What would happen if you played a game online and thought that the company was cheating you or favoring one group of players over your own? You would likely dissent, raise your arms up, of use your digital feet to walk out the door. Eve Online is having these problems and doesn't want people to leave, so what are they to do?
Viewing themselves as the government and their players as the citizens, they are planning to hold elections, enabling different members of the community to elect their fellow players.
From the
NYT:
"So now, in a sociological twist, the company that makes Eve, CCP, based in Iceland (population 300,000), says it will tackle the problem the way a democracy would. In what appears to be a first, the company plans to hold elections so that players can select members of an oversight committee."
It's an interesting development in an environment that will continue to evolve. First there were revolts in Ultima Online, then defacement and "grief" in Second Life and the Sims, and now in the face of civil disobedience, Eve is trying to figure out a diplomatic and democratic method for addressing their citizens concerns. Cool Stuff.
