http://www.jmir.org/2010/3/e28/
This is an interesting article on rights for avatars. It seems
reasonable and yet ludicrous at the same time. My officemate and I
have had a great time expanding on it. - Alicia
Get Your Paws off of My Pixels: Personal Identity and Avatars as Self
Mark Alan Graber1,2, MD; Abraham David Graber3, BA
ABSTRACT
There is an astounding silence in the peer-reviewed literature
regarding what rights a person ought to expect to retain when being
represented by an avatar rather than a biological body. Before one can
have meaningful ethical discussions about informed consent in virtual
worlds, avatar bodily integrity, and so on, the status of avatars vis-
à-vis the self must first be decided. We argue that as another
manifestation of the individual, an individual’s avatar should have
rights analogous to those of a biological body. Our strategy will be
to show that (1) possessing a physical body is not a necessary
condition for possessing rights; (2) rights are already extended to
representations of a person to which no biological consciousness is
attached; and (3) when imbued with intentionality, some prostheses
become “self.” We will then argue that avatars meet all of the
conditions necessary to be protected by rights similar to those
enjoyed by a biological body. The structure of our argument will take
the form of a conditional. We will argue that if a user considers an
avatar an extension of the self, then the avatar has rights analogous
to the rights of the user. Finally, we will discuss and resolve some
of the objections to our position including conflicts that may arise
when more than one individual considers an avatar to be part of the
self.
(J Med Internet Res 2010;12(3):e28)
doi:10.2196/jmir.1299
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