Posted in Activeworlds, Inc., Blizzard, Click to Agree, Commentary, Contract Law, Electronic Arts, Entropia Universe, Everquest II, IMVU, IMVU Inc., Linden Lab, Makena Technologies, Mindark, Providers, Second Life, The Sims Online, There, Ultima Online, VB Features, VB Series, Virtual Law, Virtual Worlds & Games, World of Warcraft on October 31st, 2007 9 Comments »
Guest Commentary - Part Two of VB’s Three-Part “Click to Agree” Series on Terms of Service and End User License Agreements in Major Games and Virtual Worlds
Even in the largest online game experience, the player can always leave. This is the primary difference between a real world economy and a “virtual economy.” Much [...]
VB runs “Virtual Law Quicklinks” whenever we have a backlog of interesting items that aren’t big enough for full posts. Here’s today’s batch.
Brooklyn Law Review just published a student note on defamation in virtual worlds that is worth reading. The author is Bettina Chin. I should have run this a couple of [...]
Posted in Content Creators, Copyright Law, DMCA, Interviews, Peregrine Salon, Second Life, Trademark Law, VB Features, Virtual Law, Virtual Worlds & Games on October 29th, 2007 15 Comments »
The Second Life Patent & Trademark Office, has opened its doors, offering Second Life users a suite of new intellectual property protection tools. The SLPTO, now in live, free, open alpha-testing, is the brainchild of Second Life developer ‘FlipperPA Peregrine‘ (Tim Allen) and Michael Eckstein, an international IT business consultant and former CEO of [...]
Posted in Content Creators, Copyright Law, DE Designs, Eros, Eros et al v. Simon, Lawsuits, Le Cadre, Nomine, Pixel Dolls, RH Designs, Second Life, Trademark Law, Virtual Law, Virtual Worlds & Games on October 28th, 2007 No Comments »
Virtual law is in the mainstream news media today. The recently-filed lawsuit in which six major Second Life designers are suing Thomas Simon, a New York man who allegedly used the avatar ‘Rase Kenzo’ to make thousands of copies best-selling in-world items, has landed on the front page of the inimitable New York Post.
The [...]
Posted in Civil Procedure, Copyright Law, DE Designs, Eros, Eros et al v. Simon, Lawsuits, Le Cadre, Linden Lab, Nomine, Pixel Dolls, Providers, RH Designs, Second Life, Trademark Law, Virtual Law, Virtual Worlds & Games on October 27th, 2007 42 Comments »
Six major Second Life content creators have filed a lawsuit (.pdf) in the Eastern District of New York claiming copyright and trademark infringement against Second Life user Thomas Simon of New York, who allegedly exploited a flaw in the Second Life software to duplicate thousands of copies of the creators’ products.
Simon allegedly sold copies of [...]
Eros, LLC has filed an amended complaint (.pdf) naming Robert Leatherwood, of North Richland Hills, Texas, as the John Doe defendant previously known only by a Second Life avatar’s name, ‘Volkov Catteneo.’ A summons (.pdf) was also issued. Eros is owned by Kevin Alderman (’Stroker Serpentine’ in Second Life).
Alderman confirmed the identification of newly-named defendant [...]
Last night’s Second Life-centered CSI:NY episode was exactly what it was supposed to be: an entertaining 42 minute cops and robbers network television show that touched on law and technology, without exploring either in depth. Regular readers will recall that I don’t like these shows generally, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that I didn’t [...]
Though it is widely understood that profits made running a business that deals in virtual goods or services are taxable, tax agencies have not yet seriously pursued enforcement, and there is an open question regarding when these profits are taxable. Two recent presentations suggest that enforcement is getting incrementally closer, both in the EU [...]
Practicing Law Institute is offering a Continuing Legal Education (CLE) course on virtual law entitled “Virtual Worlds - The New Legal Frontier” next month. The course will be conducted via live audio on November 8, 2007, from 1:00 to 2:00 PM Eastern and will be presented by Stephen J. Davidson, of Leonard, Street and Deinard [...]
I’m updating VB’s “Blogroll,” which you can usually find at the end of the right-hand sidebar. I have, frankly, let far too much time pass without updating the list to acknowledge the sites I visit regularly, so in a partial effort to make up for my laziness over the last few months, I’m going to [...]
