Virtual Sweat Shops
Posted by Lance Koonce
Although a bit far afield from your typical privacy and security issues, this blog continues to track the evolution of massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) and in particular the startlingly real economies that have developed within and around them, because we believe that in some cases these virtual communities are test beds for next-generation security issues. Some of those issues have already reared their head in the MMORPG worlds; see our previous entries here and here.
The New York Times today reports (subscription req'd) on the appearance of low-wage factories in China where employees are paid to make their way through the online worlds and gather the games' internal currency or other valuables, which are then sold for real-world cash to wealthy players who do not want to spend the time or effort amassing the necessary riches themselves.
The sale of virtual items for real money is nothing new, but the business has exploded into a market that some estimate to have reached nearly a billion dollars. The stratification of this financial community into haves and have-nots should not perhaps be that surprising.
So what does this have to do with privacy and security? First, consider that often what is sold in a transaction is what is known as an "avatar" - an online persona meant to represent its real-world owner. These avatars may not bear any resemblance to its owned - to paraphrase the Kinks, boys will be girls, and girls will be boys...and both will be mages, trolls and fighter pilots. Yet there is a link - an online account possibly set up with password protection and user information such as credit cards, etc. - that ties the two together. Avatars may eventually become the primary manner by which we transact business with each other online, so the extent to which we can keep our real identity hidden but still permit robust transactional power will be crucial issues.
And don't think it's mere coincidence that China is both the location of these new MMORPG factories and a hotbed of Internet scams and viruses: the same financial incentives for profiting from the online habits of wealthier nations drive both. Will we see a convergence, with more and more MMORPG viruses and security incidents?
If your answer is "no", then we have a virtual bridge to sell you.
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By the way, we should note that the folks over at Terra Nova track the legal issues raised by MMORPGs with far greater alacrity than we could ever manage here. Here's their discussion of the NY Times article.