Did you ever wish you could redraw your life and keep it under your control that way? Some participants in online virtual reality games like Second Life have tried, and found that sometimes you just can't avoid the slings and arrows of love-- or hate.

The most recent bit of news in the world of Second Life/real life intrigue was the announcement on November 14 that a British couple who'd had a newsworthy wedding on Second Life in 2005 was divorcing because wife Amy Taylor allegedly caught husband David Pollard's character having virtual sex with another virtual woman.

There was no evidence, according to the Western Morning News, who reported the item, that the two had been having an affair in real life.

Last month, a woman in Tokyo was jailed in a bizarre incident where she "murdered" the virtual husband of her online character by entering the game with his password and destroying his avatar after said virtual husband had divorced her character without warning. She could face jail time up to five years for illegally accessing a computer and manipulating electronic data, according to the New Zealand Herald.

Real-world people seem to be taking Second Life with more and more seriousness, demonstrated by last year's crossover of CSI:NY, where a murder tale played out in the show and also into Second Life.

Other reported crimes arising from love affairs include a woman's plot to kidnap someone she met on Second Life, earlier this year. People also scheme to steal funds invested in Second Life, where real world money goes into many transactions. Most crimes will be translated to the real world and charged accordingly.

But it's not all bad news for Second Life. Apparently this latest scandal has brought a certain kind of attention or glamour to the website, and  the sign-ups have "as much as quadrupled" over the usual rates.

And Miss Taylor? You don't need to feel badly for her. As the Western Morning News reported, she's now "in a new relationship with a man she met in the online roleplaying game World of Warcraft."