autographedcat (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
autographedcat) wrote2010-07-08 09:05 am
autographedcat) wrote2010-07-08 09:05 am
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Blizzard "Real ID" system sparks controversy
Blizzard Entertainment, makers of World of Warcraft and other games, unveils controversial new forum policies
I'm a person who has long argued that there is no privacy on the Internet,there never was any privacy on the Internet, and that pretending otherwise is a comfortable delusion people craft for themselves in order to not freak out thinking about how much of their personal information is floating around in the ether.
Having said that...Blizzard is seriously out of bounds on this one. The concern isn't just the forums. If it was, we'd all just shrug and go on with our lives; I can't remember the last time I read the official forums, much less posted to them. And as you can see, I post to Usenet with my real name and e-mail address, and have done so for 20 years, so I'm not overly concerned with people finding me .
But then, I've never had a stalker. I've never been sexually assaulted. I've never been the victim of identity theft. I've never been harassed because I'm female, or gay, or transgendered. But I know people who fall into every single one of those categories, some of them very close to me. Their concerns about protecting their identity from random strangers are real, substantial, and very much valid.
Right now, it's just the forums, but what happens when they decide to reveal your real name to people using the Armoury? Or an in-game query against your character? As much as I generally regard slippery-slope arguments as a fallacy, it does seem very clear that Blizzard has a cavalier attitude towards its users' identities, and that is troubling.
It's one thing to soapbox about the illusion of privacy on the Internet, and another thing to simply blatantly ignore the importance of the illusion and flagrantly expose your users' information. There may be only the thinnest line between you and the world, but that thin line matters; it's part of the social contract that allows the Internet to function.
Bad move, Blizzard. Very, very bad move.
More reading on this that I liked:
I'm a person who has long argued that there is no privacy on the Internet,there never was any privacy on the Internet, and that pretending otherwise is a comfortable delusion people craft for themselves in order to not freak out thinking about how much of their personal information is floating around in the ether.
Having said that...Blizzard is seriously out of bounds on this one. The concern isn't just the forums. If it was, we'd all just shrug and go on with our lives; I can't remember the last time I read the official forums, much less posted to them. And as you can see, I post to Usenet with my real name and e-mail address, and have done so for 20 years, so I'm not overly concerned with people finding me .
But then, I've never had a stalker. I've never been sexually assaulted. I've never been the victim of identity theft. I've never been harassed because I'm female, or gay, or transgendered. But I know people who fall into every single one of those categories, some of them very close to me. Their concerns about protecting their identity from random strangers are real, substantial, and very much valid.
Right now, it's just the forums, but what happens when they decide to reveal your real name to people using the Armoury? Or an in-game query against your character? As much as I generally regard slippery-slope arguments as a fallacy, it does seem very clear that Blizzard has a cavalier attitude towards its users' identities, and that is troubling.
It's one thing to soapbox about the illusion of privacy on the Internet, and another thing to simply blatantly ignore the importance of the illusion and flagrantly expose your users' information. There may be only the thinnest line between you and the world, but that thin line matters; it's part of the social contract that allows the Internet to function.
Bad move, Blizzard. Very, very bad move.
More reading on this that I liked:
And so it goes.
I play games to escape my RL identity. NOT to be tethered to it.
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I dont think it will ever stop the flameing and trolling and such. As long as people can hide behind the keyboard and have the idea in their heads that their real address cant be found, they will still do all those things Bliz is trying to stop.
Will this stop me from playing? No. I play cause I enjoy the game and I think Bliz cranks out some quality games so will continue playing. I agree with you in that I have never been a victum of any of those thing you mentioned. If i ever do get hit, I guess I will re-evaluate what i will do after I pick up the peices.
Bad Blizzard ... no cookie for you!
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http://watchingthewatchers.org/indepth/1365085/Korean-law-driving-policy-blizzard
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I think that thread may be where I saw that Blizzard have already changed their minds about publishing the real names of their staff, because they don't want the staff harassed. But aren't (as of a couple of hours ago, at least) admitting that "she's queer" or "he's trans" or "they did something I don't like and I'm a fucking idiot" are as potentially dangerous as "they work for WoW."
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Really great post, Rob. It's nice to see you check your privilege (as they say) and think of others. I wish more people had that instinct and generosity of spirit. I got into several arguments with people over the Google Buzz fiasco where they were like "well nothing's happened to me. i just find it a bit annoying. people will just have to get over it that's the way it is".
Like most things, anonymity can be both good and bad. It allows for greater freedom of speech & ideas exchange and for teh st00pid.
I think a space for privacy is a must on the internet. If we let it go here, we'll just be further conditioned out of it in other areas of our lives. The next generation is poised to have no concept of it.
Without privacy, safe space and a possibility for dissent and non-conformity gets smaller and smaller and we NEED those things as a society
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I don't know if WoW has quite Eve's ability to enable individual characters to seriously **** off hundreds or thousands of other players (e.g. a director gutting an alliance of tens or even hundreds of billions worth of cash and equipment and then defecting to their opponents, voiding control of all their systems as he goes). Or even individual players e.g. by killing someone silly or naive enough to load all their valuables into a tissue-paper hauler and then fly it through "safe" space. But I've a horrible feeling something 'bad' would have long since happened to somebody in real-life were people to be less anonymous than they are.
That said, lack of anonymity might well prevent some of these things which, it could be argued, might make the virtual world a nicer place!