links for 2007-04-18

“Online games like World of Warcraft and Second Life are absolute dictatorships, where the whim of the companies controlling them is law. Doctorow wonders if it’s possible to create a game that’s a democracy, where your in-world property is really yours.”

A gun-loving Virginia Tech student who was falsely idenitified as the VT shooter.More in The Age.

“The college student responsible for yesterday’s Virginia Tech slaughter was referred last year to counseling after professors became concerned about the violent nature of his writings, as evidenced in a one-act play obtained by The Smoking Gun.”

A teenage girl who posted a MySpace invitation including the line “let’s trash my house” has been questioned by police after revellers caused more than £20,000 to her parent’s home.