Good coverage from the Associated Press on the epidemic of cheating in online games, which, as the recent article correctly notes, takes on a whole new slate of issues outside simple morality when real player money is involved, such as in the virtual economies of Second Life, MapleStory or Entropia Universe.

Time is money, too -- cheating also affects the balance of play in online games, where many users put hours, weeks or even years into strengthening their characters and gaining items. The article provides some insight into the ways major players like Blizzard, Linden Lab and Nexon wage what Nexon America's Min Kim calls a "daily battle" against cheaters.

But Intel, who's already demonstrated an interest in the virtual worlds space by partnering with Qwaq to bring Miramar, its 3D information space technology, to market, is at work on a security solution to protect online games and virtual worlds, as the article explains:

Intel's technology would embed a module in a PC's circuitry that would analyze data coming off the keyboard and the mouse and compare it to what a game actually processes. If there are conflicts _ the player clicked the mouse just once but the game read that as "fire 100 shots" _ the Intel system would be able to signal the game makers or other players. The system could also put a "trusted" stamp on seemingly legitimate players.

Intel says its system would not degrade PC performance or be noticeable in game play, but the concept still needs work. Notably, it would require the support of PC makers as well as the game companies that would have to build in ties to the Intel system.

Unclear yet what the end result of this tech in development will be, especially if it requires firm integration with products that already have their own infrastructure. You never know, though -- developers might want to tie in something like this if it presents a stable, non-intrusive alternative to the constant struggle of daily scrutiny.

[Via the AP]