The Business & Social Network
Double Happiness Jeans Redux
cross-posted at www.VRWorkplace.com
Way back when Double Happiness Jeans was announced as manufacturing its jeans inside of Second Life using avatar workers, I suggested in a number of places including Business Communicators of Second Life (http://tiny.cc/dCLST) that this kind of employment remains subject to real life workplace laws including minimum wage, benefits, pension, etc. Double Happiness was, of course, compensating avatars at the rate of, I believe, L200 an hour (or about .90$) plus a parcel of virtual land.
Well, turns out the whole Double Happiness effort was meant for a film to be presented at Sundance "Invisible Threads" on 10 Simple Steps to your very own Virtual Sweatshop with Telematic Manufacturing.
Congratulations to the "Invisible Threads" team. And, those of you who 'employ' greeters, etc in Second Life be warned.
Way back when Double Happiness Jeans was announced as manufacturing its jeans inside of Second Life using avatar workers, I suggested in a number of places including Business Communicators of Second Life (http://tiny.cc/dCLST) that this kind of employment remains subject to real life workplace laws including minimum wage, benefits, pension, etc. Double Happiness was, of course, compensating avatars at the rate of, I believe, L200 an hour (or about .90$) plus a parcel of virtual land.
Well, turns out the whole Double Happiness effort was meant for a film to be presented at Sundance "Invisible Threads" on 10 Simple Steps to your very own Virtual Sweatshop with Telematic Manufacturing.
Congratulations to the "Invisible Threads" team. And, those of you who 'employ' greeters, etc in Second Life be warned.
4 Comments
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Comment by Nicholas Ernst on April 20, 2008 at 7:55pm - I honestly think it would be a great thing for more of the virtual world employees to make more than they do now. I'm not entirely sure how it would affect the economies in-world, as most people making significant amounts of money in places like SL are barely pulling in enough to support a single person in the physical world, and only a tiny handful are making enough to pay employees at the rates set forth by real life laws. Many businesses would simply pull up roots and move on, I imagine.
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Comment by Dave Elchoness on April 20, 2008 at 8:32pm - Could be that some businesses would pull up roots and move on, or avatar shops located in countries with low or no minimum wage rates, etc would start cropping up (I understand they already have.)
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Comment by Nicholas Ernst on April 21, 2008 at 6:17pm
- That's definitely a good point. I tend to look at things in my typically one sided, self centered American way, and hadn't so much considered that it would open up opportunities for business based in other countries. I'd be curious as to whether the wage minimums would be determined by the country of the worker or the employer. If determined by the worker's location then I'd assume there would soon be a wave of virtual sweatshops opening up, using cheap foreign labor.
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Comment by Dave Elchoness on April 21, 2008 at 6:26pm
- Yes exactly. A wave of virtual sweatshops will open up for sure. Not good for anyone in my opinion. Minimum wage is almost certainly always determined by the workers' jurisdiction rather than the employers'.
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