Second Life, the virtual world we love to hate, announced it's rolling out the beta of its Identity Verification system today. Sick of the constant name-calling afforded by the virtual world's anonymity, Linden Lab is taking steps to police its surreal estate through a voluntary registration program. VP of marketing Robin Harper revealed that the identification system will "independently verify certain aspects of their identity (their name, age, location and sex)" and "establish trust by removing a layer of anonymity." The move, of course, essentially destroys that which is valued in Second Life — freedom to do anything (except gamble). Linden Lab's hope is that landowners will put age gates on their islands, and this system will prevent minors from entering sex dungeons. Of course, minors looking to enter sex dungeons will be too smart to volunteer that information.

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