Cellufun's mobile social networking courthouse, jury and jail

Heh, did you catch this in the Washington Post the other week?

A virtual world for mobile devices, called Cellufun, has established a courthouse, where rule-breakers are indicted by their peers and tried by a jury of other community members. If found guilty of a charge, such as using profanity, users must carry out varying levels of sentences, from being mute for 20 minutes to being banished.

For the duration of punishment, a user’s avatar — a cartoon version of his or her real-life self — is pictured behind bars.

At least one user has been convicted of a crime every day since the Cellufun courthouse opened two weeks ago, said chief executive Arthur Goikhman. Every day, dozens of members are indicted.

"It’s really affected the tone and tenor of the site," he said. "People are much, much, much more careful now."

Fantastic!? I’m going to see if I can meet up with Arthur and the team when I’m at CTIA soon.