01-15-2004, 07:34 AM | #1 (permalink) | |
Tilted Cat Head
Administrator
Location: Manhattan, NY
|
Freedom of expression in virtual communities
In the NYtimes there is an article about a gent who was bounced from an online community for transgressions of their end user license agreement (EULA). Should he have been banished? Was his "reporting" the same censorship that is covered by the first amendment? If under 18 teens were online and engaging in cybersex chat, is that legal? There are bunches of questions that this debate can cover.
link Quote:
|
|
01-15-2004, 08:37 AM | #2 (permalink) |
Registered User
Location: Oklahoma
|
I have played many of these games through the years. I have to agree that it wasn't a First Amendment issue. I don't really have a problem with what he did, but they do have a right to enforce their standards. I have been playing Everquest for awhile, and there are people banned all the time for cheating, bad behavior, etc. However the most effective "banning" comes from people who decide that someone can't play the game well, etc. These people are basically shut out of the higher level play areas and kept from advancing since it takes large groups to do so. Not having played The Sims, I don't know for sure what if anything the player community could have done, but I really see this as more of an issue for the player community rather than EA.
|
01-15-2004, 09:38 AM | #3 (permalink) |
Darth Papa
Location: Yonder
|
There's no constitution in a MMORPG. Freedom of Speech exists only if the creator of the world grants it to the members/participants.
I don't think that EA's choice here was a good one. I became MUCH MORE aware of the existence of this game after the scandalous Alphaville Herald stories came out. They turned off one very vocal source of advertising. Granted he wasn't exactly touting the family-friendly aspects of the game, but... there are those of us whose attention will be grabbed by stuff like that... |
01-15-2004, 10:27 AM | #4 (permalink) |
Fly em straight!
Location: Above and Beyond
|
I have never played Sims, but after reading this article I am considering checking it out. I do think that things are getting a little out of hand when real people submerge themselves so far into an online game that they begin to lose site of fact and fiction.
Should he have been banished? Yes. EA was not out of line for banning Mr. Ludlow. They were simply enforcing their ideals of how they want the game to be run. It's their world after all. Was his "reporting" the same censorship that is covered by the first amendment? No. Sims is a ficticious environment. The creator of the environment has every right to keep things in their control. Much like TFP, is Hal feels that someone is violating the rules and regs of this board, he has every right to boot them out. If under 18 teens were online and engaging in cybersex chat, is that legal? Now there is a toughy. Is it the parents fault for not monitoring their kids and the context of the material they peruse on the internet? Or, is it the social responsibility for companies like EA to not create an environment where teens under 18 can have access to this kind of material?
__________________
Doh!!!! -Homer Simpson |
01-15-2004, 10:39 AM | #5 (permalink) |
Optimistic Skeptic
Location: Midway between a Beehive and Centennial
|
It is unfortunate that EA decided to selectively apply their EULA. Perhaps if they were more consistent in its enforcement Mr. Ludlow would not have had any complaint. Regarding EA being a "a classic despot" that is "using its powers to single out individual critics for the dungeons and the firing squads." Absolutely. They created the game and they control it. They can kill off whomever they want. Of course if EA pisses off enough players they risk losing their fan base, but it's EA's risk and no one elses.
__________________
IS THAT IT ???!!! Do you even know what 'it' is? When the last man dies for just words that he said... We Shall Be Free |
01-15-2004, 10:49 AM | #6 (permalink) | ||
Cosmically Curious
Location: Chicago, IL
|
Interesting, and here I thought SIMS was just an innocent game.
Quote:
Quote:
I do have to add though that I've never played the game, so I can't claim to have any first hand knowledge of what SIMS is really like.
__________________
"The world is so exquisite with so much love and moral depth, that there is no reason to deceive ourselves with pretty stories for which there’s little good evidence. Far better it seems to me, in our vulnerability, is to look death in the eye and to be grateful every day for the brief but magnificent opportunity that life provides" -Carl Sagan |
||
01-15-2004, 11:01 AM | #7 (permalink) |
Banned
Location: UCSD, 510.49 miles from my love
|
THe length to which these games have gone is disturbing. They have a good business plan, that is true, by stealing people lives, and putting them online, and then charging them monthly to live.
I dont like it, not one bit. Its too unregulated even for me, and that says something. I really cant put it entirely into words, but suffice to say I am disgusted with the company and disappointed in how this has gone out of hand. |
01-15-2004, 12:03 PM | #8 (permalink) |
I change
Location: USA
|
I see freedom not as a natural right but as a function of power relationships.
Freedom is an exercise of power. Those with the least power have the least freedom. All our protestations to the contrary have not changed this simple fact very much. Over the centuries, the powerful have been forced to share some small degree of their power with the rest of us. Again, this reflects power relationships, nothing more. Issues of freedom are really about human psychology and human groups and the distribution of power relationships. There's more to this, of course - how power struggles devolve into rhetoric, etc. But, in general, what this example illustrates is the exercise of power. That's what makes the world go around. Freedom is often allowed by those in power. Often it is not. Issues of right and wrong are self-serving...
__________________
create evolution |
01-15-2004, 12:20 PM | #9 (permalink) |
Fucking Hostile
Location: Springford, ON, Canada
|
I run or help run a few online communities. These are privately run orgs that are paid for by me or my fellow admin staff out of our own pocket, not through a government grant and as such are not subject to any constitution.
It's the same as being in a bar. If you say something to piss off the owner, the owner will remove you. Say something to piss me off in one of my communities, I will also remove you.
__________________
Get off your fuckin cross. We need the fuckin space to nail the next fool martyr. |
01-15-2004, 01:00 PM | #10 (permalink) |
A Real American
|
"No Private Action is censorship" ~Ayn Rand, one of the true things she said.
EA created the game, and it falls right back to the "management has the right to refuse service" deal. The guy should just get over it and find another way to interact in a community. His rights aren't impugned...EA just won't let him be a troublemaker and shit-stirrer in their community where to do so may iincur profit loss due to pissing off other players. "The needs of the many outweigh, the needs of the few, or the one" ~Spock.
__________________
I happen to like the words "fuck", "cock", "pussy", "tits", "cunt", "twat", "shit" and even "bitch". As long as I am not using them to describe you, don't go telling me whether or not I can/should use them...that is, if you want me to continue refraining from using them to describe you. ~Prince |
01-15-2004, 04:28 PM | #11 (permalink) | |
Tilted Cat Head
Administrator
Location: Manhattan, NY
|
and maybe he can hire the sim mafia to rough up some of the people there
Quote:
__________________
I don't care if you are black, white, purple, green, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, hippie, cop, bum, admin, user, English, Irish, French, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, indian, cowboy, tall, short, fat, skinny, emo, punk, mod, rocker, straight, gay, lesbian, jock, nerd, geek, Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Independent, driver, pedestrian, or bicyclist, either you're an asshole or you're not. |
|
01-15-2004, 05:32 PM | #12 (permalink) |
Unbelievable
Location: Grants Pass OR
|
Freedom of speech is a constitutional right, meaning the government of the united states cannot censor you. This doesn't apply to private online communities. EA can do as they choose as far as this issue is concerned and I support their right to do so.
|
01-15-2004, 09:20 PM | #14 (permalink) |
Banned
|
Electronic Arts HAS a constitution, it's called the End User Lisence Agreement, and in it is no mention of absolute freedom of speech in any way. He's being a dickhead to call so much attention. EA owns the game and such, they decide what they feel is appropriate or not.
|
01-16-2004, 02:23 PM | #15 (permalink) |
Upright
Location: someplace cold and dark
|
I am glad to hear some voices that I agree with. It is EA's "world", or at least "interaction". There are no guarantees in there, and the only true goal is for EA to make money. Not enforce ideals.
Besides, I regularly nuke from orbit millions upon millions of residents in my games, many of whom believe in the same constitutional rights granted to all persons that USA citizens do. Their petitions never reach me, nor do I care. If one of them is an on-line player, am I a war criminal? Let EA do what they want. This whole thing is not a rights issue....It's a marketing issue. |
01-18-2004, 12:17 PM | #16 (permalink) | |
Dubya
Location: VA
|
Quote:
__________________
"In Iraq, no doubt about it, it's tough. It's hard work. It's incredibly hard. It's - and it's hard work. I understand how hard it is. I get the casualty reports every day. I see on the TV screens how hard it is. But it's necessary work. We're making progress. It is hard work." |
|
Tags |
communities, expression, freedom, virtual |
|
|