[virtual world] ventures into the real

The police are rightly worried:

"Our environmental scanning tells us that even with some of the cloning of human beings - not necessarily in Australia but in those countries that are going to allow it - you could have potentially a cloned part-person, part-robot," Australian Federal Police (AFP) Commissioner Mick Keelty said. "You could (also) have technology acting at the direction of a human being, but the human being being distanced considerably from the actual crime scene."

Mr Keelty said scams had sprung up in online virtual worlds such as Second Life, where people can spend real money via credit cards to buy products such as virtual real estate and gifts. "Policing that is going to be quite difficult," he said.

There is a point, it seems to me, where the clear hijacking and brazen usage of the security forces by the cabal groomed political leadership to remove citizens' rights must be tempered by the need to circumvent genuine crims. I feel much sympathy for the security services today, especially the ordinary officer doing his or her duty.