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The latest in the Snowden Stream of Info(tm) is that the ever-creepy NSA is spying on the world of Azeroth, the fictional universe found in World of Warcraft. Before you chuckle and make a comment about how only overgrown teenagers in their mama’s basement play WoW, let me assure you that while there are large numbers of annoying kids and overgeeked freakies playing that game, there are also a large number of regular, gainfully employed adults who are arguably contributing to society in meaningful ways elsewhere in their lives. As such, apparently the NSA thought it was time to jump on in and make sure that no one was Being a Terrorist, because If You Play World of Warcraft Then You Might Be a Terrorist.
It seems the NSA isn’t just hanging out in Razorfen Downs with the boars, however, watching you level up your young paladin with a tank you picked up in LFG who’s probably going to roll on everything (sorry, little in-game joke there). They’re also all up in Second Life and Xbox games such as Halo. So for all you boys who use the same mouth to kiss your mom that you use to yell at your fellow Halo players (and yes, I’ve heard you on the servers), guess what? The NSA heard you too. Lovely, right?
Naturally, Blizzard (maker of WoW), Microsoft and others are all claiming that they Had No Idea The NSA Was In Our Stuff. We believe them because they haven’t had the NSA in their stuff before….oh, wait.
GWB says: Yes, this adds to the creepiness of our government spying on us. But, let’s look at a couple of things:
“We” aren’t the only ones in Wow/SL/BXox/etc. The internet is global. I have performers and patrons from every continent except Antartica, and every region of the world, in my live music venue in SecondLife. It’s why I don’t discuss my work or politics (much) in the open chat there.
If anyone ever thought their chat – text or voice, person-to-person or open chat – was private in these places, they weren’t paying attention. And, that’s even before “spying” becomes involved.
And, since SecondLife is mentioned here, I want to give a shout out to the U.S. Military Veterans group there. This is a great group of folks – all vetted as actual veterans or family members – that maintain a sim in the online world to provide help and community for US veterans. (They hold regular Wounded Warrior benefit events for one thing.) If you are a veteran or active duty involved in SecondLife and aren’t a member, look it up.
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