Comments on: A Rape in Cyberspace

By: On not finding ‘Hamlet on the Holodeck’, and what to do | #HIST5702x

Sat, 21 Jan 2012 20:27:19 +0000

[...] For instance, some of you might be interested to take a look at ‘A Rape in Cyberspace’ http://www.juliandibbell.com/articles/a-rape-in-cyberspace/ [...]

By: Getting in Touch with your own Webdentity « Words on Web

Getting in Touch with your own Webdentity « Words on Web — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 00:01:11 +0000

[...] Was that story too cheesy? Well, let me pose another question. Have you ever felt emotionally effected by an online experience? Let me tell you another story. Once, there was another MUD, and in this MUD, there was a character named Mr. Bungle. Now, the man controlling Mr. Bungle had a “voodoo doll” program, which could allow him to essentially take control of other characters and make them do whatever he wanted (all text based). One night when many characters had gathered together for a virtual party, this character chose to use this program to virtually rape various characters in the game and cause them to perform lewd and disgusting sexual acts with one another. The program also kept those characters from logging out to save themselves from the ordeal. Well, after the fact, many of Mr. Bungle’s victims dealt with real emotional trauma from the incident and felt that they had been horribly violated. Much debate went into how to deal with the issue; no physical crime had been committed, but real damage had been done. However, the real life identities of the online victims were strongly effected by their experience. This story is completely true, and the story was written down by Julian Dibbell in an article called A Rape in Cyperspace. [...]

By: Feminist Countergaming or: Griefing the Patriarchy « gamingbetter

Feminist Countergaming or: Griefing the Patriarchy « gamingbetter — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 22:26:16 +0000

[...] we forget, one of the early multiplayer MUD games was also the site of what came to be known as “A Rape In Cyberspace“. Sexual violence can be perpetrated against ones’ avatar, and while the physical [...]

By: Feminist Countergaming or: Griefing the Patriarchy « gamingbetter

Feminist Countergaming or: Griefing the Patriarchy « gamingbetter — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 21:33:54 +0000

[...] we forget, one of the early multiplayer MUD games was also the site of what came to be known as A Rape In Cyberspace. Sexual violence can be perpetrated against ones’ avatar, and while the physical damage [...]

By: virtual rape « skipping stones

virtual rape « skipping stones — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 12:39:13 +0000

[...] I first heard of the virtual rape that occurred in the Multi-User Domain (MUD) LambdaMOO, I was mostly disgusted and a [...]

By: New Media, Spring 2012 | LitMUSE

New Media, Spring 2012 | LitMUSE — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 16:43:35 +0000

[...] of Self in Virtual Reality” (PDF); Dibbell “A Rape in Cyberspace” (Weblink); Alter “Is this Man Cheating?” (Weblink); Stephenson from Snow Crash (PDF); Second [...]

By: New Media, Spring 2011 | LitMUSE

New Media, Spring 2011 | LitMUSE — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 14:25:05 +0000

[...] of Self in Virtual Reality” (PDF); Dibbell “A Rape in Cyberspace” (Weblink); Alter “Is this Man Cheating?” (Weblink); Stephenson from Snow Crash (PDF); Second [...]

By: Into the Future « COMM 200 – Fall 2011

Into the Future « COMM 200 – Fall 2011 — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 05:56:53 +0000

[...] of realizing the importance of a thing, I loved learning about LambdaMoo and reading A Rape in Cyberspace. It made me think about several different things. For one thing, it’s insane that the technology [...]

By: Culture Club: Player-made justice in online games

Culture Club: Player-made justice in online games — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 01:38:51 +0000

[...] handy links to stuff we mention during the show: A Rape in Cyberspace League of Legends Tribunal And that crashed WoW funeral (some NSFW language): Category: Gaming [...]

By: Cpt. Zirkon

Cpt. Zirkon — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 18:54:31 +0000

Wonderfully written Mr. Dibbel! I fascinating subject. The 1st Amendment is indeed fundamentally premised on the real/symbolic divide, and was not designed to protect ‘technosocial incantations’ (which, as your analysis of the Mr. Bungle affair has demonstrated, severely complicate this distinction). I enjoyed reading about the democratic system of social control that resulted from this affair, and it gives me hope that intelligent and socially-minded people can influence their reality and keep it (relatively, virtually) safe from the creeps and psychos. However, it remains my opinion that, as long as the I/O switch remains within reach, there is a real/symbolic divide that empowers the users to control the invasion of their own minds in a concrete and personal way that renders the notion of crime fairly null, however invested characters may become with the egos of their progenitors.