Protecting Children in Virtual Worlds Without Undermining Their Economic, Educational and Social Benefits

Abstract:     
Advances in virtual world technology pose risks for the safety and welfare of children. Those advances also alter the interpretations of key terms in applicable laws. For example, in the Miller test for obscenity, virtual worlds constitute places, rather than "works," and may even constitute local communities from which standards are drawn. Additionally, technological advances promise to make virtual worlds places of such significant social benefit that regulators must take care to protect them, even as they protect children who engage with them.

Keywords: virtual worlds, obscenity, free speech, privacy, child welfare, serious games

JEL Classifications: K1, K2, K3, K4

Working Paper Series