Virtual worlds and communities can be fascinating: existence outside the physical, projecting yourself, your mind, your existence into the digital realm, new possibilities, new ways of being, new frontiers. At issue though is making a compelling business model, just like the Internet wasn’t built for commercial gain, not everything should be business return driven, and the issue then is how to achieve scale, penetration and uptake without it. If you build it will they come?

Here's how the mandatory encryption laws passed by the Australian government in late 2018 started, from fear. A reaction from this author on how this won't stop those it's intended to stop.