SCI/TECH: Investigative reporter banished from his "home town"

Budding investigative reporter, Peter Ludlow, was recently banished from his town, kicked out of his home, and saw his two cats confiscated. He said he was only attempting to expose the truth about the city's authorities in his online newspaper. He had regularly reported on thieves and their scams, teenage prostitution, and connected these vents to city leaders. NYtimes.com (Requires free subscription) Alphaville is not a real town but a virtual city in an Internet game called The Sims Online, where thousands of paying subscribers log on each day to assume fictional identities and mingle in cyberspace. Indeed, none of Mr. Ludlow's possessions existed outside the game. But the recent decision by the game's owner, Electronic Arts, to terminate Mr. Ludlow's account � forever erasing his simulated Sims persona � has set off a debate over free expression and ethical behavior in online worlds that is reverberating in the real one. This fascinating story has implications for any online community. [Edited on 14-1-2004 by SkepticOverlord]

Oh for god's sakes. I thought this was happening for real not in a video game.

[Edited on 14-1-2004 by Ocelot]

That does spark some interesting debate. Who makes the laws? The "people" or the game creator "government"? I guess the certain freedoms are not transcendant to the cyber realms.

Well, this raises some questions on the aspects of this community, and what members expect from governance. I see many of the issues we encountered on this board reflected in the story.

Originally posted by SkepticOverlord
Well, this raises some questions on the aspects of this community, and what members expect from governance. I see many of the issues we encountered on this board reflected in the story.

Well you do make a good point. But in the end EA has the right to terminate a users account for any reason since they own the service the guy plays in.