Everybody Loves Big Brother
[Update: I’ve just found PlayNoEvil’s discoveries about Integrity. Click here to check it out.]
There are two little bits of news that people are, largely, shrugging off as inconsequential.
First there’s the news that the IRS is thumbing through records in Second Life, looking at your financials. This, of course, is happening to you whether or not you’re a US citizen. Don’t worry, it’s for your own good. It protects you. Oh, don’t take my word for it. The comments are there for immediate placation: “This is no reason for alarm and has been around for quite a while,” and “Interesting article. I’m not sure about this point though”.
So we have the old “since it’s been happening for a bit it’s impossible for me to be concerned about it”, followed by “I’d rather ignore the personal issue and focus on the legal one.” This from two regular folk. Hold that thought for a moment.
We then have the other issue that Linden Lab decided to hire Integrity to rape us for our personal information. Of course we have a choice not to participate, but then again if you chose not to participate there are some extra ban lines awaiting you on the grid arbitrarily strewn everywhere in the name of safety. Whose safety? Oh, yours of course.
Nick Wilson (57 Miles) sees no problems here, and neither does Prokofy Neva. That’s tough for me because I deeply respect them both, but I’m having an extremely tough time seeing things their way. I’m not going to bother debating the issue with them though. It’s not like any of us are going to convince each other of anything. Nick’s comments from an old podcast were pretty clear on his stance to the best of my recollection, and Prokofy… well… Prokofy never met a corporation he didn’t like. I’m not anti-corporation by any means, but in contrast to Prokofy I’m a green anarchist. To Prokofy the corporation is America, and America is bigger than God.
Ooooh he’s gonna give me such hell for saying that!
A lot of this seems a bit random, but I’ll explain myself after the jump.
Here’s my problem: nobody is objecting to the constant invasion of our privacy in virtual worlds, and at this rate, by the time they do it will be way too late.
Let’s talk a bit more about the idea that everybody has a choice. We’re told you don’t have to take advantage of Integrity’s services. I used the term “rape us for our personal information” for a reason. This is the same kind of choice a cult would give you. “Oh, you can leave any time you’d like to, but would you mind explaining to everybody here who isn’t leaving, these two-dozen sets of eyes whose approval you desperately want and are staring directly at you, why you would do something like that?” There’s an inherent social pressure built in here, but that’s only the beginning.
There’s also the fact that anybody who wants to write about the content of Second Life does not have a choice. Putting that small loss of personal freedom aside, we also have a freedom of the press issue. Every reporter’s information will be tracked, which means they’ll be that much more easily manipulated. I’m not saying it’s a total game-changer, but it’s one more erosion of free speech, and nobody is expressing concern. That’s not all, either.
Why isn’t anybody raising bloody hell over Integrity’s relationship with Aristotle? Why isn’t the obvious fact that Integrity’s own website lists Bud.TV as their only client a cause for concern? Why isn’t Bud.TV’s horrendous experience with Integrity a major issue? Why the hell isn’t anybody asking about alternative services? Why Integrity?
… and finally…
Why is a virtual world held up to a different set of standards than a website? How did we get tricked into thinking that, for security purposes, everything needed to change for this?
I’m not saying that any one person is responsible, and there is no conspiracy. Everybody is looking out for their own concerns, as they should. It’s part of the natural way humans operate to seek control and power over each other, and there’s no power in this age like information. The problem lies in the fact that there’s no push-back. People are just handing power over themselves away to whoever happens to ask for it.
The truth is that people love Big Brother. They love the government looking over their shoulder, following everything they do, and keeping them safe. They love systems of bureaucracy, corporations, and tradition to dictate what is right and what is wrong. People love being told what to do.
You know, it’s probably too late to do anything about this. If anybody objects the common citizen will do everything required to shut them up. Remember the reaction about the IRS nosing around Second Life. The psychology is already in place.
“What’s your problem? They’ve been taking all of our information for ages now! I don’t see what the big deal is if they want a DNA sample too, I mean, it’s way more secure right?” … and if that doesn’t work … “That’s very interesting but the real issue is whether or not the DNA can be collected via saliva or blood sample, and whether it is legal to gather it without the completion of a T4-11A slip.”
Don’t worry folks. I’m just a crackpot. I’m a crank. A conspiracy theorist. A terrorist. Take comfort. Big Brother is watching you.
August 30th, 2007 at 8:44 am
Why the hell you had to write this today? Why not waiting the weekend? I am full of work to do and I covered IDV nicely, putting all the things that are problematic to the after-friday… Now, you pulled me back to the issue. And the issue is not just IDV in second life… it is much much broader…..
Generally, I am happy how it turned out. I know I disappointed some friends and some readers who expected me to rant the hell out of LL and damn corporations and capitalism, to raise a revolution or two and then to go to sleep. But I am sick of raising revolutions and then going to sleep. And, to be honest, it is a fair implementation of something I consider utterly fascistic. For now, it is fair… we shall see what future will bring.
The point that makes it fair is that it is optional. Let’s not fool ourselves, it is optional because Lindens calculated how many residents will never ever log in again if they have to submit their private data. I am sure that many of those who will verify themselves wouldn’t if they are obliged to.
But, for whatever reason, it is optional. There is other group of residents too. Those who asked for and who need verification. Business, sex and relationships that transcends the grid… whatever. I don’t understand that, because, if you are into business which is partly done in second life, it is not done only in second life. Just don’t tell me that there is no way to exchange data about your partners outside SL and that anybody doesn’t do that. I have e-mails of some of my SL friends. We can use skype. Business is done in on-line world for decades now. And there are much more effective and secure ways to know who you are dealing with. Those that would satisfy any augmentationist more than that little flag in the profile made by Aristotle.
Same goes for SLex. If you are not sure (and I am not talking about seeing ID, I am talking of what your imression) if your partner is over 18, and still continue to do things with her/him then something is wrong with you.
But ok, some residents asked the option, let them be. Yes, I am always on the side of having multiple options.
I don’t see how anybody can be ok with submitting data to LL and Aristotle. I cannot trust LL for my data. I cannot trust the company who loses inventories, who messes with public announces, whose overall politics is very questionable. No, I don’t see LL as an srchi-enemy and ultimate bad guys. Some residents do, I know, but LL didn’t deserved that. They did great job, mind you, SL is huge break through, even with all lags and bugs. But they are not to be trusted with such data. And even more than LL, I won’t trust Aristotle Integrity. I don’t know the company, I don’t have nerves nor time to inspect them and everything I hear about them is very negative. Maybe it is not true, but it is them to prove those rumors wrong.
But as you say, ppl love big brother, and they will handle their data too easily. And you are right, we do have no choice. everybody connected to internet is transparent already. Anybody actively posting and having a blog, MySpace account or god forbid FaceBook account is tracable too easily. Just open your Google Analytics, click a bit and see what you can find out about your readers. (No, I haven’t ask you if you have Google Analytics account, I know you do. Just the same as your RL address is just a few clicks away from me, and mine from you.) And while you have to play a bit about those data because they are somewhat grouped, do anybody believe that it is not possible to get a data for each single internet person? It is just question how close to the databases you are and which permissions you have.
But (almost) no one cares. And that is why I hate raising revolutions and going to sleep. Most of the people comes to SL not to be in RL. They don’t want to mess the politics. Check your stats, sheck numbers of comments on other blogs. SL residents wants to dance n the clubs, sit by their pools, build, script, socialize…. I may don’t like that, but I do understand that. At least I’ve learned to understand that. It is not much different than RL. And that is the foundation of one cruel world that will rule the people by information and tracking. We won’t wait long to see it. Just until we get on the street next time.
September 3rd, 2007 at 12:00 am
Caleb,
Read your sources more carefully. It is not the U.S. Internal Revenue Service doing this snooping. Xenon is something in the *UK*. So much for the Amero-hating, turn on the Euro-hater now, please. The original source tells us about a story in the Sunday Times of the UK; the Blingsider mixed it up.
The lists already exist. There are a zillion outfits on the Internet that offer to find people for a fee. They all have gained access to these lists in various ways. They aren’t hard to get.
Your comments about “Prokofy never met a corporation he didn’t like” are deeply retarded. I am critical of corporations all the time. I guess you never read my interview in the Times about the corporate invasion of SL. I just put it in perspective. I don’t become HYSTERICAL and FEARFUL about corporations as you do. There are all kinds of different corporations, some good some bad. They all have people in them; they are not somesort of techno-monsters. If it weren’t for the people who fight them using litigation and media, you would never have things like the Enron scandal revealed; you would never have Wal-Mart on the run.
American isn’t “god” — again, don’t be retarded. I don’t cower and cringe and collapse into despair and hysteria about things like corporations. People fight them when they are excessive — I see it all the time, and that’s something that I think Canadians and Europeans never *get* about America — that this America that they hate so much is in fact hated by bunches of Americans who work on these issues SUCCESSFULLY rather than whining about them. That’s how you even KNOW about them — duh.
I just fail to see why I’m supposed to get in a lather about these age checks. The process claims to be one where the data is verified, then dumped. You don’t believe that it is dumped? Well, if both LL and Integrity say they are merely keeping the record of the verification itself, not the data entries, then the challenge is to prove them wrong.
The idea that Karl Rove — who, P.S., was forced to retire precisely because of the active American bloggers, media, and civic groups that constantly challenged him (that’s how it works in a democracy, P.S.) — is mining lists of SL members to see who is cybering is ludicrous.
If you are so fearful of having lists available through SL, be more concerned about things like the hack to LL’s own dbase last year that caused them to re-do all the passwords.
My name and address and the last 4 digits of my SS# have been literally given to hundreds of entities — banks, credit cards, service warranties for computers, you name it. It would be ludicrous to think that this is somehow something I can retain control over. It’s like the avatar key: it’s an identifier that is simply going to be used.
It isn’t evil Karl Rove, the CIA, the Kremlin, or even Linden Lab that has found out my address and called me at home. It’s Plastic Duck, egged on by Aimee Weber and the regs at Second Citizen. That sort of thing is what you should be concerned about (and aren’t) — evil-doers who are in groups or have cheerleading from people with reputations who are in fact right in Second Life. The residents of Second Life are more a threat to other residents than any other evil entity you could ever dream up on earth or cyberspace, Caleb, you need to burn that in.
September 3rd, 2007 at 8:05 am
“and Prokofy… well… Prokofy never met a corporation he didn’t like. I’m not anti-corporation by any means, but in contrast to Prokofy I’m a green anarchist. To Prokofy the corporation is America, and America is bigger than God.
Ooooh he’s gonna give me such hell for saying that!”
Yup, you were right.
p.s. I’m confused. Is Prok a man or woman - I’m sure I’ve seen both genders used. Not that it matters, I’m just confused. Not in a gender way, just in a confused way.
September 5th, 2007 at 6:05 am
Caleb, this is a very thought provoking piece.
I’m formulating (or maybe borrowing from someone else?) a concept that SL is a grand experiment to see what people do when gifted incredible freedom of expression and a diminished necessity for inhibitions, but under heightened grades of scrutiny and surveillance.
What if we were to create a massive three dimensional space where people can live out their craziest fantasies, and do things they might never submit to doing away from a computer screen, but where every single movement they make can be tracked, and every single conversation and interaction recorded. Would people really participate in that world, knowing full well that an Orwellian ‘Big Brother’ *is* standing over everything? Would hundreds of thousands of people *really* take the ‘blue pill’?
So okay lots and lots of people really are okay with participating in that world, setting aside hesitations about being tracked and recorded, because it’s *really cool in there*. Hmmm.. let’s crank it up a little.. since many folks seem to have forgotten, let’s remind them they chose to participate in a space where everything they do can be tracked, by giving them the chance to step forward and identify themselves (which end can be achieved by other means if necessary anyway). Will people take this step? Hell yes, if it means they can continue to access those things which are still *really cool in there*.. not unlike Cypher’s desire to be re-integrated into ‘The Matrix’, knowing full well that it was a wonderful, monitored, *faked* reality.
Moving away from that perhaps fanciful concept, LL may see identity verification as a necessary step to redress the perceived imbalance caused by completely opening up membership. The idea of anonymity solidifying in many residents’ minds, unfortunately leads to this issue of people not taking responsibility for their actions.
In Australia a recent story passed fairly quietly about pubs and night clubs requiring id scans before entry. Not an ID check mind you, but your identity is actually recorded before you’re permitted entry, with the aim of reducing alcohol-fuelled violence (apparently it’s working - think about it, people are less likely to punch someone’s lights out if they’re instantly identifiable). But, who knows what could become of that recorded data. A small outrage ensued over imagined breaches of privacy, however more and more people had to admit that while their initial club choice would be elsewhere, they’d submit to the identity check if they really wanted to get into that one particular night club, if it was to be with friends, see a certain band, or just for the perceived increase in safety.
I’m not sure if I’m okay with it, and you raise several good points Caleb, but I can only see that a similar situation will take place with this Integrity system.
Peace
September 29th, 2007 at 1:05 pm
I’d like to hope that the information I released on the SL blog has caused this interest in what is really going on behind the scenes. For the purposes of reference I have attached the original post to the end of this comment. I would like to point out several things have happened since I posted this information. First of all, everything I post on the SL blog is held for moderation before it is added. Second, Aristotle has changed the wording on all it’s online documentation from “Patriot Act Compliance” to “FEC and State Reporting Requirements”. Third, I’ve been noticing people in town photographing me with high-speed cameras using vehicles marked “Travel Management Division”. Here’s the original post:
Nulflux Negulesco Says:
August 29th, 2007 at 6:58 PM PDT
I am commenting on the ‘Identity Verification’ system because I believe many of you have missed the true and critical components of how this system integrates into the Patriot Act and how it works to eliminate the last bastion of true freedom in the United States.
Linden Labs has stated in their previous blog entry regarding ‘Identity Verification’ that their single most important goal is to ‘protect our children’ from the adult material in SecondLife. I believe that this is false propoganda supporting a political movement that works to remove all prospects of independent freedom for online users.
To further clarify the underlying motives behind Linden Labs false propoganda you must cross reference quotes taken from Aristotle’s Integrity public website regarding the purpose of Aristotle’s services:
Quote from http://integrity.aristotle.com/ :
“The service provides merchants and government agencies with PATRIOT ACT compliance and compliance with age verification laws and guidelines.”
My friends, THIS is the true purpose of what Linden Labs once called ‘Age Verification’ and has recently re-described as ‘Identity Verification’. It is a tool to further decrease the freedom of thought, of expression of free will and of self-determination that SecondLife and United States Citizens have previously enjoyed.
Aristotle International Inc. does not have any intention of keeping our personal data secret. While it openly states that “This site does not provide visitors’ information to third parties.” the specific wording is misleading.
The wording, taken in context and with a grain of salt only proves that Aristotle will not share information about ‘hits’ or ‘visitors’ to third-parties regarding visits to their WEBSITE. This statement specifically excludes information (personal data) gained from activities outside their ‘public’ website infrastructure. More to the point, this allows Aristotle to share information with third-parties at their discretion when it has been collected from other sources, such as ‘Identity Verification’ in SecondLife.
Statements by Linden Labs regarding non-storage of our personal data is an outright lie. While Linden Labs will not maintain a database of our data Aristotle will. As supporting proof I would like to present Exhibit A:
http://www.aristotle360.com/documents/aristotle-360.pdf
This document states several things which PROVE BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT that our data will be used AGAINST us and to CONTROL US POLITICALLY!!!
The following statements are from Exhibit A:
—-EXCERPTS FROM EXHIBIT A - ARISTOTLE 360—-
About Aristotle:
Aristotle, Inc. is the leading political technology firm in the United States. Widely recognized for having revolutionized politics, Aristotle is a non-partisan firm that has been in existence for over 25 years.
WEB-BASED POLITICAL DATA STORAGE:
You’ve got a plan. It’s a solid strategy. It reflects years of experience and lessons learned the hard way. Now you need CONTROL - of your RESOURCES, your COMMUNICATIONS, your PEOPLE, and your INFORMATION.
One Company, One Solution:
Aristotle is recognized as the pioneer in political campaign technology. Every occupant of the White House - Democrat and Republican - for more than 25 years, has been an Aristotle customer, as are most U.S. Senators, most members of the U.S. House of Representatives, and Democratic and Republican state party organizations.
—-END OF EXCERPTS FROM EXHIBIT A—-
Please, I urge everyone to have a look at supporting document Exhibit A. This new ‘Identity Verification’ data is yet another channel of data for this politically oriented data collection engine. Take careful note of the contact information provided in Exhibit A, especially the address: “205 Pennsylvania Ave, SE - WASHINGTON,DC”. Now look at the map kindly provided by Yahoo! maps that shows the location of this address:
http://maps.yahoo.com/maps_result.php?q1=205+Pennsylvania+Ave%2C+SE+Washington%2C+DC
ARISTOTLE INTERNATIONAL INC. IS OPERATING 1 BLOCK AWAY FROM THE UNITED STATES CAPITOL. It is directly beside the Library of Congress and a few blocks away from the Supreme Court. The evidence cited above is concrete, uncontestable PROOF that Linden Labs and their campaign to ‘protect our children from pornography and gambling’ is part of a much larger false propaganda campaign by the UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT to further enhance it’s control and manipulation of not only American citizens, but also citizens WORLDWIDE.
How much longer are we - the residents of SecondLife and Members of the International Community - going to allow this perpetuation of misinformation and blatant mind-control to continue. It is time that we stand up for our freedoms. As of this moment I am publicly announcing the formation of the Virtual Sovereignty Movement. Several weeks ago I formed the VSM in opposition to the supreme dictatorship of Linden Labs and today I am extending it’s goals to the abolition of corporate, political and religious misinformation, propaganda and mind-control (virtual slavery) over virtual worlds.
As an community of international free-thinking individuals we must join in unity against the dystopian mind-control and oppressive regulations imposed on our digital universe. We must help protect our rights to self-determination and expression of individual will. The tyranny we face is intent on commiting creative genocide. We must stand strong against this tyranny as one nation, undivided and become the juggernaut that will forge the foundation of a SecondLife that is truly ‘Your World’ and ‘Your Imagination’.
If you would like to join our cause and help liberate the once-free virtual universe please become a member of the Virtual Sovereignty Movement group in SecondLife. Membership is free and open to anyone. We are not here to make money, we are here to become the leading force in a revolution against the political invasions of privacy, destruction of freedoms and subliminal mind-control in SecondLife.
Signed,
Nulflux Negulesco
Founder of VSM (Virtual Sovereignty Movement)