One word: PGP

All this talk of SSL and signed certs. Band aids. If every person and corp used PGP none of this would even be a problem would it?

Data visualization, telemedicine, mechanical prototype testing - these are the things a virtual world should offer. This is just a glorified chat interface.

No user-generated content, no building tools, no scripting. I mean, social networking is already taking a back seat to business interests in Second Life, Forterra, etc. IMHO this project is so far beneath Google's capabilities it is not worthy of much attaention.