Can Someone PLEASE Explain This One To Me
By 
Hib in
features, wtf on
February 25th, 2008
“‘This one’ is a bit vague, Hib…” No problem. When I said “this one”, I meant this one:
The U.S. Intelligence community is looking into World of Warcraft and other MMOs, aiming to create software that will pick out extremists and terrorists in online worlds. The news comes from a report from the Director of National Intelligence, and discusses what’s being called “The Reynard Project,” which will profile online gaming behavior with the goal of “automatically detecting suspicious behavior and actions in the virtual world.”
Let me get this straight. The United States government is going to attempt to develop software to profile Horde to find terrorism?!?
Someone needs to bring Mario in for questioning.
Seriously, did the intelligence community ever think about researching this? Heck, spend ten minutes talking to a community manager for an active MMORPG, and you’ll learn that it doesn’t matter what the “rules” or “filters” you use are…sooner or later (usually sooner), someone is going to figure out how to circumvent them. But that’s not the good part:
It’ll accomplish its objectives by studying cultural and behavioral norms in online worlds, says RINF News. It looks like the Intelligence Department thinks it’s possible to flag and detect suspicious behavior through an automated system. The scope of the project includes developing software to automatically identify faces, events and objects in video, a surveillance system with a corresponding threat warning system, and a tool to access databases to find patterns of bad behavior.
I have but one simple question here: Exactly how is “automatically identifying faces” going to help do anything? The last time I checked, for example, the range of facial customization options runs from “very little” to “City of Heroes”, which means a useful data set in CoH wouldn’t be worth the USB key it’s stored on for Vanguard.
But my personal favorite item here is this:
The cultural and behavioral norms of virtual worlds and gaming are generally unstudied. Therefore, Reynard will seek to identify the emerging social, behavioral and cultural norms in virtual worlds and gaming environments. The project would then apply the lessons learned to determine the feasibility of automatically detecting suspicious behavior and actions in the virtual world.
I’ll bet you ten gold, one million credits and a three-run BPC for a T2 item of your choice that this will eventually lead to a high-level intelligence meeting where the word “teabagging” is used in a serious manner.
However, I don’t mean to be unhelpful in the never-ending fight against terrorism, so here’s my offer: I’ve randomly selected one of the three MMORPG player avatars below as a potential terrorist. Run your software and tell me which one…and why.
I’ll wait.
| 2.5 |
If you liked this, then you should seek medical attention - right after you subscribe to my RSS feed!!
February 25th, 2008 at 9:26 pm
Its actually not hard to believe. This is the internet. And on this here internet is a huge range of ideas. It doesnt have to be the cave dweller kind of terrorist, the target is probably your typical extreme anarchist brainwashed by extreme liberal propaganda.
Ex: http://www.newschannel5.com/Global/story.asp?S=7771753
Well now, its not that hard to believe another one of these punks might try something else like this and “brag” to his guild members about it.
eh?
February 25th, 2008 at 9:48 pm
Sure, I can see that. The problem is, that’s a completely different thing. For example, exactly how would this project uncover what you offer up as an example?
“The scope of the project includes developing software to automatically identify faces, events and objects in video, a surveillance system with a corresponding threat warning system, and a tool to access databases to find patterns of bad behavior.”
Never mind that what you’re talking about means we should also be intercepting the notes being passed in study hall for the same reasons, and let’s forget the fact that there was no mention of a video game connection involved with the story you reference…how would “the scope of the project” as the government outlined have brought that to light in advance of it happening? Facial recognition of this guy’s in-game avatar, in case he looks pixellated on the airport cameras?
And finally…are you saying that was an extremist or terrorist act in that story? Because that’s the stated purpose of this program…read it again. “The U.S. Intelligence community is looking into World of Warcraft and other MMOs, aiming to create software that will pick out extremists and terrorists in online worlds.”
“This here internet” does have a huge range of ideas, but I still don’t understand how facial recognition software for virtual worlds can be remotely useful, nor do I believe that a useful pattern can be established. Remember, they are Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Games…people pretend to be something they’re not.
Next, let’s round up all the actors that have played terrorists in movies and in plays in local community theater. I mean, if they’ve done it more than once or twice, it looks like a pattern to me…
February 26th, 2008 at 7:22 pm
First off, I lol’ed at the teabag meeting comment. Second, that’s the weirdest idea I’ve heard in a long time. After having played WoW for two years, the only thing that gives me any hope for the future of humanity is the thought that perhaps people do not act in real life as they do in virtual worlds.
February 27th, 2008 at 4:37 pm
First off, reread the original article. Data mining virtual worlds and face recognition software are two different topics.
Then, go back and look up the amount of research already being done on the very topics. A couple years back, Secondlife (Linden Lab) updated their TOS to reflect the research that was supposedly being untaken. The issue was gathering RL personal data.
Finally, IF there were a valid method to search out future terrorists from virtual worlds then it would be time to be afraid; very afraid.
March 2nd, 2008 at 5:33 am
It’s just an issue with monitoring communication. “They” can listen in on snailmail, email, IM’s, phone calls, VOIP, and telepathy, but not (yet) guild chat.
We let ‘em do all that other crap, so no sense getting riled up over this.
—
The above is my opinion, based on not reading much of anything you have or linked-to here, but see how confidently I have stated it as fact? My comment is truthy.
March 3rd, 2008 at 8:09 pm
Wer in ur gamez gettin all ur infoz
March 5th, 2008 at 8:39 am
Hi, i do find this rather funny, i know they have to look everywhere and keep thier eyes open for potential terroists, but looking in WOW? thats silly lol.
LOOK OUT! that elf has a bomb strapped to his chest! and may do that in real life arrrgh! lol
http://secondlifeavatarandchips.blogspot.com/
March 7th, 2008 at 10:38 am
I’ve been waiting for what Jeff is talking about to happen for a long time.
Virtual Worlds have always been a way for anybody to communicate with somebody else without being monitored by anybody that matters, y’know, I’m kinda surprised that nobody seems to have been JUST using a virtual world to communicate and orchestrate some kinda illegal busienss stuff or something.
Not that I’m a big fan of all this Orwellian junk.
Or that I think it’d be easy to implement effectively anyways, since everybody could talk in code that made whatever they’re talking about seem harmless.
Or that I don’t think they could just as easily build their own encrypted communication software (of whatever flavor, IM, voicecom) on Linux or something and use that and skip paying somebody fifteen bucks a month heh.
Y’know, like, if they tried made us pay to 5 cents per email, I’d just write my own email (or whatever) program for me and my buddies to use that they couldn’t track because it’d seem like we were playing a rousing game of internet chess or something.
So its all sorta like the take-off-your-shoes jumping jacks they make all the old ladies do at the security points at the Airport, imho, y’know, a nice sentiment, and it probably creates some jobs and stuff, and that’s about it heh.
March 7th, 2008 at 11:04 am
Oh, its not just “chat” y’know, ’cause I could leave a message for you in UO by arranging your furniture to spell things out, or just move my character around with WASD and spell stuff out, or spell out my messages to you on an internet chessboard with chess pieces, for a couple quick examples that would take insane amounts of manpower and some really awesome equipment to monitor.
And of course the bad guys are gonna know what Not To Do pretty quick, so all you are gonna get in yer net is the poor shmucks who accidentally set off a red flag by saying something stupid in chat or something heh.
But whatever, I’m not a bad guy, and I definitely ain’t nobody who could fight the Old Uber Powerful White Guys from the X-Files, even if I wanted to fight ‘em, insteada begging ‘em for money or marrying their daughters or something SMART like that ahaha.
March 11th, 2008 at 7:22 pm
Great, Angus…now I’m all self-conscious about playing Scrabble! at Yahoo. (And ‘terrorist’ was on a triple-word score, too.)