What is extent of 'Second Life' problems?

The blogosphere is in a bit of a tizzy Wednesday about problems plaguing the virtual world, Second Life. The question is: Are the problems people are worked up about new, or ongoing? And does that matter?

The main issue raised in the original blog entry on Gamer.Blorge.com was that Second Life is experiencing six hours of downtime. And to hear other blogs, like TechCrunch position it, this is kind of a noteworthy occurrence.

The truth is that Second Life frequently down on Wednesdays, because that's when its publisher, Linden Lab, releases updates to its client software.

And it's true that some users are upset today about the downtime. But they're also upset every time the "grid" goes down for the several hours it takes to complete an upgrade. After all, there are countless businesses that can't sell things, and countless people who can't get in-world to do whatever it is they want to do.

For many longtime Second Life users, the issue this raises is not about any individual shutting down of the grid, but rather that it has to happen so frequently. The Second Life software is built in such a way that the constant bug fixes, updates, new features and such can really only be implemented through these periodic updates, and the unfortunate side effect is semi-regular downtime.

There's no question it's annoying. But is it news? Not really.

On the other hand, there was news out of Europe that police in Britain, Belgium and the Netherlands are looking at Second Life and trying to decide whether in-world stalking should be prosecuted as a crime.