Level up your LOTRO toon to level 10.
• Purchase two-month gaming card

Week 3

Governance, Jurisdiction, Stakeholders, & EULA

January 17
Lastowka, G. “Jurisdiction,” Virtual Justice.
Johnson, D.R. & Post, D. “Law and Borders–The Rise of Law in Cyberspace,” Stan. L. Rev.

January 19
Mnookin, J., 2001. “Virtual(ly) Law: The Emergence of Law in LambdaMOO,” Crypto Anarchy, Cyberstates and Pirate Utopias.

Lab day

Technical benchmark: Level up your LOTRO toon to level 15.

Week 4

January 24
Castronova, E. “Governance,” Synthetic Worlds.
Student presentations on EULAs: Eve Online, Second Life, Minecraft

Virtual Economy & Property

January 26
Balkin, J.M.“Virtual liberty: freedom to design and freedom to play in virtual worlds.

Lab day

Technical benchmark:
• Level up your LOTRO toon to level 20.

Week 5

January 31
Castronova, E. “The Economics of Fun: Behavior & Design,” Synthetic Worlds.
Lastowka, G. “Property.” Virtual Justice.

February 2
Ondrejka, C. “Escaping the Gilded Cage: User-Created Content and Building the Metaverse,” The State of Play: Law, Games, & Virtual Worlds.
Lab day

Technical benchmark:
• Create a virtual object in Second Life using the building tool. You might want to browse the catalogs of online stores for ideas.

Week 9:

Kids Online

February 7
Kurbalija, J. “Child Safety Online,” An Introduction to Internet Governance.
Federal Trade Commision. Virtual World & Kids: Mapping the Risks

February 9 TBA
Lab day: Class presentations on kid/teen worlds.
Midterm papers, due.

Technical benchmark: Open accounts in various kid/teen worlds such as Habbo Hotel, Penguin Club, Whyville, and Toontown. Spend at least an hour in the worlds that you have been assigned to for the week exploring what you can and cannot do in these worlds. Go over the EULA and the websites. You will be expected to do a class presentation on these worlds.

Week 6

Issues in Online Worlds: Protest

February 14
Au, W.J. “Burning the House Down.” The Making of Second Life.

February 16
Kolbert, E. “DEPT OF GAMING PIMPS AND DRAGONS: How an online world survived a social breakdown,” New Yorker.
Lab day

Technical benchmark: Get a story lead from the Alphaville Herald Editrix Pixeleen Mistral and began investigating the story.

Week 5

Issues in Online Worlds: Goldfarming

February 21
Heeks, R. “Current Analysis and Future Research Agenda on ‘Gold Farming’: Real-World Production in Developing Countries for the Virtual Economies of Online Games,” Development Informatics Working Paper Series. (selections)

February 23
Dibbell, J. “Gold Farmers,” Play Money: Or How I Quit My Day Job and Made Millions Trading Virtual Loot.
Skype guest presentation by Paul Marino, lead cinematic designer at Bioware.

Lab day

Technical benchmark: Find an auction house and place two items on sale to be auctioned off and buy two items.

Week 7

Issues in Online Worlds: Griefing and Unrest

February 28
Foo, C.Y. & Koivisto, E.M. (2004). “Defining grief play in MMORPGs: player and developer perceptions,” Proceedings of the 2004 ACM SIGCHI International Conference on Advances in computer entertainment technology.
Dibbell, J. “A Rape in Cyberspace”
Dibbell, J. “Mutilated Furries, Flying Phalluses: Put the Blame on Griefers, the Sociopaths of the Virtual World,” Wired

March 1
Ludlow, P. & Mark Wallace.”The Death of Urizenus,” The Second Life Herald: The Virtual Tabloid That Witnessed to Dawn of the Metaverse.
Au, W.J. “Building Walls, Defending Territory: Border disputes and Culture Clashing in War’s Shadow.” The Making of Second Life.
Lab day

Technical benchmark: Write a blog post reporting on an in-world story that you received from Pixeleen Mistral.

Week 10

Participatory Governance/Future

March 6
Zwart, M. “Piracy vs. Control: Models of Virtual World Governance and Their Impact on Player and User Experience,” Journal of Virtual Worlds Research.

March 8
Taylor, T.L. “Beyond Management: Considering Participatory Design & Governance in Player Culture”

Farewell

Final exam: TBA

My presentation at the IAMCR 2011, Istanbul, went swimmingly. I had a small but very engaging crowd and received lot’s of useful comments. I thank my audience for coming out to one of the last sessions of the conference & making it a very interesting hour for me.

This is a re-framing of my MIT7 presentation. Here, I discuss hacktivism within the context of tactical media and consider Operation Payback as a significant initiative that led the Anons to start actively embracing hacktivism as a part of their identity.

Not too long ago Peter Ludlow noted that the recent prominence of Internet activist groups such as Wikileaks is symptomatic of a new generation of hacktivist culture that is quickly transforming from a small underground subculture into mainstream culture for a younger generation. Calling this new generation of hacktivists “Generation W,” Peter Ludlow observed that this group grew up in the era of George W. Bush’s neo-imperialism and its attendant war against transparency, and not surprisingly, is taking Wikileaks as its model.

There have been tell tale sign of this too. Case in point, Operation Payback is a Bitch was launched first against the media giants and (accidentally) resulted in leaking confidential documents of a law firm (ACS:Law) which had been engaging in shady business dealings over copyright issues. This leak not only resulted in exposing the confidential e-mails of the law firm, but also (perhaps sadly so), leaking the names and information of all the alleged porn downloaders who, I suspect, would have preferred not to have their private matters splashed all over the Internet. Later the same operation was used against oppressive governments of Africa in support of the activists who were protesting on the ground.

The question is this: have these attempts been successful enough to be taken seriously? Or are they the temper tantrums of a group of juvies pissed off at their parents? If they are grounded on occasion and we wait long enough, will they eventually settle down?

It turns out the group of boys upped the ante last week. Andy Greenberg of Forbes announced that a new initiative has been launched by the hacker collective that we have known to love as Anonymous: HackerLeaks. The goal of the group is remarkably similar to that of WikiLeaks: it invites users to submit hacked data for analysis and publication. HackerLeaks operatives will receive documents through anonymous submission channel, analyze them, and then distribute them to the press.

It works, however, differently than WikiLeaks in fundamental ways. Instead of waiting for insider whistleblowers, the hacker movement Anonymous hopes that a few outside intruders would be engaging in the leaking.

Legal repercussions of such an enterprise set aside, I question the success of this initiative in the long run. Its failure may not come from the legal front (though I am not sure how long “We’re not hacking, we’re merely publishing” excuse will hold), but rather, that we are living in an age ruled by the attention economy as described by Michael H. Goldhaber. In other words, the main issue, today, is not the scarcity of content or data, but that of attention.

How do you distribute data to the press to get “maximum exposure and political impact” in an era where “leaking” operations are quickly becoming the norm rather than the anomaly? Already, other leaking sites have popped up. How much data can we absorb and get worked up over? These are the challenges that are facing HackerLeaks.

Even Julian Assange had his own set of problems when he started his operation in 2006. He immediately sought to bring in Daniel Ellsberg as the public figure of the group, but Ellsberg declined claiming that such an enterprise was untenable (at the time).

One of his first important leaks, the video that showed the US Apache chopper opening fire and killing a group of civilians, including a couple of employees of Reuters news agency premiered at the National Press Club in Washington on April 5th. Much to his dismay, the video entitled “Collateral Murder” had little impact, if any.

Disappointed with the results, he made a deal with major newspapers, The Guardian, The New York Times, Der Spiegel with the release of the Afgan and Iraq war logs and the US diplomatic cables. Outside of his agreement with these newspapers, Assange offered an exclusive interview to Channel 4, CNN, and Al Jazeera just to publicize the leaks that were about to take place. By forming alliances with the main stream media outlets (which he doesn’t think much highly of)he was able to succeed in getting the impact he wanted in this attention economy.

Not that Anonymous lacks the media exposure by any means. Anonymous operations that have involved attacks on MPAA & RIAA to defend The Pirate Bay, or the ones on Visa, MasterCard, and PayPal in retaliation for their severing ties with WikiLeaks, as well as attacks on the governments of Tunisia, Iran, and Egypt have consistently kept them on the news for the last couple of years. Indeed, they have established connections with the media. But they have not consistently occupied the front page of mainstream media outlets as Wikileaks have. So the question remains… will HackerLeaks be successful in the long run?

Tizzers Foxchase’s battle station:

My battle station where I write Griefer Wars:

On screen: Tizzers Foxchase flirting with the Patriotic Nigras, On desk: Griefer chatlogs

Unlike the rest of the staff here, I am not a journalist, no sir, I am not. I am primarily a researcher. And my research recently developed towards hacktivism. So, as many of us do in these circumstances, I put a Google alert on the term “hacktivism.”

Today, I was stunned to see a link  from Krypton Radio hit under the alert! Whaaaa??? For my non-Second Life readers, Krypton Radio is the media outlet for JLU, an anti-griefing organization in SL, kind of like Fox news if you will. They fight crime in SL. Kind of like Fox and Friends. Before I say anything more, let me be clear: I am not condoning griefing, during my research I had my fair share of griefing, and griefing sucks if you are on the receiving end. But let’s move on.

Now, what would JLU have anything to do with hacktivism, I wondered… I clicked the link and saw that it was a news report on the recent ban of Masakazu Kojima (Masa), the leader of the notorious griefing group W-Hat. No news to me, I was already given the news by a staff member earlier in the week.

As I looked at how this blog post would ever make it to my alerts, I realized that the post was tagged “Cybercrime, Grid security, griefer, griefer group, Hacktivism, interviews, Justice League Unlimited (JLU), Krypton Radio, League of Heroes, Linden Lab, Linden Research, Masakazu Kojima, Second Life, Woodbury University.” Not only some of these tags do not accurately represent the content of the blog post (therefore is not useful at all in terms of search), but the author had no idea of what hacktivism was. Or… was collapsing the meaning of bunch of terms into griefing for personal interests. Clearly, many people like me, have put an alert on hacktivism, therefore the visibility of the blog post would have increased with this term (kind of like using the term “porn” as a metatag for your website to increase traffic). Or, that the author was implying that the group (JLU) was indeed fighting hacktivists (?!?).

Apart from being a researcher, I am also an educator. One of the classes that I taught over the last decade and a half is Public Speaking and my favorite subject in this class is logical fallacies. Don’t roll your eyes just yet, I have a point. When I teach this topic, I love to bring up examples from politics because politicians love to willfully commit logical fallacies in the hopes of duping the masses to win elections. My job, therefore, is to educate students to be informed citizens armed with critical thinking skills.

It turns out that the anti-griefing personalities and groups are guilty of the very same fallacies:

• Straw figure argument: creating a misrepresentation of an argument and attacking that version (no clear example comes to mind, but I am sure you can think of one)
• Attacking the person rather than the argument (Peter Ludlow is being attacked as a content thief by JLU when in fact he had nothing to do with the actual theft. He just reported it. This is similar to when the National Inquirer found out about the illegitimate child of John Edwards at the brink of elections and went public with it.)
• Guilt or glory by association (whoever hangs out in Baku or with the Woodbury or researches these groups is a griefer by default, like me: “Bakuoglu.” Who knew that I would get more griefed at the hands of Prokovy Neva (Catherine Fitzpatrick) than at the hands of the Goons??? I got google bombed with various irrelevant tags and words inserted on her posts about me. She finally decided to spell my name correctly and cite me with known scholars, such as Henry Jenkins and Biella Coleman, in the hopes that more search engines would pick it up. Bless her heart )
• Hasty generalization: Assuming that what is true for one member of a group is true for all. (Masa hasn’t logged onto SL since February and gave up on the sim long time ago, yet he is a major griefer. I interviewed a lot of goons and channers, some have been really nice and others have been downright nasty. But all of them are considered to be grid crashers.)
• And the topic of this blog, my favorite: Semantic fallacy: Subtle shifts in definition in an argument.

Let’s talk a little bit about the actual meaning of hacktivism. “Hacktivism combines the transgressive politics of civil disobedience with the technologies and techniques of computer hackers. It is, as defined by hacktivists themselves, the nonviolent use of illegal or legally ambiguous digital tools in pursuit of political ends.”

Anyone who knows anything about the goons and channers, know that they just do it for the lulz. Crashing sims with flying penises or plastering swastikas just for the heck of it, is rarely a political end. Fighting for transparency or fighting against datamining/surveillance is. We all know that there have been a few instances that these groups have taken to such causes. But this is not the norm, but rather, is the exception.

The term hacking is something else as well. Despite its connotations of “illicit computer break-ins, a hack is defined as an attempt to make use of technology in an original, unorthodox, and inventive way.” From what I have seen, most goons and channers can’t hack their way out of a paper bag. They frequently use other people’s hacks. We’re talking about cultures that emerged from anime sites, folks.

Plastic Duck, on the other hand, was a hacker. It is nice of Krypton Radio to acknowledge this. I would have never thought that they would have anything nice to say about Plastic: “Plastic Duck was also responsible for the discovery and correction of a critical bug in the Linden Lab monetary system which could have destroyed the entire economy. Plastic Duck could have simply exploited the flaw, but instead worked with Linden Lab to identify and correct it before it became a problem.” OK, a bit exaggerated, but that’s what a hacker does.

Coming back to my earlier point: Why would anti-griefer organizations commit these logical fallacies? The obvious reason is that it serves their personal interests. They have built their careers on griefers and the griefing phenomenon. So if the goons don’t exist, or the PN don’t exist, or the Woodbury don’t exist, they don’t exist. There would be no use for JLU. In fact, there is no use for the JLU. They aren’t doing anything that, you, as an individual, can’t do by yourself. They have no extra powers. They themselves get pwnd all the time. It works for them that goons and griefers are labeled as communists, cyberterrorists, hacktivists, and criminals. It gives them self importance. It is because of goons and griefers that Prok can claim to be a virtual world consultant. I am guilty as any: it works for me that the anti-griefing personalities and organizations are labeling these subcultures with grossly exaggerated terms because, then, my research increases in value. It is just too sexy!

While we’re on the subject, I commend Masa for giving an interview to JLU. It shows that she has nothing to hide. She gave me an interview three years ago too. On the other hand, when I e-mailed Kalel Venkman to ask for an interview last week, he sent me six e-mails threatening to sue me because I was working with Peter Ludlow. Apparently, Ludlow is a content thief. He banned the rest of the JLU members from talking to me, saying that I was a liar. He had refused to interview with me three year ago too. I didn’t even know Ludlow then. Which makes me wonder… what does JLU have to hide?

Revised:  I am told by a JLU member that Plastic had indeed have his account restored briefly. My bet… But the rest of my argument still stands. Took out that section.

Our panel got accepted as pre-conference session for Association of Internet Researchers conference this coming fall.  Thanks to Susan Kretchmer’s remarkable work! Stop by folks…

PARADOX IN THE NET:
AGENCY VERSUS CONTROL AND THE STRUGGLE
FOR PERFORMANCE AND PARTICIPATION
Association of Internet Researchers
Internet Research 12.0
Seattle, Washington
Workshop
Monday, October 10, 2011 from 12-5 p.m.

People’s participation is shaped in large part by the environment within which that activity is enacted.  In turn, dominant, sustained reproduced performance with and within a space shapes the nature and character of that space.  Initially the Internet was celebrated as a technology of freedom; a modern day western frontier with an endless expanse of open, liberating, egalitarian, boundless space; a novel, revolutionary entity distinct from our physical environment.  Yet, as the online space was colonized and the euphoric promise met the reality of performance and participation, diverse and contesting practices, boundaries, and ties to real world settings were revealed.  And, too, as the Internet has matured and evolved, users have increasingly taken on and performed the role of creators of content, manipulators and appropriators of technology, and governors and police in virtual spaces while real world society struggles to negotiate the “appropriate” content and conduct for the medium.

The topic of this workshop is that paradox and tension inherent in the Internet and its impact.  In particular, we explore the nexus of online agency and individual freedom as it interacts and conflicts with virtual and real world norms, authority, and efforts at control (e.g., where individuals or groups have used the Internet for power and participation in ways that conflict with the status quo and some authority in turn has tried to maintain and/or impose control).  Themes that emerge might, for instance, include the blurring of boundaries on- and offline and the dynamic nature and constantly changing dimensions of the interplay of influence between offline life and life online, as well as any other ideas workshop participants find relevant.

As thought-provoking starting points, a series of expert speakers will provide presentations on a broad range of contexts, circumstances, and paradigms of performance and participation with regard to the topic of the workshop, the subjects examined each providing unique insight and perspective on the issues as well as implications and suggestions for the future.  The presentations, which will each be 20 minutes followed by a 10 minute discussion session with participants, include:
* online and offline advocacy and activism in the struggle for labor rights and community
Internet access
* controversies over student expression and use of the Internet off school grounds
* the battle over limiting Internet content, access to information, and conduct by
imposing federal and state online censorship laws and filtering software in public
government funded institutions

* the extent to which Internet usage and participation is constrained by our relationship
with all-powerful ISPs
* the contested metamorphosis and struggle for control of scholarship and scholarly
communication in the Internet Age
* resistance and the social media that powered the Egyptian revolution
* the clash of whistle blowing, transparency, and law in WikiLeaks
* the performance of hacktivism in virtual worlds, disguised under the cloak of grief play,
that results in political activism and influences policy making in those spaces
Taken together, and augmented by subjects raised by workshop participants, the trajectory of expanding complexity, increasing reach and scale, and mounting impact of the Internet will be illuminated, as well as the corresponding difficulties and dwindling ability to exert effective control over Internet content and conduct.  We will use the workshop to explore the issues, the challenges and the opportunities, the promise and the reality, in-depth from various perspectives.  Throughout the workshop, participants will share their expertise and actively engage in discussion and networking.

Schedule

12 p.m.
Welcome and Introductions — Susan Kretchmer

12-12:30 p.m.
“Advocating Advocacy: The Work of Activism and Scholarship Online, Offline, and Over the Line”
Michelle Rodino-Colocino, Pennsylvania State University, USA

12:30-1 p.m.
“A Student’s Right to Communicate in the Internet Age”
Mary Elizabeth Bezanson, University of Minnesota, Morris, USA

1-1:30 p.m.
“Online Censorship Laws and Internet Filtering: Contested Content, Access, and Conduct”
Susan B. Kretchmer, Johns Hopkins University, USA, and Partnership for Progress on the Digital Divide

1:30-1:50 p.m.
Break

1:50-2:20 p.m.
“Service Provider or Gatekeeper? Do ISPs Constrain our Online Participation?”
Catherine Middleton, Ryerson University, Canada

2:20-2:50 p.m.
“Information Feudalism, or Knowledge for All?”
Heather Morrison, Simon Fraser University and University of British Columbia, Canada

2:50-3:20 p.m.
“Revolution in Egypt: The Rise of Resistance via Social Media”
Rod Carveth, Fitchburg State University, USA

3:20-3:40 p.m.
Break

3:40-4:10 p.m.
“Whistle Blowing, Transparency, the Freedom of Information Act, and WikiLeaks:
Are these Appropriate Uses of the Internet?”
Kenneth J. Levine, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, USA

4:10-4:40 p.m.
“Negotiating Virtual Governance: Performance of Hacktivism as Grief Play”
Burcu S. Bakioglu, Lawrence University

4:40-5 p.m.
Wrap-Up and Discussion

Here’s my upcoming presentation at the Media in Transition 7 conference taking place at MIT. Following is the abstract, if you’re in town or around, do come by…

Abigail De Kosnik (2010), in her white paper entitled “Piracy is the Future of Television,” claims that, of the options available to media users, illegal downloading is the most usable option that bears the potential for pioneering  new modes of audience engagement as well as revenue streams. She further argues that legitimate services should adopt some of the protocols innovated by online pirates in order to improve the quality of their offerings. A quick glance at qualitative and quantitative research done on media consumption thus far reveals that using alternative channels of obtaining content is becoming rampant worldwide and researchers have begun to characterize these activities with the umbrella term “piracy cultures.” Yet the media industries continue to fight these activities tooth and nail.

No doubt, our laws and policies do not exactly satisfy the needs of a full-blown participatory culture fostered in the digital realm. Equally obvious is that these activities aren’t going away. Arguably, in the absence of functional policies, involved parties are taking matters into their own hands and are resorting to questionable practices in the name of justice, fairness, and law. Perhaps, because most of the piracy battle is fought online, it is not surprising that hacktivism has emerged as the favored strategy in this struggle. Hacktivism combines the transgressive politics of civil disobedience with the technologies and techniques of computer hackers. It is, as defined by hacktivists themselves, the nonviolent use of illegal or legally ambiguous digital tools in pursuit of political ends (Samuel 2001).

Consider, for example, Operation Payback launched in October 2010 by the 4Chan-related group, Anonymous, against the media giants (RIAA and MPAA). These companies, specifically the lawyers and programming companies that they hired, were using (il)legal strategies to take down The Pirate Bay (the popular peer-to-peer file sharing website) by way of launching Denial of Service attacks (DDoS) and were extorting money from the alleged copyright infringers. The claim that Anonymous set forth was simple: copyright, although it had been once used to stimulate creativity, is now being used to sustain business models whose interests are not to protect those of the artists but their own. During the cyber attacks that lasted several months, the 4Chan-related group exposed the illegal procedures practiced by one of the law firms, ACS:Law, and initiated a chain of events that not only led to the downfall of the said company, but also started investigations around other related companies, most notably, the Internet Service Providers who had turned over the IP addresses of alleged infringers without proper inquiry or encryption of data. The incident that leaked the names of hundreds of alleged infringers on the Internet (from unlikely candidates to married men who allegedly downloaded gay porn) brought to light debates around copyright issues, privacy concerns, and freedom of speech.

This paper will examine the role of hacktivism in mainstreaming the activities of piracy cultures which play a prominent role in manipulating the production, transaction, and exchange of cultural goods. Decidedly, investigating this trend will deepen our knowledge of media cultures and reveal the cultural transformations that these activities may unleash which, in fact, could play a role in (re)defining intellectual property, copyright, and fair use in the age of media convergence.