"[ Birds chirping ]" "Goode:" "My life looked pretty good." "Two and three vacations a year," "And the house, the kid, the dog, the husband," "But I was certainly feeling unfulfilled," "Looking for something more." "People that don't know about second life call it a game," "But I think that word just doesn't do it justice." "It is a community, and for me," "It's a conduit to meet with someone very special." "[ Laughing ] I might have to ask you to delete that." "Oh, sorry." "Berblinger:" "I've been married 20 years." "She's..." "I think it's 11 years." "And then we found each other." "I live in calgary, alberta, in Canada," "And she lives in New York." "We met somewhere, like, in the end of December." "I think just before the new year." "Her avatar was plain compared to others," "But it was the conversation that changed it all." "It was pretty exciting." "I mean, talk about love as a drug." "I use the term "emotional adultery"" "Because the real world's hung up about physical sex," "But what's really more important" "Is the emotional attachment you have with someone." "Our real-life partners really don't know what we're up to." "As far as they're concerned," "It's just some kind of game that we play." "Excuse me, where are you coming in from?" "Louisville." "I mean, Atlanta." "Okay, thank you." "What flight was this, please?" "This is a flight from west palm beach." "Okay, thank you." "Okay?" "Hello. [ Laughs ]" "How are you?" "Nice to see you." "I think I recognized you." "Yeah?" "Can we leave?" "[ Laughs ]" "Where are we going right now?" "Right now we're going out to my car." "Ugh!" "[ Indistinct conversation ]" "I can't believe any of this." "I can't believe this." "I know." "Ah, this is crazy." "I know." "I know." "I've got to collect." "I've got to collect my thoughts." "It's a relief that when we finally meet" "That she is who she says she is," "And even more beautiful than I imagined." "Wow." "[ Indistinct conversation ]" "Rosedale:" "Second life's different than a game" "Because there isn't any goal." "And it has the very unusual property" "That everything in it is changeable," "And in fact, is created by the people who are there," "Not by us, the company." "In fact, we didn't build anything into second life." "It started out as just a small island with some trees on it." "And as residents came in," "They began, you know, buying and developing that space." "So, literally clearing the trees and building houses on it." "They started building the content," "Like glasses or clothes or tables or chairs" "Or guns or cars." "We didn't build any of that." "We simply built a technology platform." "Think of it as being much like the web." "You know, we created the server space" "And the software running on the servers" "That will allow you to basically go in there and make web pages." "Only you're not making web pages, you're making reality." "So, it's not flat." "They can't actually make it flat." "People inevitably, you know, approach it" "With a "how could that be" kind of a question." "You know, "how could the virtual world be real?"" "But, I think in the years to come, we'll realize" "That the question was more just, "why not?"" "Barnett: "The avastar" is a tabloid newspaper." "We cover news, business, fashion, celebrities, travel," "All sorts of these tabloid themes." "However, we only cover second life." "So, all our content is based on second life." "At the beginning, when we first looked at second life, 76% of second life were from America." "Now you have over 60% coming from Europe." "Registered people that actually come" "And got themselves an avatar is at 7 million," "So you definitely see a massive expansion" "In the second life population." "One of the fastest-growing sites on the Internet" "Is a 3d world called second life." "There's been a massive hype." "It's been all through the media, through the newspapers..." "Afternoon television." "Dwight:" "Second life is not a game." "It is a multi-user, virtual environment." "It doesn't have points or scores." "It doesn't have winners or losers." "Oh, it has losers." "This is supposed to be me..." "Kind of." "It's called an avatar," "And it's part of a world some people call very cool," "While others consider it very weird." "Second life now is sort of where the world wide web was" "At about 1994." "People are starting to discover it." "Wednesday, a cyber celebrity's death..." "She doesn't seem real, does she?" "She made herself look like her avatar." "Please join me in giving a warm digital welcome" "To Bruce "b-dub" Willis." "Welcome, Bruce." "Hey, how you doing?" "People don't just engage" "In perverse sexual activity in second life," "But they also engage in forms of artistic expression or commerce." "There are so many big brands that have come into second life." "Massive, multi-nationals, big companies coming in" "And experimenting, getting feedback on their products." "The question is, can second life make this progression" "To becoming a mass portal in the future?" "And of course, that's unclear." "Rosedale:" "I think that" "What we'll look back on now in second life" "Will have been the beginning of a proof on that." "Things are real because they're there with us," "And we believe in them." "And if they're simulated on a digital computer" "Versus sort of simulated by atoms and molecules," "It doesn't make any difference to us." "My name is asri falcone," "And I am a content creator within second life." "I have a housing company," "And we create fully furnished homes." "So when you come into this home," "There is nothing you need." "There is nothing you need to buy extra, furniture, nothing." "You can just move right on in to your dream home." "And we specialize in high-end and extreme luxury." "You can actually have the house of your dreams" "Within second life without the real-life price." "Asri falcone is a mirror image." "I don't roleplay asri." "Asri is not my alter ego." "Asri is..." "Me." "My avatar is an 11-year-old girl, and I had no idea" "That she would turn out that way as I started creating her." "But suddenly, she took on a life of her own." "The first night was..." "I always say it was like taking the red pill." "It was like everything that had happened up to the point" "Where ayya started her journey I could forget." "I remember him telling me about something," "Some virtual world called second life." "And it, you know, that was completely new to me." "I had heard nothing of it." "I didn't even know what a virtual world was." "One night, he brought the computer into bed." "And the first night I kept going until the sun came out," "And I noticed it was 8:00 in the morning." "That was the first time I looked at the clock," "And I had no idea how an entire night could pass." "And I looked over and said, "what are you doing?"" "And then I turned back and went right back to sleep." "Ayya creator:" "The moment there was downtime, I logged in again." "And it was after going for another night," "Going for days straight, that I..." "Other things just weren't important anymore." "Sleeping was absolutely out of necessity" "When I really had no other choice," "And it was just for a couple of hours." "It was a physical feeling, it was a mental feeling," "And it affected everything about me" "And everything about the way I acted." "[ Ayya giggles ]" "I felt like she was very familiar" "And somebody that I'd always known." "It was some sort of exploration of something in my subconscious." "Woman:" "We were at Barnes  noble" "And he was looking at the psychologist Carl jung," "And he said something about" "Sort of how there's a male in every female" "And a female in every male concept that jung has," "And that he has created a girl avatar." "And I said, "well, why?"" "What do you do with the girl avatar?"" "And then he revealed to me that she was a child," "And how that that's hugely frowned upon." "And I remember thinking, "well, I can see why."" "* we each will understand * * and reach you to help you *" "Ayya creator:" "She loves to dance." "That's been sort of her calling in life." "And second life is a great place for dancing." "I think of myself as an observer," "Maybe sort of a driver because she's guiding me." "And she knows what she wants me to do, and I do it." "* all alone, down on the dreamer street * * don't dare to dream at all *" "Boy:" "Toby, be quiet!" "Amie:" "Life is in the way" "Of living happily ever after... real life." "You know, while it's..." "That's our goal, I guess," "To not remain in second life," "But to have meetings in real life" "And, I guess, eventually get together in real life." "You know, we have other lives." "I am..." "I don't want to say it." "[ Laughter ]" "Why do I have to say it?" "It's gonna ruin my day." "Steven:" "You know, we each have families now" "That have nothing to do with our second life relationship." "And, you know, here we are." "Our second life is [Sighs] transposing into real life," "So we have to somehow reconcile" "Our real life with our second life to our new real life." "[ Snores ]" "[ Alarm chirping ]" "Where is it?" "[ Alarm stops ]" "My day begins as I wake up, probably around 6:00 P.M." "And I usually like to start and work at night, overnight," "To 10:00, 11:00 A.M." "And I do that because, during that time of day," "You don't have too many people bothering you." "You don't have the phone calls coming in, the distractions." "So, I can totally concentrate on exactly what I need to." "I'm usually on my computer" "Anywhere from 15 to 20 hours a day," "With a pack of cigarettes in between." "[ Laughs ]" "The way I got into s.L. Was a fluke." "A friend of mine in a different game said," ""Hey, why don't you come on over?" ""I know this game where you can build things" "And you can make things."" "And so, I tried it," "And I have not come out since that first day." "You build things in second life" "Using what they call "primitives."" "A primitive is the basic building block of s.L.," "And they can be cut or twisted or hollowed out" "To make different shapes." "You take those shapes, you put them together" "Like building blocks that you had as a kid," "And you can make your table or your hot-air balloon" "Or anything that you want." "Anything that you can think of, you can actually build." "I made my first product my first day online." "We were walking around," "And I saw beautiful gowns that were just gorgeous." "And I wanted one so bad, but as a newbie, I had no money." "So, I decided to make it." "And that's pretty much how I make my line." "If I want to wear it, I make it." "If I want to live in it, I make it." "I have a clothing store where people can actually come in" "And peruse my virtual clothing line." "Hi, hon." "Is there anything I can help you find?" "Hi, Ms. asri." "How you doing?" "Well, I'm looking for something that will fit my size" "Because I have difficulty finding things" "That, you know, stretch properly." "Well, all of my skirts do come modifiable." "Oh, that is wonderful." "So, yeah, I actually have," "You know, a larger figure on the bottom myself." "Okay." "So, therefore, let's try to find you something." "They can shop." "They can really customize your avatar" "To exactly what you want it to be." "My skin line, which is called nakid," "Costs around 1,000 lindens," "Which is approximately, I'd say, about $3.50 U.S." "On the other hand, you have my clothing line," "Which things range anywhere from 800 lindens" "On down to 50 lindens." "When you receive that virtual currency," "You can actually sell it back on a virtual money market." "In this case you're exchanging linden dollars to U.S. dollars." "* he's a hot love, making mad money * * living large in the land of the milk and honey * * he's got hot dates with playboy bunnies * * and his looks don't matter if the checks keep comin' *" "* they say daddy * have to drop a ring around your caddy * * escalade * let's hit the stores and don't forget dior * * 'cause I need a new pair of shades * * money talks and conscience walks *" "* when you're fulfilling all your freaky fantasies * * billionaires don't have to care * * about the little people in reality * * 'cause reality is very nice * but nobody will recognize..." "How cool is that?" "Honestly." "I get paid to play video games all day." "How cool is that?" "Everything's very real in my mind," "In fact, you know, the second life stuff included." "And it's not like I don't have a grasp on reality." "I very much do," "But my memories of Steven or time together with Steven," "The way I would characterize Steven" "And the wonderful things he's done," "They haven't all been real life." "When I go over those in my mind," "I realize that I'm pulling many real-life memories," "But also several second life memories of times" "That we've shared in second life." "It's really kind of bizarre," "But they're as much a part of my memory" "And understanding of Steven as the real ones." "Kiss me, you fool." "Oh, Steven." "There's little private rooms, too, around." "Like, I'd love to check those out." "Ooh, check this out." "You want to time your breathing with your movements." "Oh, yeah, I remember you saying that." "Yeah?" "Mm-hmm." "It's inhale as you expand, exhale as you contract." "This is..." "I think we should drop down to our loincloths." "Yeah." "You see, this... we just built up our state of mind" "Going through this posture for 15 or 20 minutes" "And then we jump onto the bed." "Mm-hmm." "I would like to, uh..." "Do some deep breathing with you, darling." "Mm-hmm." "Ooh, cool." "Oh, gosh." "You know, like, I swear I can feel your breath." "Like, I can hear it in my ear." "Yeah." "I can feel it in my hair." "And kind of the warmth..." "I swear it." "Mm." "Okay, come onto the green balls here." "[ Laughs ]" "Mm." "Whoa!" "But I feel very naked." "You are." "[ Rock music plays ]" "Come on!" "* come on, honey, you know what you do, yeah * * everybody knows one or two like you, yeah *" "* nobody does it like she does * * nobody does it like she does * * nobody does it like she does *" "Ayya creator:" "Very quickly, she established herself" "As something in the different child communities." "There are individuals who have families" "And individuals at the school" "Who she made a very strong connection with." "[ Rock music continues ] * nobody does it like she does * * nobody does it like she does * * nobody does it like she does * * nobody does it like she does * * yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, *" "* nobody does it like she does * * nobody does it like she does * * nobody does it like she does *" "She's not gotten herself invited over to slumber parties" "Or anything like that, but she will often go off" "On adventures with one or two other kids" "And they'll start traveling different places" "Looking for fun stuff to do." "You've got to assume" "That all of the child avatars in second life are adults" "Because it's illegal for children to enter second life." "[ Giggling ]" "There are many adoption centers." "It's a place where a child" "Can go to be matched with a parent and vice versa." "And interestingly, the adoption centers are mostly girls." "[ Laughs ]" "There are so many complex reasons" "Why people would want to do second life as a child." "I'm not there for sexual reasons at all," "But there's a lot of older men..." "A lot of straight, married men..." "Who are in second life to play gay boys for whatever reason." "And very often, they don't know themselves why." "He has an addictive personality," "And this could very easily become a problem" "If it isn't already." "He's spending a lot of time on second life." "I think it becomes a problem" "When you ignore your first life." "He used to be able to work in his office with the door open," "And I could pop in and we could have a conversation." "Or we could... you know," "He could take a break, and we could go do something." "And suddenly, when he was on second life," "The door was closed, and there was a different feel." "[ Knocks lightly ]" "When the door's closed," "I just assume that he's either working on something" "That's very important that he needs to focus on," "Or, more likely, he is on second life" "And chances are he is with the female avatar." "And since he knows that I don't want to know much about it," "I think he assumes that at this point" "He should keep it to himself." "Ayya creator:" "I've actually asked her" "If she's ready to hear a little bit more" "Or if she wants to see a little bit of it," "And she's still not ready." "She still doesn't want to." "She might never be." "He says he's getting something" "Out of having a female child avatar." "I'm not certain as to what that is," "But he says..." "He's getting something out of it." "Ayya creator:" "Whenever I'm on second life as ayya," "She feels alive," "And it just feels real and it feels like a real life." "And life takes time." "Almost always, something interesting happens." "And you never know who's going to be on." "You never know what they're gonna be doing." "[ Laughter ]" "One of the things that I learned from her" "Is that nothing is ever enough." "And nothing was ever enough for her... her family, her friends," "The things she was doing." "She always wanted more and she always wanted new things," "And she never stopped and finished anything." "By watching her go through that over and over again" "And never be happy with what she had," "I was able to see that I am exactly the same way." "And that's how I moved from having this great real life," "Which was amazing and I was very thankful for," "To pursuing this second life for this other part of me" "That I really didn't have time for." "I'm putting everything at risk right now..." "My family, my future, and my job." "And even my health, probably, because I don't sleep very much." "I know I'm at a critical point where I can't..." "It's not gonna go on forever." "I'm not gonna be able to cover it up forever." "Well, I'm asri falcone." "How you doing?" "Can I help you guys find anything?" "We're just looking." "I have a few of your houses." "I have the big blue one." "I have the ranch style." "[ Laughs ]" "Well, we have a couple new ones coming out shortly." "Yeah, I was just showing them this house" "'Cause I'm debating on a house" "I want to put up on my land again." "Did you try... did you check out the beach home?" "Yeah, I was looking at that," "But I have kids and grandkids and..." "Oh, lord." "They all seem to think they need a room." "Uh-huh!" "[ Laughs ]" "Hello, family!" "Hi, t." "Hello, t." "Hey, mom." "Whatcha all got?" "Oh, yeah." "Well, right now, I live with my parents and one of my brothers." "Hi, Anna." "Thank you." "I can't find my keys." "Oh, that might help." "Woman:" "That will help." "You went downstairs." "That would help." "I came home from college quite a few years ago" "And moved back to help around here" "Because both of them kind of got ill at the same time." "And because of my mom's cooking, I've never left." "[ Laughs ]" "We just are a really close family." "And so, living under the same roof," "We help out each other a lot." "And I've been sick on and off for the last few years," "So it goes both ways." "We don't know her by her online entity," "We know her as our baby sister." "So, you know, we call her "t" or teasa." "Teasa: [ Laughs ]" "Steve:" "She's outgoing." "She's quirky." "She's funny." "She's artistic, you know?" "And she demonstrates all the artistic qualities of a person" "Who lives her life that way." "When I had my graphic-design company," "I had a small little vice, and my vice was video games." "I love them." "I love to play them." "I love to explore them." "The only problem is I cannot justify" "Spending time away from a real job or my family" "To do something that doesn't make money." "And when I found second life, and it did... wow." "I was for it." "I was stuck." "I was hooked." "Well, she makes more money than we do," "So in that sense, yeah, she's a lot smarter than we are." "I've been well into the 6-figure income." "And being able to do something you love" "And still be at home with your family..." "That's pretty much changed my life." "My brother Steve," "I think at times he's a little jealous of second life." "Jealous?" "Maybe a little." "I have to go to work." "I work 12-hour shifts." "When you have those days" "When you really don't want to get up and go to work," "And it's snowing outside and you have to clean your car," "Warm it up, and head to work" "And do it all over again when you leave," "Yeah, I'm a little envious." "I don't think anybody wouldn't be." "Goode:" "What's been going on?" "Wow." "[ Laughs ]" "A lot of longing and..." "Dreaming..." "And..." "Now it's, like, such a freaking bitch" "That we're half a world away" "Because, you know, it's just such an obstacle now." "I think I need help, Steven." "You know, as our relationship is progressing, it's been..." "I don't know, we're 9 or 10 months now." "We're still worlds away," "And we get contact like this or on webcam" "Or on the telephone." "And we've had another physical meeting." "Yeah." "My husband knows, uh..." "About this last trip," "And, um, where..." "And me." "Yeah." "And he knows second life is the [Laughs]" "Is the conduit with which we have come together." "[ Sighs ]" "I don't know if I'm gonna be interrupted here." "Um..." "Yeah." "Hold on, please." "[ Ding ]" "Yes, she is." "Can you give her..." "She's supposed to be..." "That's..." "Right there, Jason." "[ Ding ]" "That was my husband coming down" "To where my computer is" "And..." "And, you know, realizing" "That I am on, I guess, a private phone call" "Or whatever activity on the computer." "Well, he's, um, I guess, old-fashioned kind of person" "And just has never liked" "The idea of the Internet in general," "Thinks it's evil." "He thinks that's why it's called "the web"" "Because, like, you know, like an insect," "You get stuck in it..." "In like a spider's web." "Woman:" "I asked him if he was able to go on it less," "But I think for him it's an all-or-nothing." "I think it would be hard for him to cut back" "And easier for him to just quit." "Ayya has said it herself" "That in order for me to live my real life," "She needs to give up hers." "It was an anguishing decision for her," "And the suicide bombings had a lot to do with that." "She was in a very irrational state of mind at one point." "At the same time, I was really falling behind in real life." "It was late at night." "I needed to go to sleep." "She would go in with the tag that says "suicide bomber"" "With the explosive vest on, and got a few weapons..." "All of the gadgets she had" "That could do the most damage to other residents." "[ Guns cock ]" "[ Gunfire ]" "She was going for innocent people trying to have fun," "So she stopped at beaches and nightclubs" "And places where people were dancing." "[ Gunfire ]" "It's only looking back at it" "That I've been able to put together why," "And the first reason was very practical..." "Let's get suspended." "Let's... if you can't control how much you're on second life," "Let's let the lindens control it." "Let's give them a reason to suspend you." "Well, if people sort of blow each other up to the point" "Where they're essentially denying service," "They're essentially disturbing the operations" "Of the overall service." "We definitely will kind of take them out of second life" "Because they're impairing the service." "And really, that is the sort of only tool that we have" "As a central government in the world." "Ayya creator:" "After about two or three straight hours" "Of suicide bombings," "My account was logged out by a linden labs administrator," "And I received an e-mail" "That said..." "That my account was suspended for 24 hours." "I was disappointed 'cause I was hoping for a week." "Rosedale:" "The virtual world can only be successful" "If it is largely ungoverned." "And I think the community often wants us to intervene at times" "Where it's inappropriate." "And that's something that you actually see" "In the emergence of a lot of communities." "There's often a call for governance that is really..." "That would, in itself, be so stifling" "As to restrict the growth of the whole community." "But there are frustrating moments" "Where you really want that to happen." "You don't want to wait for the emergent behavior of the society" "To sort it out." "And I think that" "That is a difficult..." "Thing to think about," "And it causes a lot of friction." "Barnett:" "Of course, linden labs are in the firing line." "Whatever they do," "There's always gonna be people that disagree with it," "And often for good reasons." "One of my headlines" "Was "sort second life out:" "Fed up residents."" "This is a very typical theme" "That's very re-occurring in second life." "The residents are fed up that as the platform grows," "There's, of course, many problems... technical problems." "Linden labs don't seem" "To be able to keep pace with the change." "Crashed." "I crashed again." "Crizz-ashed." "This is Frank." "Yeah." "Hey, how you doing?" "In September of 2007," "Teasa copprue, otherwise known as asri falcone," "Came to me for some help with a problem" "That was affecting her business." "I started getting reports of my items being spread" "Around world at yard sales and things like that" "By people who I had no knowledge of buying my items." "So, it turned out that they had actually been stolen and copied" "And distributed without my permission." "Taney:" "The belief was that these avatars were taking advantage" "Of a flaw in the software underlying second life." "Each one of these virtual spaces..." "They're called simulations or an island..." "Resides on a computer server." "And sometimes, for various reasons, for maintenance" "And also unexpectedly, the island or the SIM would crash." "When linden restored that island or that simulation," "Sometimes there'd be a duplicate of those objects made." "So, if you did it in a systematic way," "You did it one time, you'd have 2," "You did it again, you'd have 4 and 8 and 16 and 32 and 64." "The situation went a lot farther than just asri." "There were a number of merchants" "Who believed that they were being affected by this copying." "And they kept seeing rase kenzo as the person making the copies." "Pretty quickly, in doing some research," "I realized that there is nothing quite like this on the books." "You know, I found almost everything I have," "And now it's being given away as freebies." "And I'm like, "wait a second."" "So, right now," "I'm not getting the customers, the sales anymore." "So, I'm kind of in a hole right now trying to dig my way out." "Amie:" "We are in New York again." "Steven has come from fort mcmurray in alberta." "This is the first time he's visited my house." "Steven:" "A very lovely neighborhood, a very nice house." "I'm impressed." "I would like to come here, actually," "And try to establish a life here." "I'm not sure if that will work out on this side," "But it is what we're both thinking about." "I mean, I'm separated now and divorcing my husband." "And Steven has a separate residence from his wife." "Um..." "So, that's pretty big." "This is..." "My little area." "The love den." "[ Laughs ] "The love den."" "Wow." "Amie:" "And that's where..." "This is it." "Yeah." "I recognize this spot." "When I saw her basement for the first time," "It was really a déjà vu experience." "I had been there." "Yeah, I know." "I recognize it." "It's kind of weird, you know?" "Amie rendered a facsimile of her room in second life," "So she's invited me to it." "And I've, in fact, walked down the stairs" "And been in her basement in second life." "So, here's your community chest card." "Are you allowed to read my community chest card?" "This is the first time I've met amie's daughter" "And not sure..." "Not sure where it's at just yet." "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10." "Ohh, I thought I owned that one." "You're lucky." "Amie:" "Mm." "You gonna buy it?" "Yeah, I'm gonna buy it." "Okay." "Steven:" "She's 11 years old, so she's a little jealous, I think," "Of the relationship that amie and I have developed." "My daughter is not taking so well" "To our spending time together." "Steven:" "Yeah." "I don't know." "I'm surprised, and then... you know?" "I don't know." "Like, she wrapped up her own, you know," "Her own books to give to you." "Steven:" "Yeah." "Well, I think, too, if we continue with any..." "I don't know if it's a moral issue, you know?" "Maybe it's the morality of it." "Maybe she just doesn't see me that way," "And now she's kind of seeing, you know," "That I'm not just a mom." "I'm a woman, too." "Are you?" "Amie:" "Interestingly, my daughter" "Has found her way onto virtual worlds for her peer group," "And she has a good time with them." "Girl:" "Here is my penguin." "I think one of my friends is inside of my house." "You know, you can have friends on club penguin," "So let's go see her." "Who's this?" "There's one of my friends, pinkjelly97," "And it's good meeting friends" "That aren't just, like, around your community, right?" "You could have a friend that's in Japan," "You know, which is kind of fun." "[ Dance music playing ]" "Ayya creator:" "She and I realized" "That..." "We needed to get this under control on our own" "Or deal with the consequences." "Ayya has chosen the date of her deletion, which is in two weeks," "And that will have been exactly six months in second life." "Teasa:" "Right now my business is almost nonexistent." "My income is gone," "And everyone's experiencing hard times right now." "Well, mainly you have the economy," "The way the world is right now, people losing jobs in real," "And that affects how much money you have to put into the game," "So if the money's not going back into the game" "And it's not there, then of course the economy in-game" "Is going to suffer." "And now that my entire line and everything" "Is spread throughout s.L. Freely," "The value of it has significantly dropped," "So I have to build that back up again." "This is where I mainly work." "I just made these shoes, actually, two days ago." "I've actually, you know, gotten into trying to hire people," "But, I mean, how... they can't work for the rates that I offer" "Because, to be honest, I don't have it." "Since January, I've actually been living off savings," "But my savings is totally depleted now." "It's gone," "And it's gotten to the point where if I don't make it," "By the end of this month, I have to quit." "I really don't want to do that because I do love s.L. So much." "Steven:" "Hello." "Hello." "How are you?" "Good." "Hi, sweetheart." "Hi." "How are you?" "I'm good." "How are you?" "How was your day?" "I missed you." "I missed you." "Yeah?" "Sweetheart, what about me coming there on my next break?" "When's your next break?" "In seven days." "Yeah." "I miss you." "I want you." "Um, okay, sweetheart, I have to go to bed, okay?" "Okay." "I'm gonna turn off my light, but I want to leave it up" "So that you're there and I can hear you breathing." "Okay." "Thank you for sleeping with me." "It makes me feel so close to you." "My pleasure, darling." "I love you, Steven." "I love you, darling." "Good night, my love." "Good night, sweetheart." "Ayya creator:" "Tomorrow morning" "Is her 6-month birthday in second life," "And it will be also her last day." "She's been spending her time catching up" "And having conversations with a lot of the people" "That mean the most to her who she'll never talk to again." "And she is deejaying at the vortex." "* it feels so good for life to be this way * * and now we know that * * if we believe in ourselves, we can be * * anything and we know that we'll always be *" "* we know that we'll always stay * * forever young * * forever young * * forever young *" "Hi, everybody." "Thanks for coming." "These were gonna be my last songs," "But gemini said that I can keep on going..." "But gemini said that I can keep on going," "So I'm taking requests right now if you want." "So I'm taking requests right now if you want." "Where did I go, where did I go wrong?" "* where did I go, where did I go wrong?" "* * where did I go, where did I go wrong?" "* * where did I go, where did I go wrong?" "*" "* where did I go, where did I go wrong?" "* * where did I go... *" "It's 2:30 in the morning, and right now one of ayya's friends" "Helped her make a dream come true." "She always wanted to fill a house with beach balls," "And so he made a machine that creates..." "That replicates beach balls all over the place." "Oh, sweet." "Yeah, I see a lot of balls..." "A lot of balls." "Look at this." "Look, this is so cool." "This is exactly what I always wanted to do in this house." "It's 6:10 and I've been on" "At least..." "At least 12 hours total." "When the show was over, she went home to take apart her room," "And she ended up being there ever since" "Because some friends went with her," "And a ton of other friends joined her at different points." "Probably about 20 people have come through here," "And these same three have been with her the whole time." "She's been giving away" "All the stuff that she can give to her friends..." "The clothing, the toys, the vehicles," "Everything that she has that she can give away to her friends," "She's giving away." "Snoopy, here, is a girl who she met at vortex." "Snoopy, right now, is very much at a point" "That ayya was early on in second life" "Where she's just realizing how deep the addiction runs." "And, uh..." "And in talking about it," "You know, everyone here sees the value of continuing," "And they're struggling between the..." "You know, what they can get out of continuing" "And what they're losing in real life in the meantime." "I think her friends" "Are a lot sadder than she is at this point." "I'm feeling excited about it because I'm looking forward" "To just not needing to deal with it," "But I also think, on a deeper level," "It means figuring out" "How to have her in real life as part of me." "Well, in the short time I got to know ayya," "You know, ayya, you..." "You're a pretty good friend," "So I'll be sorry to see you go." "And it felt like I really should let you know" "How much I appreciated that time." "Again, also, people, don't forget it's not just a memorial" "To the passing of an avatar." "It is a celebration of the fact that ayya is still alive" "And well in first life," "So reminder to all of us that she's not really gone." "She's just in the real world." "I'm just gonna log off," "And then I'm gonna log onto her account in second life" "And cancel it." "I deleted ayya" "In the only way that I thought would actually work," "And I know it did" "Because it was so obviously final to all her friends" "And it's obviously final to me right now, too." "Taney:" "Asri and the other plaintiffs knew of a avatar" "Who was making copies of their items, distributing them," "And selling them, and they wanted this conduct to stop" "And to stop as soon as possible." "Teasa:" "I can make a house," "And it will take me five to six months" "Of working eight hours a day to make it," "And for someone to come along and take that away from you," "It's devastating." "Taney:" "So, one of the problems I had to deal with was" "Who or what were we going to sue?" "It turned out that the real-life person behind the avatar" "Was Thomas Simon of flushing, New York." "After some analysis, I knew I had a case." "What the virtual object really was," "Was an item you could see in the world" "That consisted of graphics," "And sometimes there'd be animations and sounds" "Associated with it." "So I knew that those types of works" "Were protectable as pictorial" "Or audio-visual works under the copyright act," "And I knew also that underlying all that was a couple things..." "The machine-readable zeroes and ones," "And also the human-readable source code," "And both types of code were protectable as literary works" "Under the copyright laws." "We decided to file a lawsuit," "And we actually got six designers together." "Including Linda baca, otherwise known as rebel hope," "Shannon grei, otherwise known as munchflower zaius," "Michael hester, otherwise known as doc eldritch," "Kasi Lewis, otherwise known as nephilaine protagonist," "And Kevin alderman, otherwise known as stroker serpentine." "These cases were the first instances" "Of avatars suing other avatars in real-life court" "For intellectual property infringement" "Occurring within a virtual world." "Well, the complaint talks about asri's items at paragraph 56," "And it says, in pertinent part," "Two of these products are known as cfm boots..." "That's item number one... and selene boots... item number two." "Exhibit "h" is the cfm boots." "That stands for "cum fuk me" boots." "Teasa:" "That's the actual name of my boots." "[ Laughs ]" "The ultra, ultra high heel and sexy footwear." "Eventually, we reached a settlement with Mr. Simon." "It contained an injunction against further copying." "It also required Mr. Simon to pay $525 back to my clients." "That was what he admitted that he made" "Selling my clients' virtual items." "The most important take-away here," "When we look back 10 years, 20 years out," "Is not so much the $525, in my opinion." "It means that virtual worlds" "Are legitimately part of the real world." "They are governed by the laws of the real world," "And there's not this separation from the real world" "That people might think." "Berblinger:" "I just found a..." "Looks like a pretty interesting spot right nearby here." "Utopia city." "Goode:" "This is not..." "Let me fly up and see." "I can't fly up." "What the hell is up with that?" "No flying." "No flying?" "It's common, yeah." "Like up there, it says, looks like," ""No push." "No res." "No fly."" "Get out!" "What?" "How can you not let me fly?" "They don't want people to fly." "You never saw that before?" "No." "I got to walk?" "I got to fucking walk?" "See, this is all pointing to the same place." "I swear they just changed it." "Yeah, this was supposed to be utopia, and it sucks now." "Steven:" "Well, the big thing is the trip," "Which I drove from calgary to New York." "It's happening, and I'm here, and I'm pretty excited about it." "Just gone like..." "I'm already here." "I can't believe it." "Amie:" "It's coming up on our anniversary," "A year since we first met in real life." "We want to make a home together." "I'm so excited to do that." "Steven:" "Both of us in our own marriages have retained lawyers." "We have separation agreements in works." "Time waits for no one, so it's happening." "Amie:" "You know, I've been waiting for this time forever." "Sometimes, I feel like I've been waiting my whole life." "There were a lot of tears" "When it just seemed like the obstacle were gonna win out," "But, amazingly, things just sometimes fall into place." "This is an extended visit" "Where Steven and I will really have a chance to live together" "And create that life together," "That sort of new path that, kind of what we always dreamed about," "And, you know, there's a lot of mystery still." "We don't really have all the details worked out." "I don't blame second life." "Why not?" "Because it's you." "You can't blame something that you have control over." "We both used it to our advantage" "To not deal with the problems." "But you still felt like it was the problem." "No." "Again, there were plenty of other issues there," "Some that we had dealt with" "And some that we were still dealing with." "But there were plenty of issues still there." "Mm-hmm." "But second life was your escape," "And it was my chance to have more time to think" "Or to have more time to..." "It's also something that I tried to talk to you..." "Second life is something" "That I tried to talk you about a ton of times, and..." "Yeah, you weren't interested, but, for me," "I found parts of myself" "That I really needed you to understand." "Now I don't know if you ever could have." "And I didn't want to." "And I think that that's what hurt you most" "Is that I didn't want to understand." "Um..." "Like, me not wanting to understand second life," "To you, translated into," ""She doesn't want to understand me."" "Oh, yeah, absolutely." "Yeah?" "Absolutely." "That, yeah, you roll your eyes when you say that," "But I'm not the only person that has found himself there," "And you think that's crazy, I know." "I can tell the way you're looking at me." "You think that's totally insane." "I do." "'Cause, okay, so five years ago," "What were you without second life?" "I'm not..." "Maybe it's something I would have discovered." "Maybe it wasn't, but I think that right now..." "And people find it in different ways." "No, what you're saying is second life defines you." "No." "No." "No?" "Absolutely not." "I define myself there." "You define yourself there?" "So, yeah, I'm not there." "I'm here in real life, not in second life," "So I don't fit into that equation." "Ayya creator:" "I was willing to give up anything" "To make it work," "And one thing this whole experience taught me" "Was..." "That I had given up so much of myself" "That I was looking for myself in other places." "My fiancée moved out immediately when we broke up." "She went and stayed with her parents." "I'm packing up now, getting ready to move somewhere else." "Where do we start?" "I really don't want these boxes," "But I'm not ready to just Chuck them." "Since I've arrived, the task at hand, really," "Is just trying to establish a sense of home for me." "It's not awkward, but it..." "You know, I'm moving" "Into amie and her daughter's house and home," "And, you know, all their established routines" "And stuff, you know?" "Sometimes, it's junk." "Sometimes, it's actual treasures." "Will that work?" "[ Laughing ] No." "No?" "[ Groans ]" "Amie:" "There's a lot of emotion attached to some..." "A lot of the items that are here that should be purged." "What if we move the boxes back here that are Jimmy's" "Into the garage?" "My husband's been out of the house for six months now," "And he's not removed all of his items yet." "Okay, that's Jimmy's." "And it's difficult to see that around," "And I'm sure it doesn't feel very comfortable for Steven." "And this is Jimmy's." "This is Jimmy's shoes that can go in the..." "Steven:" "This is terrible." "Why?" "Are we just gonna stick this stuff in the garage or..." "Well, yeah." "Are we gonna take the effort, just do it?" "Put it in the garage." "What do you suggest?" "I mean just throw it away." "No, we're not gonna throw it away on him." "Okay." "You're a little spoiled by second life" "And the ease of movement and the..." "You know, clutter's not an issue at all." "It just goes into your inventory and disappears." "And real life, you know, isn't like that." "No, please, let's just..." "Why you stressing?" "Because you're going forward and more is dropping out" "Rather than when I'm trying to get things contained." "That why I asked you if they could go in there," "And you said yes." "You know, reality is not second life." "There's a lot of things we can compare or emulate," "But here, amie has to get up and go to work in the morning" "And her daughter has to get up" "And be ready for school and catch the bus," "So not that these are problems." "These are real life" "And we're just getting into each other's groove to work it," "And I think we're doing..." "So far, so good." "I'm less likely to go in second life these days." "For one thing, because of the technical problems" "Or lag problems or updates that my computer can't keep up with." "Increased membership, I guess, creating lag." "But also because I have, you know, Steven's here," "And I'm building a real life with him" "And it'd be irresponsible of me" "To, you know, put my time into that when the..." "Got to be the only reason I put my time into that" "Was to spend it with him," "And now he's here, and we have our real challenges to address," "So this is where I belong now, in the real world with him." "How great to say that, too," "To be able to say, "I'm in the real world with him."" "Steven:" "Okay, you're only getting three in there." "Yeah." "Okay." "No?" "You're getting a bad attitude." "I am." "Why?" "Like, I feel like you're just rushing through this," "And we're having problems." "I'm not." "Okay." "All right." "All right." "All right." "Can..." "Try to go easy, okay?" "You really seem a little aggressive." "I really wish we could use this stuff, though, so..." "I know." "That's what I feel like..." "Okay." "Like a little more tender..." "all right." "All right." "And it would have been fine, but, you know..." "But now it's not." "Well, I think that's not gonna grow" "Because it just wasn't..." "Why, because the top is broken and has the leaves there?" "But the point is, darling, the point is, my sweet," "Look at this fiber, okay?" "This I did not break, okay?" "This has been sitting here for the week," "And the kids did something, okay?" "So, if you want to try to salvage this" "And you want to try to salvage that, we can," "And this is a plant," "And I tell you, it's gonna grow." "All right?" "The point is, darling, we're trying to do something here" "And you're fucking griefing me?" "Okay?" "So, pick the time to fucking grief me." "I'm not griefing you." "[ Laughing ] Oh, fuck." "Just, I don't know, I'm used to..." "Continue." "I'm just being a little bit more delicate." "Yeah." "I guess my gardening days are done." "Teasa:" "I got to the point" "Where I had to make a certain amount of money or I was done." "I couldn't survive anymore." "By the grace of God, I don't know how, but I would make it." "I'm creating a new line, a whole new existence." "It took me a year, but I got it." "I decided to brand out each line," "Meaning my shoe line is a separate band." "My clothing line is a separate brand." "My skin line is a separate brand." "Jewelry, hair, all separate brands." "So, that way, I can more effectively" "Control my copyrights, so I'm making sure that I'm protected." "Well, what I'm really excited about right now is..." "And, I think, the most exciting..." "Is my trip to Las Vegas to just party and whoop it up" "With all my friends from second life." "Las Vegas, Nevada." "Is that a roller coaster over there?" "Driver:" "Yep." "New York, New York." "Really?" "What, trying to be like coney island or something?" "Yeah, I think so, yeah." "It's a nice one, yeah." "This is like my third time out here," "And the first two times, I came out here for business." "That was fun, but it was more work than play." "I had a project." "I was hired by sun microsystems" "To actually re-create part of the strip in Las Vegas." "From now on," "Vegas will always have second life memories for me," "And even more so now that I have my friends here." "We're meeting at the Paris to go to the bellagio fountain," "And she's never seen it before." "Yeah?" "Yeah." "Yeah, it's nice." "I like Paris." "I like bellagio, yeah." "Yeah." "I love the Paris." "I love it." "I love it." "You love it?" "Love it." "But have you been to the real Paris?" "No." "Well, I'm really looking forward to seeing misty rhodes." "Hey, honey, where are you?" "Misty is an icon of s.L." "She's pretty much the person responsible" "For me being asri falcone, I guess." "[ Laughs ]" "Hey, baby." "Baby!" "[ Indistinct conversation ]" "Misty pretty much represents" "What community used to be in s.L." "And she helped so many people." "I mean, a lot of us wouldn't be here if it wasn't for her." "I'm in second life 8..." "About 14 hours a day." "This is the longest I've been out of second life" "[Laughs] Is my trip here." "Asri said, "you have to come." "You have to come."" "Friendships are so important to me," "Not only outside of second life, but in second life" "Because these people are my real-life friends now." "Oh, my God, that's too funny." "I know!" "[ Both laugh ]" "And asri hasn't left my side the whole time." "We've been in cahoots." "Gambling, drinking, checking out the sites..." "[ Camera shutter clicking ]" "Making friends." "[ Squealing ]" "How you doing today?" "Wonderful, wonderful." "You know, your real-life friends don't always get you, you know," "So it's nice to be around a lot of people who can get you" "And understand you and not judge you" "Because you are on a virtual world, you know?" "Ayya creator:" "Within a week of the time that I split up with my fiancée," "I was back in second life as a boy," "And it felt like the old ayya was giving up," "Was giving in and conceding to me," "Allowing me to be more myself." "As a boy avatar, I reconnected with a girl" "Who had been ayya's sister before," "And we became now brother and sister," "And we would talk at night, before bed," "Before I would go to sleep," "And I was able to say out loud to her" "What I could never say out loud to myself," "Which was that as a child," "I had been a victim of abuse and the memories were there." "I was just pretending they weren't." "It was always known in my family that..." "On both sides of my family..." "That my father molested the kids," "And it was always known but not talked about." "And it was assumed, I guess, that it was only the girls." "And it was very convenient for me to assume that I was lucky." "But this memory always came back," "And it was something I ignored." "By pretending it didn't happen," "It didn't make the anger go away." "It was there anyway, and it found its way out through ayya." "Okay." "You there?" "Okay." "Well, since we last talked," "Uh, you know, the big change is I'm no longer in New York." "I'm now back in calgary." "You know, my intention was" "To try to seek employment in New York," "But immigration and work status and all that" "Is proving a little difficult, also." "I'm not sure if I said this back in the beginning of the summer" "When we filmed in New York." "You know, it was a good test period for us," "And we had a lot of up and downs," "And, again, primarily, the stress of the divorce" "And the battle between her husband and the child and me," "You know, all trying to make that work out." "Not that we've worked through it." "We're now, you know, we're committed." "We're... amie and I are committed to one another." "We did the long-distance relationship" "For quite some time," "So I don't want to do it for a long time again," "But if that's what it takes, that's what we're gonna do." "If we didn't break out of second life, who knows?" "You know, we'd have our own little world in there," "And I bet you we'd have a nice little house," "And we'd have a bigger community of friends." "But we broke free." "He wasn't trying to stay together." "He went off to fucking India." "[ Sniffles ]" "If he was trying to stay together," "He would have made a home for me to come to in India." "I... this is too emotionally raw" "For me to be able to, you know, speak objectively about it." "Um, he's fake." "And I'm real." "[ Scoffs ]" "And I hurt, and he is living scot free." "I want to..." "Get across" "That..." "I'm a victim." "And that doesn't mean I'm stupid." "I believed he was really the person he presented," "But that's a silly notion on my part because he's not real." "Ayya creator:" "I call second life" "The best and the worst thing that has ever happened to me." "It's the worst thing because of the people that I let down" "In the meantime while I was pursuing this journey," "And it is very sad to lose" "What has been, till now, the love of my life." "But it's the best thing" "Because it made me completely rethink and rediscover who I am." "Everything about my mind and the way I work" "And everything about my past makes more sense now," "And everything about what I want for the future makes more sense." "I feel like I'm gonna be in virtual worlds forever," "And there's nothing that could keep me out of them." "Rosedale:" "Having thought about this for some time," "And having seen, you know, everything unfolding" "And growing in second life," "I would say that, to a certain extent," "The virtual world must contain some sort of danger" "And risk and possibility of pain or loss to be interesting." "I don't think that we can create worlds" "Of any kind that aren't..." "That are interesting without them also being, you know," "At least somewhat dangerous." "That said, the virtual world is, at a basic level," "A safer place than the real world." "We do not have the ability in the virtual world" "To physically harm each other," "And that is a very powerful change" "That I think brings us closer to our aspiration" "About what it is to be human." "I think that the fact" "That we are perhaps emotionally in danger" "But not physically in danger in the virtual world" "Is a tremendous positive step toward being all that we can be." "So, while the virtual world is not without danger," "It is certainly a good deal safer" "Than the physical world that we, for the most part, live in now."