There is little about virtual worlds that is solid. Granted, life in an online fantasy like Second Life is supposed to be ephemeral, no more concrete than the electrons that make a computer screen come to life. But Philip Rosedale is CEO of a living, breathing company behind Second Life called Linden Lab, and it is riding a real-world wave of new users and publicity that suggests the blossoming of an Internet superstar. Unless, too, the fame and fortune prove as fleeting as a user's alter-ego appearance in the world that Rosedale dreamed up.

Second Life, where users interact in a cartoonlike world that they create, has rocketed in recent months, luring hundreds of thousands of people to download its free software and step inside. But the fast growth could spur a backlash, warns Stephen Prentice, a market analyst at Gartner, particularly if the company can't keep up with demands on its creation, which at times appears overcrowded. "It's an immersive and attractive experience," Prentice says. "But there are glitches."

Open sesame. So the 38-year-old Rosedale is making changes, electing recently to "open source" the software that enables real people to interact with the world, letting anyone muck with it. He's also preparing to do the same for software that runs its core computers, allowing others to add to Second Life's virtual terrain. "It's a way to bring in the broader community in helping us to develop this," Rosedale says.

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