Professional Issues in Computing:

Virtual Worlds Morality Kevin Macnish (IDEA CETL)

Plan• Online Interactions

– Hurt, harm, benefit, kindness to others– Proxy personae

• Virtual “Crime”– Habbo Hotel– Second Life

• Real-World / Virtual-World Interactions– Sony vs. Manchester Cathedral– Medal of Honor

ONLINE INTERACTIONS“It doesn’t really matter – it’s only online”

Online Interactions• Can people be hurt, harmed, benefitted,

treated kindly, etc. through what is done online?

• Online behaviour: different rules?– E.g. forums, chat rooms, blogs, IM, etc.

• Is flaming less wrong than face-to-face insults?

Proxy Personae• Usernames/Avatars - disguise real identity

– “It’s ok for ‘me’ (my avatar) to insult ‘her’ (her avatar) because it’s not really her being insulted and it’s not really me doing the insulting.”

How convincing is this as a justification?What are the similarities and differences between

online interactions between proxy “identities” and, say, fiction?

VIRTUAL “CRIME”

Habbo Hotel: Virtual Theft

Habbo Hotel: Virtual Theft• Property here is a metaphor

– Representative of “real” property– Costs “real” money– Would the situation be different had it not

involved “real money”?• It’s the real-world harms that matter

– “Virtual harm” does not matter• Deception has taken place here

– Deception widely seen as wrong

Virtual Paedophilia on Second Life

Virtual Paedophilia on Second Life• Is this wrong? Why?• Encourages likelihood of “real-world”

paedophilia• The expression of a vice

– A morally bad trait of character• Do these arguments apply to novels?

– Nabukov’s Lolita?– Graphic novels?

REAL-WORLD/VIRTUAL-WORLD INTERACTIONS

Sony & Manchester Cathedral

Sony & Manchester Cathedral• Part of what is valuable about certain places is

their associations – These can be destroyed/corrupted by fiction– E.g. Notre Dame and Quasimodo

• Issue of consent– How public is a cathedral? Does this matter?

• Do violent games contribute to gun crime?– If so then a reason not to perpetuate violent games

• The building itself has not been touched– Violation charge seems unconvincing

Medal of Honor

Medal of Honor

Medal of Honor

Medal of Honor• Real ongoing conflict• Real people being portrayed

– Desensitizes us to war?– Prepares us for war?– Fails to honour dead?

• Ability to play either side– Unpatriotic?– Breed contempt for own soldiers?

• MoH continues to be controversial:

Medal of Honour: Warfighter

Proposed Conclusion• Only real-world morality matters

• How we behave on computers is part of the real-world– Includes online and virtual activities– Such activities therefore subject to moral

consideration– Acceptance that real people affected

Recap• Online Interactions

– Hurt, harm, benefit, kindness to others– Proxy personae

• Virtual “Crime”– Habbo Hotel– Second Life

• Real-World / Virtual-World Interactions– Sony vs. Manchester Cathedral– Medal of Honor