Massively http://massively.joystiq.com Massively http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif Massively http://massively.joystiq.com en-us Copyright 2015 AOL, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/<![CDATA[The SOPAbox: Defeating online piracy by destroying the internet]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/01/10/the-sopabox-defeating-online-piracy-by-destroying-the-internet/http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/01/10/the-sopabox-defeating-online-piracy-by-destroying-the-internet/http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/01/10/the-sopabox-defeating-online-piracy-by-destroying-the-internet/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , , , ,

The Soapbox title image
Disclaimer: The Soapbox column is entirely the opinion of this week's writer and does not necessarily reflect the views of Massively as a whole. If you're afraid of opinions other than your own, you might want to skip this column.

Unless you've been living under a rock, chances are you've heard of SOPA and PIPA. The Stop Online Piracy Act and PROTECT IP Act are two radical pieces of copyright legislation currently being pushed through the US government. Although the stated intent of the new legislation is to provide companies with additional tools with which to combat piracy, the bill's loose wording has raised some serious alarm bells. Opponents to the proposed law say it would give corporations the ability to shut down any almost any website under the guise of protecting copyright infringement.

Gamers will be affected worst of all, as the loose wording of the law makes any website with user-submitted content potentially vulnerable to a shut down order. That could include YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, any blog with a comment section, or even any online game with a chat system. Perhaps the scariest part is that you'll be affected even if you're not in the US, as one of the new law's enforcement mechanisms is to remove a site from the DNS records, a move that assumes the US has jurisdiction over the global Domain Name System. AOL is among many huge companies strongly opposing SOPA, and so naturally Massively opposes it too.

In this week's massive two-page Soapbox, I make the case for why you should be worried about SOPA, and I suggest what can be done to tackle piracy in the games industry. Comments can be left on page two.

Continue reading The SOPAbox: Defeating online piracy by destroying the internet

MassivelyThe SOPAbox: Defeating online piracy by destroying the internet originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 10 Jan 2012 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>brendan-draincopyrightcopyright-infringementdnsdnssecdomaindomain-namesfeaturedfirst-amendmentfree-speechfreedom-of-speechgovernmenti-dont-want-to-live-on-this-planet-any-moreillegalintellectual-propertyiplawlegalmiscMiscellaneousnyphurpiracypiratesprotect-ipsoapboxsoapbox-brendan-drainsopasopaboxthe-soapboxthe-sopaboxus-governmentvideoTue, 10 Jan 2012 11:00:00 EST<![CDATA[The Virtual Whirl: News of the Whirl]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/02/20/the-virtual-whirl-news-of-the-whirl/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/02/20/the-virtual-whirl-news-of-the-whirl/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/02/20/the-virtual-whirl-news-of-the-whirl/#commentsFiled under: , ,

This week, in The Virtual Whirl, we're having our monthly roundup of news items. Things that got missed, things that didn't make the cut, things that got buried under the Star Trek Online launch, and things that really should have gotten your attention anyway.

Continue reading The Virtual Whirl: News of the Whirl

MassivelyThe Virtual Whirl: News of the Whirl originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 20 Feb 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>appleartificial-intelligencechronical-of-higher-educationdepartment-of-agriculturefeaturedforbesfrenzoojeffrey-youngjournal-of-internet-medical-researchmark-kingdonnews-of-the-whirlopinionpcprophilip-rosedalesecond-lifestardollthe-virtual-whirlUS-Governmentvirtual-worldsSat, 20 Feb 2010 18:00:00 EST<![CDATA[The U.S. Army to enter the WoW botting business]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/11/07/the-u-s-army-to-enter-the-wow-botting-business/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/11/07/the-u-s-army-to-enter-the-wow-botting-business/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/11/07/the-u-s-army-to-enter-the-wow-botting-business/#commentsFiled under: , , ,


The United States government, in an effort to establish credible and human-realistic AI for their newest literal killing machines, is looking to test the "humanity" of this AI in popular MMOs. According to a recent article, two named MMOs that have been cited as examples for this project include World of Warcraft and EVE Online. "We want to use the massively multi-player online game as an experimental laboratory to see if they're good enough to convince humans that they're actually human," says Dr. John Parmentola, Director of Research and Laboratory Management with the Army's science and technology office.

Regardless of the dozens and dozens of jokes we could easily throw out there (feel free in the comments though!), doesn't it seem odd that U.S. tax dollars are going towards government-issued spam-bots that would essentially violate the Blizzard/CCP EULA? How would you feel knowing that there's a potential government-created Terminator in your guild or raid group? Reserve your Sarah/John Connor character names now!

[Via Brokentoys]

MassivelyThe U.S. Army to enter the WoW botting business originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 07 Nov 2008 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>botseve-onlineus-armyus-governmentworld-of-warcraftwowFri, 07 Nov 2008 20:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Linden Lab sets sights on government]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/11/01/linden-lab-sets-sights-on-government/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/11/01/linden-lab-sets-sights-on-government/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/11/01/linden-lab-sets-sights-on-government/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

Not all that long ago, if you wanted a piece of Second Life Linden Lab would be just about the last organization to deal with you. Linden Lab was all about the platform. If you wanted help setting up shop, or a marketing presence, to the Lab you were no different from any other customer.

Those days, apparently, are over. Linden Lab has partnered with Rivers Run Red, and is now in the business of marketing and selling solutions. While a jump in new sales and marketing staff (like European Marketing Director, Clare Rees) are now old news, Linden Lab has a new hire from Washington DC.

That's Scott Sechser, former Operations Manager at the White House. That's the one at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW.

Continue reading Linden Lab sets sights on government

MassivelyLinden Lab sets sights on government originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 01 Nov 2008 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>bob-dolebusiness-modelsclare-reeslarry-presslerlinden-labpoliticsrivers-run-redrrrscott-sechsersecond-lifeus-governmentvirtual-worldswhite-houseSat, 01 Nov 2008 11:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Criminal profiling is coming to a MMOG near you]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/02/23/criminal-profiling-is-coming-to-a-mmog-near-you/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/02/23/criminal-profiling-is-coming-to-a-mmog-near-you/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/02/23/criminal-profiling-is-coming-to-a-mmog-near-you/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,

With an uprising of terrorists and other criminals playing MMOGs like Hello Kitty the U.S. Government believes it is essential that Gnomeland Security monitors online behavior in virtual worlds. Humor aside, I'm not making this up.

The U.S. intelligence community wants to employ counter terrorism measures by utilizing data-mining and profiling software in various online spaces such as video and even online gaming. In the unclassified Data Mining Report Act, (pdf) one initiative called the Reynard project would determine the feasibility of detecting suspicious behaviors and actions in a virtual world that could indicate a threat to national security. You read that right.

"Reynard is a seedling effort to study the emerging phenomenon of social (particularly terrorist) dynamics in virtual worlds and large-scale online games and their implications for the Intelligence Community."

"The cultural and behavioral norms of virtual worlds and gaming are generally unstudied. Therefore, Reynard will seek to identify the emerging social, behavioral and cultural norms in virtual worlds and gaming environments. The project would then apply the lessons learned to determine the feasibility of automatically detecting suspicious behavior and actions in the virtual world."

This is probably a good time to stop referring to my spells as WMDs, and reciting The Communist Manifesto in guild chat. I don't want to end up in a secret prison somewhere drinking a lot of water because I'm obsessed with engineering and PvP. What the CIA should do is recruit top ranked WoW Arena players to infiltrate the Chinese servers to steal gold farming secrets.

[via Wired]

MassivelyCriminal profiling is coming to a MMOG near you originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 23 Feb 2008 19:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>counter-terroismdata-miningdata-mining-report-acthello-kittyterrorist-virtual-worldunited-states-governmentus-congressus-governmentvirtual-government-securityvirtual-worldsworld-of-warcraftSat, 23 Feb 2008 19:08:00 EST