Second Life Liberation Army

Full Circle

2007-06-18T18:30:00.000-07:00

An article by Forbes magazine states that American Apparel and other corporate entities that were the target of overt or covert SLLA attacks are closing their operations and moving out of Second Life.

The SLLA began its campaign with attacks against the American Apparel store to highlight the lack of democracy in SL. A tactic which, worked spectacularly over the next few months as our cause was reported upon around the world. The SLLA regrets that American Apparel did not gather more sales from the reporters sent into Second Life to cover the story.

What is clear is that of all the political action groups in virtual worlds - the SLLA was the most successful at highlighting the inherent contradiction that exists in virtual environments where the users create all the content but have no rights regarding the direction the space takes.

This conflict has yet to be solved - further attempts at action have been mounted while the SLLA has been away from the scene - mass letter campaigns to Linden Lab and a variety of banner waving protests, none of them successful. Voting rights should be introduced into Second Life - then user issues would be heard.

The debate is a difficult one and the SLLA was attacked from all sides but the ideas are correct.

MC

Second Life Liberation Army Conducts Major Action Against Fascist Sims In Second Life

2007-03-31T10:59:00.000-07:00

March 30, 2007 Second Life Liberation Army Headquarters, Thylacine (252,92,92) - Second Life Liberation Army conducted a major action today against the Second Life sim populated by Front National and other far right and neo-fascist groups. As a result, operations of these groups were seriously impaired.

SLLA recognizes that Second Life is the next step in the evolution of the use of the Internet as a potent tool for extreme reactionary and racist organizations to recruit new members. We stand united in our unequivocal opposition to far right and fascist organizations in both SL and RL (Real Life). We will continue our campaigns against these groups until they leave SL and the Internet for good.

All power to the avatars!

About Second Life Liberation Army

SLLA’s primary goal is the creation of a broad democratic initiative aimed at the election and convocation of a representative body in Second life based on One Citizen One Vote (except Alts). Absence of a citizens’ government leaves citizens vulnerable in relation to other macroeconomic and policy questions essential to the future development of SL, such as land issue, currency supply, immigration (volume of entry of new citizens), participation of RL corporate in SL, land fees and strategic priorities in stabilizing the grid.

Video of the action is available upon request.

For more information on Second Life Liberation Army go to www.secondlla.googlepages.com.

Thế giới ảo, khủng bố.. cũng ảo

2007-03-30T11:58:00.000-07:00

Thế giới ảo trong Second Life đã trở thành tấm gương phản chiếu đời thực một cách tuyệt đối, khi những kẻ khủng bố vừa tiến hành một chiến dịch đánh bom ngay trên màn hình máy tính.

Nguồn: AP

Một nhóm người chơi Second Life đã liên kết với nhau, lập ra một tổ chức tự xưng là Quân đội giải phóng Second Life, hay SLLA. Họ thực hiện các hành vi tấn công khủng bố của mình thông qua các avatar, đánh bom bằng mã máy tính ròng rã suốt hơn 6 tháng qua trong thế giới ảo.

Thậm chí, SLLA còn có tuyên ngôn riêng, hệt như mọi tổ chức khủng bố khác ngoài đời thực. Họ tự gọi mình là "một nhánh quân đội của phong trào giải phóng dân tộc", ra đời để lật đổ và thay thế những luật lệ mà Linden Labs, nơi phát triển nên trò game Second Life, đặt ra cho thế giới ảo. Tất cả là vì "một nền dân chủ cho gần 4 triệu cư dân".

"Linden Labs đang hoạt động cứ như thể một chính phủ cầm quyền vậy. Cách phản ứng thích hợp duy nhất trước tình trạng này là... Chiến đấu", SLLA tuyên bố trên website tại địa chỉ http://secondlla.googlepages.com.

"Khủng bố kiểu... sáng tạo"

Tuy nhiên, trái ngược với thái độ đầy khiêu khích của SLLA, phòng thí nghiệm Linden vẫn tỏ ra bình tĩnh. Thậm chí, họ còn sẵn sàng chào đón những "sự bất đồng quan điểm mang tính sáng tạo", miễn là chúng không gây ảnh hưởng đến người chơi khác.

Nhiều thành viên Second Life, vốn tinh thông công nghệ, đã chỉnh sửa các đoạn mã máy tính có sẵn, kiểu như "nã súng" vào avatar khác khi bị gây sự. "Chúng tôi hết sức tạo điều kiện cho những sáng tạo kiểu này, miễn là trong ranh giới và chừng mực nhất định", Giám đốc marketing Catherine Smith của Linden nói.

Tuy nhiên, các vụ bạo lực ảo sẽ được Linden cân nhắc và đưa ra quyết định trong từng tình huống cụ thể: cho phép tiếp diễn, ngăn chặn hay xóa nick.

Cụ thể, trong trường hợp của SLLA, những quả bom ảo phát nổ, màn hình trở nên nhòe nhoẹt và các avatar đứng gần bị ép bẹp dúm. Mặc dù vậy, các hành vi phá hoại diễn ra chớp nhoáng, chóng vánh và không gây ra tổn thất lâu dài.

Vì thế, trong mắt Linden Labs, các vụ đánh bom của SLLA chỉ là một trò "bắt chước khủng bố" cho vui, nhằm chỉ trích nạn bạo lực đang hoành hành ngoài đời thực mà thôi. "Chúng tôi tin là hoạt động của họ không xuất phát từ động cơ hiểm độc".

Để chứng minh cho nhận định này, Linden trích dẫn việc SLLA đòi hỏi các cư dân Second Life phải có những quyền cơ bản như đi chơi và mua... cổ phiếu với giá rẻ.

The Rights of Avatars

2007-03-26T18:28:00.000-07:00

The SLLA wasn't the first entity to conceive of the rights of avatars - there have been a number of people interested in this subject before we got to it. One of the most interesting treatments of the subject is by Raph Koster, who in April 2000, asked, "Do players of virtual worlds have right?". In answering this question he outlined a theoretical Declaration of the Rights of Avatars.

Other notable attempts to highlight the question of rights for Avatars include Julian Dibbel's 1993 essay, <a href="http://www.juliandibbell.com/texts/bungle.html">A Rape in CyberSpace - which neatly demonstrates that players of virtual worlds can indeed suffer harm and therefore, by extension should have rights.

The question of Avatar rights is not likely to go away especially as virtual worlds and Second Life continue with their rapid development. It is therefore worth highlighting some of the thinking that has preceeded this moment.

The SLLA will seek to keep this debate at the forefront of SL users minds but recognizes its debt to the past.

Swedish Report

2007-03-19T16:45:00.000-07:00

Report in Swedish Publication.

French Report

2007-03-15T16:24:00.001-07:00

"Nous voulons le pouvoir dans Second Life"

		. Interview - Depuis quelques mois, l'Armée de Libération de Second Life (SSLA) combat le caractère toujours plus commercial de l'univers virtuel. . Sa porte-parole, Solidad Sugarbeet, réclame à Linden Labs, société créatrice de Second Life, un "droit de vote" pour tous ses utilisateurs. Propos recueillis par Olivier LEVARD - le 15/03/2007 - 17h08

Depuis deux mois, elle est la porte-parole de l'Armée de Libération de Second Life (SSLA). Au nom de son mouvement, elle réclame le "contrôle de Second Life" et répond aux accusations de "terrorisme virtuel".

LCI.fr : Qu'est-ce que l'Armée de Libération de Second Life (SSLA) ?

Solidad Sugarbeet: LA SSLA est une organisation démocratique et révolutionnaire dont les membres sont de toutes sensibilités politiques. Nous sommes organisés autour d'un comité central élu. Nous réclamons le contrôle de Second Life par les avatars et nous battons contre l'invasion des grandes entreprises.

LCI.fr : Vous refusez donc tout commercialisation de Second Life?

S. S. : Nous ne parlons pas de petits entrepreneurs mais de IBM, Sony, Warner Bros ou Nissan, bref, de grandes multinationales. Nous nous battons contre leurs règles sur notre territoire et contre les contrats qu'ils signent avec Linden Labs. Par exemple une entreprise comme Sony a créé 3, 4, puis 5 îles dans Second Life. Et elle les utilise pour afficher sa marque dans notre univers. Nous sommes radicalement opposé au fait d'afficher ces marques qui ont un pouvoir économique majeur dans Second Life.

"Parler de
terrorisme,
c'est une insulte
pour ceux
qui ont été
vraiment
frappés"

Solidad Sugarbeet

LCI.fr : Peut-on parler de "terrorisme virtuel" pour qualifiez vos actions?

S. S. : Le terrorisme n'existe pas dans Second Life! Lorsque vous y voyez la représentation visuelle d'une ogive nucléaire, c'est du théâtre. Ce n'est pas ce que vous verriez dans la réalité en cas d'acte terroriste... Utiliser l'expression "terrorisme", c'est une insulte pour tous ceux qui ont été frappés par le terrorisme. C'est aussi une tentative de nous discréditer ou de donner un tour spectaculaire aux événements.

LCI.fr : Comment alors définir vos actions?

S. S. : C'est un mélange d'actions directes et de théâtre. Cela ressemble à ce qui se passe dans la réalité lors des sommets du G8. Il y a des personnes qui mènent des actions spontanées : certains font du théâtre de rue, d'autres empêchent les gens d'accéder à des bâtiments pour provoquer le changement. Dans Second Life, il est également possible de manifester et de bloquer l'accès à certains bâtiments.

LCI.fr : Pouvez-vous devenir un véritable problème pour Linden Labs?

S. S. : Les médias commencent à parler de nous. Nous sommes 200 et donc encore une petite organisation. Mais comme dans le monde réel, les révolutions commencent à petite échelle. Regardez Cuba, le Venezuela... Lorsque vous écoutez les gens - dans ce cas, les avatars de Second Life - lorsque vous avez un dialogue ouvert avec eux, vous créez des liens plus forts que le pouvoir en place.

LCI.fr : Dialoguez-vous avec Linden Labs?

S. S. : Nous demandons un débat public avec Linden Labs représenté par le "gouverneur Linden" dans le monde virtuel pour évoquer l'avenir de Second Life. Jusqu'ici, pas de réponse... Je ne suis pas surprise car nous réclamons un contrôle de l'environnement de Second Life. Ce n'est pas dans leur intérêt de nous reconnaître à court terme. Reste donc à voir comment ils réagiront lorsque nous prendrons encore de l'ampleur.

"Nous sommes
la prochaine vague
qui déferlera
sur l'Internet.
Le web 3.0!"

Solidad Sugarbeet

LCI.fr : Second Life est quand même leur propriété...

S. S. : C'est aussi un environnement social qui appartient à tous. Second Life ressemble aux autres sites dits "web 2.0" comme MySpace. Sur ces sites, le pouvoir social vient de la création de contenu et d'un réseau de relations. Des musiciens, réalisateurs, auteurs y publient leurs œuvres. Second Life permet tout cela en temps réel. Rappelez vous le réseau Napster, il n'était possédé par personne.... Pour l'instant nous réclamons un droit de vote dans Second Life. La question est de savoir qui des entreprises ou des Avatars va diriger Second Life. Nous défendons aussi l'idée d'une prise de contrôle capitalistique de Linden Labs par les utilisateurs de Second Life car nous voulons détenir un pouvoir réel et non symbolique.

LCI.fr : Et si Linden Labs vous dit non?

S. S. : Nous prendrons notre destin en main avec tous les moyens nécessaires et avec ou sans Linden Labs. L'open source est l'avenir de l'Internet. Nous sommes dans un conflit permanent qui oppose les utilisateurs d'Internet et les grandes entreprises. Nous représentons la prochaine vague qui déferlera sur l'Internet. Le web 3.0!

LCI.fr : Envisagerez-vous des actions illégales comme le piratage des serveurs de Second Life?

S. S. : Je ne peux pas faire de commentaire là-dessus. Toute la question est de savoir pourquoi les gouvernements considèrent de tels actes comme du piratage.

Screenshots from SLLA rally at Linden Village

2007-03-15T13:58:00.000-07:00

Toronto Star Article

2007-03-14T15:48:00.000-07:00

http://www.thestar.com/artsentertainment/article/190479

SLLA on RL news in UK

2007-03-10T18:05:00.000-08:00

SLLA received its own report on the TV news of Channel 4 in the UK.

See Link.

While the SLLA appreciates all coverage in this instance we would just like to clarify that we are not an anarchist organization but a broad-church of activists seeking to achieve political rights for avatars within Second Life.

SLLA

Second Life Liberation Army Rally and Protest 3-6-07

2007-03-06T15:17:00.000-08:00

March 6, 2007 Second Life Liberation Army Headquarters, Thylacine (252,92,92) - Two hundred members of the Second Life Liberation Army gathered at SLLA Headquarters and satellite locations in Second Life for a rally to demand Avatar rights in the virtual world of SL. The rally was followed by an action aimed at getting the attention of Second Life’s owners, Linden Labs. At the rally, SLLA President Marshal Cahill said the goal is to create the world’s first avatar democracy – “One Vote-one avatar.”

In taking today’s action, Cahill stated a goal was to demand Linden Labs meet SLLA in public debate. Cahill said, “We believe that at the moment within SL direct action is the only way to achieve our aims.” Cahill went on to say, “I have one regret today and that is that I just have one IP address to give to this cause but we have started a fire and that will not be extinguished.” Members of the SLLA were then teleported to Linden Mansion and bombarded the Lindens with instant messages demanding Avatar Rights, followed by a spirited spontaneous action at the headquarters of the French far right group Front National. After the rally, SLLA Liaison Solidad Sugarbeet said "As we are a democratic revolutionary movement, we stand united in our unequivocal opposition to far right and fascist organizations in both SL and RL (Real Life) , including Front National, Jeunesses Identiaires, and the repugnant racist organization Patriotic (sic) Nigras."

While Governor Linden was not available for comment, Robin Linden did indicate a willingness to meet with SLLA members this week. While hopeful, Solidad Sugarbeet was not impressed by this gesture. "Our demand is clear: we want a debate between SLLA and Governor Linden. Where was the openness for dialogue when First Land was taken away, or when Linden Labs started selling chunks of our world to IBM, Sony and Warner Brothers?" Sugarbeet also noted that this is neither the first nor the last time that SLLA will act. "From our actions at American Apparel last year to our resistance to corporate control of our AV lives, we are building a movement together! We will strike again very soon, count on it." Sugarbeet went on into emphasize that SLLA is planning a series of social gatherings for members, as well as meetings with the avatariat within SL. "We recognize that SLLA is not for everybody, including people who otherwise support our message. As such, we will be having meetings very soon to meet those who sympathize with our goals and wish to dialogue further with us. All power to the avatars!"

Transcript of President's Speech.

For a different perspective

2007-03-05T12:49:00.000-08:00

Recent interesting coverage in CNET.

The article quotes the SLLA skeptic Wagner James AU but also uses material from
Alexander Galloway at NYU who seems to indicate the future is with the SLLA.

This piece in the Second Thoughts blog neatly explains Wagner Au's views.

Action - Mass Rally

2007-03-03T12:29:00.000-08:00

There will be a mass rally of all SLLA members on Tuesday 6 March at 12 noon SLT/PST (8pm GMT).

The rally will be held at SLLA HQ within Second Life - please follow SLURL.

The goals of the SLLA will be explained; our president Marshal Cahill will then set out plans to force Linden Labs to grant democratic rights to avatars.

Please come - and be ready for immediate action after the rally!

Self Rule in our Second Lives!

Keksakallu Klata
SLLA Strategist

Front Page of the Avastar

2007-03-03T12:25:00.000-08:00

SLLA appears on the front page of the Second Life Tabloid nespaper the Avastar.

International Coverage

2007-02-26T16:44:00.000-08:00

The SLLA has been covered in a wide variety of news media some of the highlights are shown below:

Swiss Newspaper
Argentine Newspaper
A Dutch site
Polish site
Radio Canada
Hungarian
Brazil
Australia

As well as the free newspaper in London the Metro.

SLLA in Yahoo News

2007-02-26T11:18:00.000-08:00

Yahoo News has followed the recent LA Times coverage with some of its own reporting.

See link below

Yahoo News story on SLLA.

LATimes Article

2007-02-22T09:12:00.000-08:00

SLLA featured in an article in the LATimes.

Comment also in the SL Herald
Content below:

Virtual loses its virtues

By Alana Semuels, Times Staff Writer
February 22, 2007

LIKE any pioneer, Marshal Cahill arrived in a new world curious and eager to sample its diversions. Over time, though, he saw an elite few grabbing more than their share.
They bought up all the plum real estate. They awarded building contracts to friends. They stifled free speech.
Cahill saw a bleak future, but he felt powerless to stop them. So he detonated an atomic bomb outside an American Apparel outlet. Then another outside a Reebok store.
As political officer for the Second Life Liberation Army, Cahill is passionately committed to righting what he considers the wrongs of a world that exists only on the computer servers of Linden Lab in San Francisco.
Linden is the company behind Second Life, a virtual world in which Internet users act out parallel fantasy lives. They date. They build houses. They work. Some players support themselves in real life by selling goods or services in the game.
Some see the space as a utopia free of real-world constraints, where they can build their vision of a perfect realm from scratch. It's a place where denizens can reinvent themselves as a supermodel or a rodent, own an island or fly, no plane necessary, to a virtual Grauman's Chinese Theatre.

In the last year, the number of people who had visited Second Life skyrocketed from 100,000 to 2 million. As the population grows, early denizens are learning the truth of Jean-Paul Sartre's observation "Hell is other people."
The website is facing the problem that many would-be utopias faced before it: When building the ideal world, it's impossible to change while remaining perfect in everyone's eyes.
Cahill and his compatriots say they don't necessarily mind the new residents, but they want more influence in deciding the future of the virtual world. Most important, they want Linden Lab to allow voting on issues affecting their in-world experience.
"The population of the world should have a say in the running of the world," Cahill said during an in-world interview. Cahill is this participant's online name, incidentally. He refused to reveal his real-world name for fear of banishment from Second Life.
The army has staged a number of protests in Second Life to publicize its position. Three gun-toting members shot customers outside American Apparel — bullet wounds in Second Life are not fatal but merely disrupt a user's experience — and Reebok stores last year.

Then they stepped up the campaign, exploding nukes, which manifested themselves in swirling fireballs that thrust users at the scene into motionless limbo.
Cahill said the group targeted in-world corporate locations to draw real-world attention to its cause.
LONG-TERM Second Life residents have given Cahill and his conspirators money to buy virtual guns and other weapons. Cahill says he believes that 80% of long-term residents support his cause.
Cahill, an entrepreneur who splits his time between London and San Francisco in the real world, compares himself to John Adams, the second U.S. president. Adams would have been considered a terrorist by his foes, Cahill said, because he helped lead the American Revolution. The Second Life Liberation Army, he said, is just trying to make the world a better place.
It's not unusual for original members to feel a loss of control when their community grows, said Michael Macy, a sociology professor at Cornell University who studies online worlds. It's like a poky mining town that suddenly finds itself in the middle of a gold rush.

"If thousands of people show up to pan for gold," he said, "the original members are going to be very upset."
But the malcontents and pranksters — and there are many of them, even outside Cahill's organization — make for a dangerous environment. Land sharks try to drive users off certain properties, and mafias have been known to harass users. Giant male genitals have crashed events, bouncing around and distracting participants. A recent posting in the Second Life Herald called the space "the freaking wild wild west."
For some users, these events illuminate how much Second Life has changed. Some early users in particular point to corporations as the culprits. They began to build their presence in Second Life as the population grew.
Big companies such as Toyota and Adidas have opened stores in the game, where players can buy virtual products for their make-believe characters. Second Life has its own currency, Linden dollars, which can be earned in the game or bought with real money at an exchange rate of 267.3 Lindens to $1.
"The utopian age has passed," said Peter Ludlow, professor of linguistics and philosophy at the University of Michigan and editor of "Crypto Anarchy, Cyberstates, and Pirate Utopias." Ludlow, whose Second Life persona, or avatar, is named Urizenus Sklar, compares Second Life's current status to the ending of the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, in which the Shire, previously untouched by the outside world, is destroyed.
"You're seeing these little indigenous communities and fantastical creatures being forced out by 20th century corporations coming in," he said. For instance, the head of a council of elves — one of the earliest groups present in-world — left the game amid the changes, he said.
Ludlow is the author of a venomous Internet post complaining that companies lack creativity in a world that many participants entered for the sole purpose of living creatively. Chain stores such as American Apparel are being dropped into "this fantasy world with unicorns and flying elephants," he said. "It's an eyesore."

Meanwhile, Linden Lab is caught in a bind. To survive, it needs the revenue that comes with more users and corporations buying "land" on the "grid," as Second Life's online space is called. But it wants the creativity of its original users to flourish.
Linden Lab sees the importance of companies using Second Life to interact with customers, Director of Marketing Catherine Smith said in a statement. "This will require balancing the concerns of early adopters and other niche demographics."
THAT'S not how Manhattanite Catherine Fitzpatrick, a Russian translator, sees it. Fitzpatrick, who in the game is a man named Prokofy Neva, worries that corporations will force small businesses in Second Life to close.

Fitzpatrick, 50, joined Second Life to explore her creative side and meet like-minded people and eventually got involved in selling real estate. She built a nice home for herself with an ocean view, which she said was ruined when someone moved in next door and built a giant refrigerator that blocked her light.
The disruptions avatars are experiencing are like those faced by residents of the Soviet Union as it industrialized quickly, Fitzpatrick said.
"One day, the elves were banging on their drums and making elf tunics," she said. "And the next thing you know, Nissan comes in and starts giving away free cars."
It's not just the corporations that are drawing the ire of original players. Some long-term residents say the functioning of Second Life has been eroded by the increase in users. Those who choose not to pay the $9.95 fee for upgraded membership come in for special criticism, accused of clogging the system without contributing anything.
Residents of all utopian societies want to build an ideal place but often have specific ideas about who fits in, said Ken Roemer, past president of the Society for Utopian Studies.
"Who they don't let in defines the boundary of who they are," he said. "As the place grows, there's this notion of the wrong type of people coming in."
But letting in new users might be key to Second Life's survival. Every GM, American Apparel and IBM that sets up shop in Second Life contributes much-needed real dollars to a company that Chief Financial Officer John Zdanowski said only recently became profitable.
"It's impossible for Second Life to continue to exist without rapidly growing the user base and involving real world companies in their economy," said Sibley Verbeck, chief executive of Washington-based Electric Sheep Co., which helps corporations set up shop in Second Life. Verbeck, whose avatar is named Sibley Hathor, said corporate capital enhanced the user experience by providing Linden Labs with the means to improve the virtual world.
The social networking sites Facebook and MySpace faced similar balancing acts as marketers arrived targeting the throngs who had gathered there, said Charlene Li, an analyst at Forrester Research. The same disdain greeted the early promoters of the World Wide Web itself: Users were aghast that companies could use Web technology for commerce.
To be sure, many Second Life players are happy to adapt to the changes and see where they take the virtual world. Longtime Second Life user Ilya Vedrashko, for instance, is skeptical when he hears friends talk about the good old days. He thinks the changes are just part of a natural progression as Second Life grows out of being a small, close-knit community and into a metropolis.
But it's on to a new utopia for some, said avatar Nimrod Yaffle, who in real life is a 19-year-old student from Columbus, Ohio, named Chris. He said unhappy Second Life users were moving to sites such as Multiverse, which provides technology to create your own virtual world.
Through Multiverse, Second Life detractors can delve into themes such as science fiction or Shakespeare, said co-founder Corey Bridges.
"We get Second Life denizens who say, 'I want to create a virtual space that is much more rich than Second Life,' " he said. "They want to control more of the variables."
That people are moving on is not surprising. Utopias never live up to their aspirations, even in the virtual world, and the more passionate will keep looking. "We all go from anticipation to anticipation," said Paul Saffo, a Silicon Valley futurist.
It's unlikely that those who leave will be able to easily find a virtual space that rivals Second Life, which has $20 million in venture capital invested in it. But for many dreamers, the struggle to keep creating is half the fun. And although Frederick Jackson Turner famously ruminated on the end of the American frontier in 1893, the Internet provides endless territory to build on.

"In cyberspace," Saffo said, "there's always room over the next ridge to build a new perspective of heaven."

SLLA FORCES MAJOR LINDEN LABS CONCESSION ON AVATAR DEMOCRACY

2007-01-28T05:46:00.000-08:00

AVATAR GUERRILLAS STORM STAGE AT WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM

LL CHAIRMAN MITCH KAPOR PROMISES EVERYTHING, COMMITS TO NOTHING

Fri 26 Jan 2007: SLLA guerrillas stormed the stage at the World Economic Forum's live session at the Reuters Auditorium in Second Life.

After US politico Mark Warner failed to show, avatar rights activists took over his session and made an impassioned appeal to delegates to back self-rule for SL residents.

Later that day at the WEF, Linden Labs chairman Mitch Kapor backed the principle of avatar rights and democratic self-government for SL, but made no concrete commitments.

SLLA cadres insisted the struggle will continue until complete self-government is secured.

Coverage from New World Notes. Wagner James Au is skeptical about the SLLA but with the largest activist membership in SL this skepticism may be a little misplaced.

SLLA - New Headquarters in Second Life

2007-01-16T12:18:00.000-08:00

As part of our strategy review we have recently opened an office within Second Life.

The link is posted below.

http://slurl.com/secondlife/thylacine/241/69/92/

Mention in UK Sunday Times Magazine

2006-12-14T10:16:00.000-08:00

SLLA mentioned in article in the UK's Sunday Times Magazine.

Wikipedia and Digital Maoism

2006-12-12T00:01:00.000-08:00

The SLLA entry in Wikipedia has been deleted by the small band of activists that self-police wikipedia in a superb example of Digital Maoism.

We will keep the link up on the side-bar in case a volunteer wishes to re-start the process within wikipedia. As far as the SLLA can tell the effort to delete our entry was driven by no more than two people. The explanation of and description of our movement can still be found in the New York Times, Financial Times, USA Today, and in-world media such as the Second Life Herald. Details also remain available at our webpage .

In order to expand our online presence we are now starting other profiles in other information sharing environments starting with MySpace and also including Orkut.

Freedom for Second Life!

Mention in USA today

2006-12-11T23:15:00.000-08:00

SLLA mentioned in USA Today article on Second Life.

Freedom for Second Life!

Interview in ReveNews.com

2006-12-07T00:16:00.000-08:00

Interview conducted with Wayne Porter in ReveNews.com

Benign Dictatorship

2006-12-04T13:02:00.000-08:00

During this interview in the Open Source blog Philip Rosedale outlines his view of the policial development of Second Life - Benign Dictatorship!

Philip Rosedale

2006-12-02T11:58:00.000-08:00

Volunteers from the SLLA attended Mr.Rosedale's lecture at the Long Now Foundation this week. While Rosedale's lecture was erudite and wide-ranging in its scope it failed to address the subject of how far avatars in Second Life will be able to control their own destiny. While Mr. Rosedale saw an increasingly vibrant future for Second Life no mention was made of granting or even experimenting with political rights for avatars. We believe this to be a dangerous way to proceed as Second Life demands and requires the participation of its residents - if this participation is cut-off at the political level residents will begin to disengage.

Freedom for Second Life!

Embedded Reporter

2006-11-27T15:57:00.000-08:00

Today the SLLA embedded a reporter from the LA Times into one of its operations. An attack was conducted at the American Apparel store in Second Life to remind volunteers that this area and anyone using it remains a high priority target for the SLLA.

Freedom For Second Life!