Exclusive Interview with Second Life Liberation Army Leader (SLLA)

As a security researcher and e-commerce consultant I became more intrigued as larger brands moved into the Second Life environment and now unhappy avatars (digital representations of real people) have bonded together to fight against an establishment they feel is unfair. I can understand this backlash, but I won’t draw analogies here, or make overt conclusions, or take sides, but leave it to the reader to decide or investigate on their own. However does “The Grid” and its economics and politics mimic real life- much like some strange phantasmagormic mirror?. Already we have seen dDos attacks, and now attacks that mimic real life…what does this all mean? Now and for our future?

The SLLA site(s) at googlepages.com and Blogspot.

From the Wikipedia:

Second Life Liberation Army (SLLA) was formed as the ‘in-world’ wing of a national liberation movement within the on-line environment Second Life. The movement contends that universal suffrage should be established within Second Life immediately.

The SLLA is believed to be the first virtual national liberation movement of its kind seeking political rights for virtual characters known as avatars. The size of the SLLA movement is unknown but is suspected to be less than 10.

To date the SLLA has conducted one protest against a virtual representation of the clothing store, ‘American Apparel’. The group termed this a “military operation.” According to Second Life residents, this took the form of shooting potential customers at the Second Life American Apparel store, causing the customers to be knocked out of the area, thus preventing purchases. The owner of this area quickly disabled the scripts that allowed this to occur. The political campaign initially gained momentum due to Second Life media outlets reporting on their actions but appears to have plateaued as of November, 2006.

According to the movement’s blog, SLLA is now offering a bounty to attack certain areas and players.

This interview was conducted with the leader of the Second Life Liberation Army (SLLA). I do not now their name or whereabouts, but the individual agreed to answer some of my questions. With the permission of the subject I have made small spelling edits that do not in anyway change the substance of the exchange.

Wayne Porter’s Interview with the Second Life Liberation Army 12.04.2006

Porter: 1) What is the purpose behind the Second Life Liberation Army and how old is it?

SLLA: The SLLA exists to highlight and agitate for Political Rights within Second Life. The movement was founded in April 2006 but found its true meaning following the changes made to SL by LL (Linden Labs) when they made possible the creation of unverified accounts. This attracted a lot of covert support from longer-term residents who wanted some change but didn’t want to go public — so they provided us with some funding.

Porter: 2) Specifically what problem(s) in Second Life do the SLLA wish to call attention too?

SLLA: As more and more people have significant interests in SL it amazes me that they are not looking for some kind of protections. Our view is that the only way to achieve this is through some form of nascent political involvement.

Porter: 3) How big is the organization? Is it slowing or growing in momentum?

SLLA: Ha – well I think the SLLA mirrors SL in some ways – people try us on and then disappear never to be heard of again. We have probably around a dozen active participants who can be relied on for ideas. With regard to momentum I feel we, the ‘military’ side of the campaign, have slowed and is in need of new ideas.

Porter: 4) Are members newer users of the platform or are they veterans who started early?

SLLA: Veterens.

Porter: 5) Do you feel the current tactics have had any impact on your goals?

SLLA: Well, the original tactics and target selection met our immediate goal or getting the movement recognized. Now we need to decide the best course in order to achieve the goal of political representation.

Porter: 6) Have you tried alternative routes to get your message heard by Linden Labs?

SLLA: No – We don’t believe we have the currency with which to negotiate.

Porter: If so, how have they been met?

N/A- no answer- see above.

Porter: Have any members suffered punitive damages due to attacks on brands or stores in Second Life? e.g. Police Blotter?

SLLA: One member has been banned from midnight city – but we try and keep our attacks proportional.

Porter

9) What is your ultimate hope for Second Life and Avatar Rights?

SLLA: We would like consultation. Simply there exists within SL the ability to poll every member on significant changes to the world. We would like to see a refurendum on the un-verifed accounts. But implementing some kind of voting would be our first aim.

Porter: 10) There have been rumors of the SLLA being behind the “Grey Goo”. True or False?

SLLA: False.

Porter: 11) What comprises a typical attack or disruption going beyond the incident like the one at Reebok?

SLLA: We are currently experimenting with leaderless resistance, in that the targets are selected off-line and then volunteers are free to construct their own operations. We are also considering a virtual kidnap operation but we haven’t worked the details of that out.

At this point their leader made it very clear all the fighting was taking place on “The Grid”- not in real life, but avatar to avatar. Thus a “kidnapping” is not one in the physical sense, and he and I both felt that should be made clear.

This concludes this segment with the SLLA, and I hope to have more in the future as these virtual worlds flourish and collide- extensions of the Internet and post-human lives, but it brings up a number of perplexing questions that I will let readers ponder.

On “The Grid” or “Off The Grid” human behavior, politics, social habits, even the economy seem to revolve in a similiar fashion as Real Life- even though in Second Life many of the constraints that hold us back are stripped away by technology. e.g. a wheel-chair bound person can fly in the world of Second Life.

It is snowing outside, white snow and pure snow and it makes me ponder…like a quiet blanket it evokes questions I mmust ask myself and pose to others…

- What can all the parties learn from this?

- What could the world learn from this?

- What could history teach us about this?

- Even in this new and incredible terrain are we destined to walk down the very same paths we have for centuries?

I have no crystal ball, and the snow casts no reflections…