U.S. Spies Feared Rise of Virtual Bin Laden, Report Reveals

In 2008, when millions of netizens were flocking to the online worlds of Second Life and World of Warcraft, the U.S. intelligence brass was worried about virtual, immortal version of Osama Bin Laden

"Imagine that jihadist supporters create a detailed avatar of Usama bin Ladin and use his many voice recordings to animate the avatar for up-close virtual reality experiences that could be used to preach, convert, recruit, and propagate dogma to the media," read a confidential study commissioned by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) in July 2008.