Second Life Client Is A Virus – Sophos
by Pixeleen Mistral on 22/03/07 at 4:14 pm
Pirates may have to find another way to download FF Meta Book font
by Curious Rousselot, Magical Affairs desk
Lewis Page reported in The Register today that “Sophos to bar Second Life on work computers“. The article itself was actually a fairly high level summary of Sophos Anti-Virus’ ability to block most MMORPG software from corporate computers and the features that a system administrator can draw on with this product. Considering how dry most of the article was, it is surprising to find this gem of a quote near the end of the article, “in fact, the furry-penis and virtual fisting communities are a fairly insignificant online presence”.
The article reads more like a thinly disguised ad for the Sophos product but doesn’t even do a good job of that. Right after describing the ability to block Second Life and other MMORPGs, Mr. Page points out that, “It would seem simple enough for competent sysadmins to cut off games themselves by denying access to MMOG servers or blocking ports [at the firewall]“.
It would certainly appear that Linden Lab’s advertising agency is doing a good job of keeping up the hype about Second Life. Other current MMORPGs such as Everquest, Lineage, Runequest, and Station Launch Pad take second place to Second Life in the article. World of Warcraft is referred to as “the real titan of the online gaming universe” but not until very close to the end of the article.
I’m not sure if I should congratulate LL’s advertising department for keeping the hype going or curse them for the next million subscribers we are going to see in-world because of it.
Amanda
Mar 22nd, 2007
Sophos is a lousy anti-virus program any way. As an IT staff member I can tell you, it’s a nightmare to administer.
Prokofy Neva
Mar 22nd, 2007
What I found humorous to watch about this story, which began getting legs about 2-3 weeks ago, is that the decision of one geeky corporate wonk in one company to block SL just because they pitched a fit about it was whipped up and spread over the entire globe as a meme, as if “corporations and workplaces and IT companies everywhere are now going to block SL as a time suck affecting productivity OMGODZORZZZ!!!!!1111″
I walked into 2-3 of the offices where I work and fully expected to sit down and find SL blocked (it can be blocked on networks anywhere in some places because the geeks are anal about letting anyone but themselves download and install software. In fact, I didn’t find it blocked but of course this is a small sample. I asked one IT guy about this Sophos thing and he merely shrugged. Who uses it? Who bothers to care?