The Anshe Chung Incident

File under: this is just sad.

A Second Life land developer has convinced YouTube to pull down an off-color video of her virtual self being harassed during an interview, raising novel questions about the legal rights of virtual world participants.
Last month, Anshe Chung Studios demanded that YouTube delete the recording, citing the Digital Millenium Copyright Act, which generally requires Web sites to remove material that infringes on copyright laws. The controversy stemmed from video taken during an interview with Anshe Chung, the virtual world's biggest land owner, conducted by CNET News.com in its Second Life bureau last month.

During the interview--which took place in a digital theater in front of dozens of audience members' avatars--a group intent on sabotaging the event attacked it with 15 minutes of animated penises and photographs of Anshe Chung's real-life owner, Ailin Graef, digitally altered to make her look like she was holding a giant penis.

I guess YouTube hasn’t really acted swiftly enough, or feels like Ms. Chung/Graef has no case here, because the video is still available as of the time that I'm typing this in -- three days after the original CNET piece went up. I’m not going to participate in this farce by posting a link to the thing. You can find it if you know how to do a basic search. That's all I'm going to point out.

However, I'm writing about this incident as it raises some interesting questions about where law enforcement begins and ends in the Virtual World. Had this happened in the Real World, I think Ms. Chung/Graef would have grounds to lay some assault, indecency and harassment charges against the folks who did this. (Note: I’m not taking sides in this, I’m just pointing out the obvious.)

I’m not sure this is a copyright issue. I think that's a moot point, and that this is a criminal issue or maybe even a civil defamation issue. (Remember, folks: "Sexual assault can be verbal, visual, or anything that forces a person to join in unwanted sexual contact or attention.")

Heck, if I were Ms. Chung/Graef, I'd be making sure as many copies of this thing existed as evidence when it came to pressing charges and/or suing. Ms. Chung/Graef obviously can't control what other people say or write about her, but I think what she should be doing is spinning this and using this incident to talk about things other than the DCMA. In my humble opinion. I'm not saying 'play victim'. I'm saying: address the REAL issue.

And I really think, given some of the harsh comments left on the YouTube post, there's something to be said about discrimination against women when it comes to them being in positions of power -- whether it be real or perceived.

What I don’t get, and I mean no disrespect here, is why CNET and/or Second Life didn’t pull the plug on the interview once the attack happened.

This is just wrong. You might not like someone, but pelting them with penises is not exactly the way to go about showing that dislike. Just sayin'.

( Add your comments )

Recent Entries:
· The Rebirth of Hip-Hop? Right...
· Cloud Computing: The Buzz and Blur
· Spore: Inner Feelings from Outer Space

[ READER COMMENTS ]

(Note: separate multiple email addresses with commas)

The Anshe Chung Incident

Add your comments...

We kindly ask that you keep your comments relevant to this blog entry. Abusive or inappropriate comments or comments that are specifically promotional in nature may be removed.