News 

A reporter from the German television programme, Report Mainz, claims to have been invited to 'child pornography meetings' in the virtual world, during which he was put in touch with traders of real child pornography.

German prosecutors are reportedly probing the claims, whilst a spokesman for Second Life has promised to help identify the culprits and help the police with their inquiries.

Second Life is clearly wary of children accessing adult material in the online world. Last week, the company's blog unveiled details of a new age verification system for members of the game, which frequently lists porn and gambling zones amongst its most-visited destinations.

The blog states that "residents who choose not to verify their identity will have access to all PG and M (Mature) rated regions of Second Life save for those individual parcels expressly identified by their creators as containing adult content."

UK-based players will be required to provide a passport or national ID number to help verify their age, as well as their full name and address.