Ethical Concerns of Virtual Worlds Over The Internet

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Virtual worlds are an environment played out over the internet. Virtual worlds are evolving more and more each year. In a virtual world users can live a “second” life over the web. This can lead to crimes in the real world due to disassociation. There are many other health concerns due to the excessive use of virtual worlds. Many users become addicted to these fantasy worlds. Virtual worlds have caused many social and economic issues that we will discuss below.
A virtual world is an environment over the internet where users “live” and communicate with other users. “A persistent online game is an online game in which each player assumes the role of a character in a virtual world and the attributes of the character and the world persist beyond a single gaming session” (Quinn, 2013). World of War craft is one of the most popular virtual world games played. Some other virtual worlds are Second Life, Keneva, There, Active Worlds, Meet Me, My World, HiPiHi, A World of My Own, and Moove. “Second Life” was created by Linden Labs in 1999. The users are able to voice chat which increases performance. “Keneva” was developed in 2004 by Keneva, Inc. It is a combination of gaming and social networking. “Active Worlds” was developed in 1997 by active worlds Inc. It is a 3-D virtual world. Transcosmos, Inc. developed “Meet Me”. It is expected to have great graphics. It is based out of Tokyo. “My World” is currently being tested by Arizona University students. China developed “HiPiHi”. This virtual world is under strict government censorship. Sir Richard Branson developed “A World of My Own”. There are around 10 million subscribers monthly throughout the world. In South Korea they have cybercafés also known as PC Bangs where people...

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