BBC to open a virtual world for children

The problem with virtual worlds is that they are teeming with online attackers. Nope, were not talking about in-game horrific monsters here or sneaky intelligent hackers. We mean real-life half-crazed individuals who are lurking to prey on innocent young kids. After all, this will be easy especially when they’re hidden behind a “SweetChick18” avatar.

News conglomerate BBC tries to somehow solve this problem as it recently announced the creation of a virtual world that would cater to kids alone. In case you aren’t aware, the company has a division that caters specifically to children between 7 to 12 years old – BBC Children. According to one BBC spokesman:

This kind of cross-platform broadcasting is becoming the norm for people who have been born into the digital world. It will give children a chance to move around a safe, secure world where they can not only interact with familiar characters but have an opportunity to make that world a more fascinating place with their own imaginations.

The virtual world will be known as CBBC World. The spokesman added that in this environment, kids would be able to build an online presence and then create and share content. However, the users will be concentrated on the world alone and no other parts of it (like chatrooms) will be allowed to be added.

We wonder how BBC would deal with online attackers. Another MMO, Second Life from Linden Lab, has tried solving this by implementing a Teen Grid that separates young users from adult ones. We hope the company knows that if the security of this place doesn’t hold, the virtual world for children will transform all of a sudden into a smorgasbord for attackers.

At any rate, we hope this turns out to be good. We’ll all have to see when CBBC World goes live this summer and fully launches this autumn.

The problem with virtual worlds is that they are teeming with online attackers. Nope, were not talking about in-game horrific monsters here or sneaky intelligent hackers. We mean real-life half-crazed individuals who are lurking to prey on innocent young kids. After all, this will be easy especially when they’re hidden behind a “SweetChick18” avatar.

News conglomerate BBC tries to somehow solve this problem as it recently announced the creation of a virtual world that would cater to kids alone. In case you aren’t aware, the company has a division that caters specifically to children between 7 to 12 years old – BBC Children. According to one BBC spokesman:

This kind of cross-platform broadcasting is becoming the norm for people who have been born into the digital world. It will give children a chance to move around a safe, secure world where they can not only interact with familiar characters but have an opportunity to make that world a more fascinating place with their own imaginations.

The virtual world will be known as CBBC World. The spokesman added that in this environment, kids would be able to build an online presence and then create and share content. However, the users will be concentrated on the world alone and no other parts of it (like chatrooms) will be allowed to be added.

We wonder how BBC would deal with online attackers. Another MMO, Second Life from Linden Lab, has tried solving this by implementing a Teen Grid that separates young users from adult ones. We hope the company knows that if the security of this place doesn’t hold, the virtual world for children will transform all of a sudden into a smorgasbord for attackers.

At any rate, we hope this turns out to be good. We’ll all have to see when CBBC World goes live this summer and fully launches this autumn.