Long Road

I missed this when it came out in May, but apparently there was a limited debate about the use of a virtual image of Uluru (and the Sydney Opera House) in Second Life. The crux of the issue is that the Anangu traditional owners of Uluru have had, since 1987, pretty tight control over the production and circulation of images of Uluru. The northeast side of the rock is totally off limits to photographers and images for commercial use are highly regulated. Telstra (the Australian telecom giant who owns the second life island “the pond”) admitted that they did not seek permission from the Anangu or the National Parks who jointly manage the site with the traditional owners. The matter seems to be one of seeking and gaining permission rather than an all out refusal to allow the virtual image. I can well imagine that some traditional owners would not like the image being used in this way, others may have been open to it with some restriction, but he fact that there was no consultation makes the point mute.

A Nicholson cartoon captures one set of sentiments: (thanks to Faye for passing this on to me)

The cartoon suggests the issue is a non-issue, not enough of a bother for Anangu who are (should be) concerned with everyday issues “just like the rest of us.” Bypassing the issue of recognizing the Anangu role as traditional owners of Uluru, the cartoon mocks the perceived outsiders (lawyers?) who make issues like virtual representations into an issue of debate when Aboriginal people don’t (shouldn’t?) care about such frivolous matters.

But, with all the ‘intervention’ politics and mayhem going on the controversy seems to have faded from the public. Now we only have “real” issues to debate.