On behalf of the anonymous editor of Blawg Review, I am pleased to pass along the following 2007 Blawg Review Award nomination recommendations. These nomination recommendations (all of which are sites that hosted Blawg Review at some point in 2007) were announced by VB’s editor at a live presentation in Second Life earlier today. Virtual cappuccino and virtual leftover cookies were served to an audience of… several. More information on this year’s nomination process (which, were it to be summarized by a magic eight ball, might, at this very moment, read “reply hazy, try again”) will be available at Blawg Review shortly. Hazy or not, and with the disclaimer that I am merely passing on the suggestions of the esteemed anonymous editor of Blawg Review in this post, here are a few nomination suggestions to get the process started:

• #89 The Mummer’s Veil
• #91 Public Defender Stuff
• #94 Mediation Channel
• #110 Biker Law Blog
• #124 George’s Employment Blawg
• #126 Small Business Trends
• #127 Deliberations
• #130 Diane Levin & Geoff Sharp (Mediation)
• #134 New York Personal Injury Law Blog
• #137 Infamy or Praise
  

VB plans to host Blawg Review at some point next year, highlighting the intersection of virtual law with other areas of specialization.

VB will be taking a holiday break while the editor cooks a turkey, entertains relatives, finishes the current draft of Virtual Law, and tackles a few home remodeling projects. Thanks for making VB’s first year so interesting and so much fun. Posting will resume around December 28.  Happy holidays!

Madrid’s Campus de la Justicia is under construction in Second Life, but no one can visit and there has been very little press. The virtual campus is described in a September blog post (Spanish language, via Urbanity) as “a three-dimensional space with all kinds of rooms, buildings, streets and open areas, which offer a virtually real image of this great judicial area.” (Translation via Google.)

The real life Campus de la Justicia (which is also still in development) is complex of futuristic buildings (via dezeen). It should translate well to Second Life. Here is a link to a YouTube video promoting the real life Campus de la Justicia.

Although a map view (SLURL) in Second Life reveals that at least some construction is done, it is currently impossible to teleport into any of the four “Campus Justicia” sims, and the sims are isolated by impassable ocean squares.

Since both the real life and virtual Campus de la Justicia appear to be under construction, and it is impossible to visit the virtual version, it could be that the virtual Campus was created for internal use only. If anyone has any information (or even wild speculation) about the mysterious build, please comment or email.

The organizers of the biggest virtual worlds conference series in the U.S. have announced a virtual law conference in New York, April 3-4, 2008. The conference, “Virtual Law 2008,” will run concurrently and in the same location as Virtual Worlds 2008 (which will be focused, this time, on media and entertainment). Virtual Law 2008 will feature sessions specifically tailored for attorneys in private practice, in-house counsel, legal scholars, executives, and content creators. Registration for Virtual Law 2008 will include full access to Virtual Worlds 2008.

This announcement involves a couple of personal notes. First, Virtually Blind is a conference partner, so you’ll be seeing an advertisement for the conference in the sidebar over the next few months. Consider registering early — earlybird registration is more than half-off the on-site price. Second, I am on the advisory board for the conference, along with Sean Kane, one of my co-chairs on the Virtual Worlds and Multiuser Online Games Committee of the Section of Science and Technology Law of the American Bar Association. I very much hope you will join us in New York in April for what should be a great conference.