Spying on MMOs "unconstitutional"

By Oli Welsh Published 28 February, 2008

And online terrorists would just get fat.

Responding to the US intelligence community's plans to start monitoring behaviour in MMOs, an expert has rubbished the idea that virtual worlds represent a terrorist threat - adding that such monitoring would be unconstitutional and an invasion of privacy.

Writing at Salon.com Juan Cole, professor of modern Middle Eastern and South Asian history at the University of Michigan, said: "Any monitoring by law enforcement of innocuous activity and communication in a virtual world, conducted broadly and without oversight, would be unconstitutional and could invade the privacy of millions of persons."

Cole also expressed scepticism that virtual worlds and MMO games could be remotely useful to subversives as recruitment, training or money-laundering devices.

"The notion that wandering around such an imaginary world with a computerised body is dangerous to anyone seems itself cartoonish and calls into question the public hand-wringing by security experts," he said.

He feels that virtual banks and recruitment networks are no substitute for the real thing. "The institutional frameworks are to date so unreliable that terrorists likely could not count on a money-launderer. If the July 7, 2005, bombers of the London Underground could so easily be recruited in a gym in Leeds, why go to all the trouble of creating an avatar?"

"Even the Internet war-game sites - which include World of Warcraft - would probably just make most terrorists overweight and addicted to the Internet," he said.

We're not entirely convinced that the addictive nature of WOW would so easily overcome the idealistic fervour of jihadists. But it's probably a close-run thing.

Picture of Oli.

About Oli Welsh

Oli is Eurogamer's acting deputy editor and reviews editor and likes to take things one word at a time. He is among the best dressed people in South London.

Read more articles from Oli by visiting the Oli Welsh archive page.

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Comments (7) Latest comment 4 years ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • mingster #1 4 years ago

    Its funny because its true

  • hula hoops #2 4 years ago

    Which one is true? WoW makes people fat or ... ? :p

  • NewbieZilla #3 4 years ago

    Well, thats the one thats funny, so I guess yeah. As for the invasion of privacy, thats true because its true. Humour doesn't enter into it.

  • mingster #4 4 years ago

    You don't think the image of men in black suits playing WOW looking for real life terrorists is funny?

  • MrChuckles #5 4 years ago

    Put up some Al Quaeda porn, 'make love, not war' and then all the terrorists will definitely get addicted to the internet. Much more addictive than WoW.

    Not speaking from personal experience of course... Ahem...

  • kangarootoo #6 4 years ago

    "Any monitoring by law enforcement of innocuous activity and communication in a virtual world, conducted broadly and without oversight, would be unconstitutional and could invade the privacy of millions of persons"

    Like US intelligence agencies give a fuck about that.

    They kill people illegally if they feel it is necessary to do so (as do all intelligence agencies I might add). They have never given a rats ass about our privacy so they are hardly going to start now.

  • megadaisy #7 4 years ago

    I think I am going to sign up for MI5 then - what a great job! Play WoW all day long "looking for terrorists" lol.