Linden Lab recently sponsored a resident meeting known as SL Views where eight residents were selected and flown to California to meet the Lindens and discuss the future of Second Life. One of these residents was SL's scripting mastermind Catherine Omega. But en route to the meeting, Catherine discovered that her Second Life credentials held little sway with the United States Department of Homeland Security. This is her tale.Upon her arrival in the United States, Catherine reported directly to the security checkpoint, a security measure adopted in the wake of 9/11. When asked about the nature of her travels Catherine made a critical error ... she told the truth. "It wasn't business, because I certainly wasn't profiting from it," recalls Omega, "save for my stylish sweatshirt and SL necklace. I said that a company was flying me to San Francisco to be in a focus group for a product I use. Which was true, right? I mean, you don't want to mess with Homeland Security."
They didn't like her answer.
So after much stuttering and panicked explanations, ("it's like, uh ... the Internet?") the officer directed Catherine into a secondary screening area where she sat with her luggage and nervously watched the clock while waiting for her name to be called. After roughly thirty to forty minutes she was called into one of the offices for a more in-depth explanation of what Linden Lab was. The room was laid out like any government office with lines and a half dozen DHS agents behind the desk. A women in her late 30s was in the room with her, sobbing and screaming "Monsters! You're monsters!" at the agents behind the desk. Her young daughter looked on tearfully.
"So I went up to the desk, and began a thirty minute explanation of what SL was -- agreeing that yes, it was odd that a virtual reality company would feel the need for real-world meetings. Yes it did seem odd that I wasn't being paid for it, and no, I wasn't lying about that part. They wanted to know my itinerary.They wanted to get into my Gmail."
And that's when they started Googling.
It didn't take long before DHS agents found Robin Linden's blog detailing the SL Views meeting. As they printed and read every page and searched for more information, the worst-case scenarios ran through Catherine's mind. She remembered the scathing treatment dished out by SL Views opponents in the comments section of that blog. She recalled Hamlet Au's portrayal of her as a homeless street person squatting in an abandoned apartment. She recalled Philip Rosedale himself musing over Catherine being "the most dangerous woman alive." All of this just one Google-click away.
She then faced an unexpected problem. While Catherine's airline tickets were registered under her real-life name, all of the information proving the validity of her story appeared under her avatar name "Catherine Omega". Now the folks at Homeland Security wanted to know why Catherine was traveling under an alias. "I was understandably a little freaked out and trying very hard not to constantly glance at the clock," explained Catherine, "lest I give the impression that I had something better to do ... like overthrow democracy."
"So after it was established that yes, other people used this "Second Life" thing, and that there did, in fact, appear to be phone numbers and a company and everything associated with it, they let me go." Fortunately a mechanical problem delayed her flight's departure just long enough for her to make her flight despite the considerable delays.
To conclude the interview, I asked Miss Omega if she had any advice for SLers doing traveling abroad. She soberly offered, "If you're travelling to the US for SLCC or a future SL views, or hell, pretty much anything that's not organized by your employer, just tell them your are going to hang out with friends."
1. George Orwell would have been proud. Cat, if you're reading this, I'm so sorry. That it should happen to you, someone completely harmless, and, in fact, one of the Good Guys, makes me really afraid for us all.
Posted at 1:55AM on Jul 17th 2006 by Akela Talamasca