Tinies Protest at Governor Linden's Mansion

So what do the tinies of Raglan Shire worry about? Usually they'll tell you it's about where their next waffles are coming from. But lately, there's been a "Hover bug" in the mesh tinies that's been driving them to distraction. So they decided to get Linden Lab's attention with a protest at Governor Linden's Mansion in Clementina. And they did so in a way of seriousness and humor only they could pull off.

Read the story in Events.

News and Commentary: "Fat Shaming" Publicity Stunt By Store Draws Protests, Traffic

Businesses have tried many ways to draw traffic, occasionally resorting to silly commercials or publicity stunts. But one clothing store in Second Life recently began putting a sign in it's store, and the owner some lines in her profile, that were quite insulting to women of large size. The results were people coming to the store to protest. But might have these protestors ended up doing what the store owner wanted?

Read more in Extra.

Protest and Banning at Burn2

Burn2 calls itself an event of "radical free expression." But on Sunday October 21st, this principle was put to the test when the festival grounds were the scene of a protest. The result was those taking part in the protests, and supposedly even those just watching, were banished from the Burn.

What was the protest about, and why did the Burn staff ban them? Read more in Extra.

Video: Rally to Save City of Heroes

Footage of a demonstration in the City of Heroes MMO on Saturday Sept 8. The decision by NCsoft to shut down the game naturally isn't sitting well with the players. Many aren't just sitting down, but taking action to get the attention of the company behind the game and hopefully change their minds.

Massively writer Eliot LeFebvre who plays CoH is among the supporters of the protests, admitting the odds are against them, but, "at this point, 'winning' doesn't enter into it. The point is that was as players have to stand up and make it clear that this game is important to us, that whether it remains online or not, you can't just shut it down after three months with no warning. We have a voice; we need to make use of it. Sometimes you fight because you need to fight, not because you expect it to work."

More of LeFebvre's article can be found Here. You can also sign a petition to keep City of Heroes running, Here. There's also one particularly imaginative protest: sending capes and masks to one of the three NCsoft offices (find the forum thread Here).

Protest at the CDS

Noted Second Life blogger Gwyneth Llewelyn leads a protest march through the streets of the Confederation Of Democratic Simulators, a region of residential sims with an emphasis on democratic participation. It seems there was a delay in the setting up of voting booths for an election, and in response Gwyneth called for a peaceful protest at 2PM SL time on November 17th today.

More pictures can be seen on Gwyneth's Flickr.

Anti-Kadaffi Demonstrations at Clearwater Beach

A sizable demonstration against Libyan dictator Kadaffi took place in Second Life today. Taking place in front of a replica of the UN building, the crowd spoke out against the reported slaugther of civilians by mercenary troops hired by the strongman.

"There was about 50 people or so here about 3pm," Second Life Newser was told by demonstrator Suzy Honey, "people from all over the world, Europeans, Japanese, Arabs." Another of the group, Ms Qunhua, mentioned there would be another protest Tuesday at 10AM SL time.

For the past 24 hours, Kadaffi's position of power has been steadily deteriorating in this latest Middle Eastern nation hit by waves of unrest. The second largest city is reportedly in the hands of protesters. Two Libyan jets landed in Malta and defected, saying they were ordered to fire on civilians. Kadaffi's son warned on the radio that he and his father would not be stepping down like the leaders in Tunisia and Egypt, and threatened thousands would die. Kadaffi himself has reportedly left the capital of Tripoli, his current whereabouts unknown. The number of dead is supposedly in the hundreds at least.

More about the protests can be read in CNN articles by Janey Bracken and Nadia Lane.

The demonstrations are taking place at Clearwater Beach (144, 98, 25).

(Picture from Suzy Honey)

Bixyl Shuftan

Egypt Sim: Protests Turn to Celebration at News of Egyptian Leader’s Stepping Down

Events in the country of Egypt have taken some dramatic turns this week in real life. In Second Life, these events were reflected at the Egypt sim as people protested strongman Mubarak's refusal to resign one day, and the next were celebrating his departure.

Read the article in Events.

Egypt Sim: The Loyalists Appear

As the turmoil goes on in Egypt in real-life, there have been some more developments at the Egypt sim. Stopping by Thursday, the place was much more quiet than it had been the previous day, with fewer avatars and much less chatter. There were also a number of signs that were supportive of Egyptian leader Mubarak, as well as a few avatars wearing tags supporting him. There was also one sign with a picture of a blindfold over the Statue of Liberty "The Big Lie."

People continued to drop by and express there support for Egypt, one woman telling me she had a good friend from the country, "I love Egypt, and all my friends from Egypt." There was much less debate on the protests, someone telling me a number of people had been banned from the sim. I saw Ammroty Aedipo the sim, owner, but he appeared to be away from his keyboard. Seeing him log off, I sent him a notecard, but it went unanswered. I saw him the following day, but he was busy chatting with someone.

Dropping by briefly on Friday, the crowd was a little larger and the chatter a little more active, but the talk was often on subjects other than Egypt, such as US President Obama's domestic policies. One resident did express curiosity about some people apparently changing sides on the issue of Mubarak.

Back in real-life Egypt, Thursday saw much fighting as pro-government groups attacked anti-government protesters. Reporters found themselves under attack too, subject to rock throwing and beatings, and authorities began ordering journalists confined to their motels. Some observers feared this was a sign of loyalist forces about to do something really bad. But Friday's largest demonstrations have apparently gone peacefully, pictures showing some from opposing sides shaking hands and dancing.

What happens next in Egypt is anyone's guess, but no doubt the Egypt sim will continue to be a place of activity and debate for as long as the situation goes on.

Bixyl Shuftan

Demonstrating at the Egypt Sim

With Egypt's protests so much in the news, the spotlight has been put on the Egypt sim in Second Life. Run by an Egyptian group, when I first came here there were just a handful of residents, discussing recent events. Over the next couple days, more residents dropped in to voice their opinions.

Read the article in Events.

Gulf Oil Spill Protest and Support Concert

On Friday July 30th, there was a live music event at in the Bali Bali sim, at “Gwampa's Dance Kamp.” The concert was to both be a protest of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill by British Petroleum, and to raise awareness for charities providing relief. From 9 AM to 9 PM SL time, a number of musicians, including CraigLyons Writer and Wolfie Moonshadow played for the audience.

I dropped in for a little while during Edward Kyomoon’s performance. Although the nighttime crowd hadn’t arrived yet, the event still had a good attendance number, with Edward’s fans and others cheering and whooping it up. Some of the surrounding region was also an attraction, such as the wreckage of a wooden schooner propped up with the bow pointed up

Not all of the moments were happy ones. Someone booed BP at one point, and this was followed by other people jeering the energy corporation. A couple people suggested that they tone down the boos, reminding the others what powered their automobiles. But the jeers continued. It wasn’t just British Petroleum that was the target of the audience. US President Obama was also subject to boos, accused of doing nothing about the oil spill but parading for the camera.

The charities listed included the National Wildlife Federation, Audobon, and The Nature Conservancy.

Bixyl Shuftan (contributions from Grey Lupindo)

Sim Deleted by Owner to Protest Content Theft

After being struck by a content thief again and again, Maxwell Graf, the owner of the LagNmoor sim made the decision for some drastic action: delete the sim. Second Life Newser recently met up with Maxwell, and talked with him about what led him to this desperate choice.

Read the story in Places.