Its not a second life anymore…

We have all heard of different companies using Second life for Marketing and even small time people doing business in Second Life. Some people are doing so much business they don’t have to have a real life job and devote their whole time to running their business in the game. Organizations and governments are also getting into the fray having Second Life Capital Hill and Reuters Island for constant Second Life news. Now there are also world wide conferences being held on Second Life and Law Associations are debating over the “law-less” Society.

According to an article on foxnews.com by Andrew Miga, Representative Edward Markey attended a conference on climate change from his office in DC over Second Life. Markey who could not leave DC for the conference attended as his virtual self and interacted with other participants in a virtual setting of the Bali conference. Markey was quoted as saying, “This is my first foray into Second Life, but it won’t be my last.”

At the same time that our leaders and we ourselves are able to attain and go places we never thought possible, there is still some caution needed. There are few rules in Second Life if any. Many small business owners in second life are concerned about intellectual property rights. Even the American Bar Association is getting into the fray contemplating not just Second life but also other online games (their site). The issue with Second Life is that their is no protection for business owners looking for recourse as explained in an article on Reuters Second Life news site. Business owners are taking a huge hit and I don’t see more people investing in the online economy to make money for the real world until the law-lessness is cleared up.

Real life and Second life are colliding. They are providing new ways for us to interact and new opportunities people never dreamed of. There are even new ways to interact with the computer and the game itself. Second Life is changing real life.