House Holds First Hearing Simulcast in Virtual World
House Telecom Subcommittee Chairman Ed Markey’s Second Life avatar banged a virtual gavel to open a hearing on virtual worlds Tuesday. It marked the first congressional hearing in a virtual world -- a simulcast of the real world version. Markey said his avatar “looks like he’s been working out,” which is “one of the beauties of Second Life.” Joining the Massachusetts Democrat in Second Life were invited journalists, online activists, and representatives of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which has “built an incredible locale in Second Life,” Markey said.
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Virtual worlds such as Second Life allow people to do things they can’t in the outside world, such as fly, meet people from other countries and even explore NASA’s launch pad, Markey said. “At their best” virtual worlds are “vehicles for understanding across borders and communities”; they “represent not only what is present, but what is possible,” he said. Policy issues including consumer protection, intellectual property rights, privacy, banking, gambling and child protection will “inevitably emerge in virtual worlds, he said.
To best support virtual worlds, Congress should “consider upgrading the broadband infrastructure” and foster “innovation and openness in Internet Policy,” said Ranking Member Cliff Stearns, R-Fla. Lawmakers must also ensure that innovation in the space remains “highly competitive… we want to make sure its not highly regulated,” while remaining “vigilant, especially when it comes to criminal activity, he said.
Rep. Jane Harman, D-Calif., said her Web site has hosted a “virtual office” for years. Rep. Mike Doyle’s (D-Pa.) office recently created Simpsons-esque avatars for themselves. Such examples demonstrate how virtual worlds are “changing the nature of communication itself,” said Philip Rosedale, CEO of Second Life parent Linden Labs. His company is “creating a part of the evolution of the Internet as a platform, with educational, scientific and social potential,” he said. In the past month, 900,000 people took part in Second Life and 50,000 and 60,000 usually are logged in at a time, he said. What began as “playful experimentation” is now a “real business” with users “creating content and engaging in commerce” and “otherwise filling real life gaps,” he said.
Nonprofits are taking advantage of Second Life, said Susan Tenby, TechSoup’s senior manager. The virtual world “combines interactive tools with the richness of broadcasting,” allowing for “mixed reality events, feeding live audio and video both directions,” she said. IBM is using virtual worlds, which can increase company sales and cut costs by reducing travel, lodging costs and wasted time, said Colin Parris, IBM Research vice president for digital convergence. And education projects launched in Second Life are flourishing, said New Media Consortium CEO Larry Johnson. Hundreds of schools offer classes and seminars and there are 1,400 educational “islands,” about 10 percent of Second Life’s entire 65 square miles, he said. Virtual worlds are “not games… They are nothing less than evolution of Internet into three dimensions,” he said.
Committee members agreed that these are major steps in the right direction. But Stearns needled Rosedale a bit on age verification. Second Life has a teen version only for minors that Rosedale said “requires a stronger degree of initial identification” than the adult version. But users aren’t required to give their Social Security number or driver’s license, only credit card information and a telephone number. Stearns said that’s not enough. Rosedale said Second Life is “rigorously self-policed” and no age- related problems in the teen version have been reported.