The NSA in your MMO

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - Here's another acronym for you: WTF?

So apparently, the United States government just can't keep its eyes off anything. That now includes the game industry. Read this.

"The National Security Agency and the Central Intelligence Agency have secretly infiltrated the virtual worlds of online multi-player games like World of Warcraft and Second Life, where they use avatars to recruit informants and seek out potential threats, according to a new report."

That article continues saying things like,

"There is some evidence intelligence agencies may have over-committed resources to combating a relatively minor threat in its virtual world operations, ProPublica reports. With so many agents from CIA, FBI, and DIA operating in Second Life, a 'deconfliction' group was needed, according to one document, to avoid collisions between spies working for the same team."

From what I read from that, the US government is having fun playing games like World of Warcraft and Second Life to the point that everyone in there wants to be assigned to playing that. So they are.

So can we call Blizzard a traitor for allowing this to happen? Well, they weren't aware.

"A spokesperson for Blizzard Entertainment, which makes World of Warcraft, said the company is 'unaware of any surveillance taking place' and that 'if it was, it would have been done without our knowledge or permission.'"

Well, at least government employees are probably paying customers. I wonder if they've encountered those Chinese gold-mining slaves. Perhaps they've even traded with them! 

I don't know what kind of surveillance that the NSA is capable of that Blizzard isn't (or what they can do that normal players can't), but this is the type of thing that should keep you up at night. Are they reading through Miiverse? Perhaps the NSA is even going after KoopaTV?!

A terrorist plot in motion. National Security Agency, save us!

Well if they are going to go through Miiverse, then maybe Nintendo's sales will pick up that way. What better way to sell millions of consoles than for the millions of government employees to buy your consoles because they suspect that your social network houses terrorists? That supposedly 11-year old kid that can't receive friend requests is really a Jihadist talking in code. With phone lines wiretapped, the terrorists have no choice but to flee to Nintendo systems to organize their dastardly plots. Perhaps THAT'S why Swapnote was REALLY canceled?!

Ludwig's NNID is PrinceOfKoopas. Follow him, will ya?


What does Ludwig think of the changes to Miiverse besides an NSA investigation? Click here!
The NSA and FBI eventually want to be able to have backdoor access to all communications devices, including the Wii U.
The Central Intelligence Agency is also infiltrating the Mushroom Kingdom... to plot assassinations!
The Nintendo Switch isn't very into being a communications device, so it's...safe.