Comments on: Homo Ludens – Virtual Law Circa 1938

By: ^^

^^ — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 21:04:25 +0000

I have this book at home! Huizinga’s “Waning of the Middle Ages” was one of the favorite books I read in college, and I bought Homo Ludens around the same time. I don’t remember the “Play and Law” essay – I look forward to revisiting Homo Ludens when I get home this evening. ^^

The magic circle/space of class-free justice is not just a dream of lawyers. I think there might be some indirect connection between heightened awareness that the court system is out of reach for the lower and middle class (thus whatever rights they have can’t be vindicated) and the attraction of virtual spaces with means of solving disputes (appeal to guild leader, post a server-wide broadcast message to denounce a villain, or if all else fails take out your trusty Sword of Swift Justice).

I live in California and know a bit about our State court system. Judges here can resort to various technicalities to refuse to hear people who represent themselves (or are forced to represent themselves through being unable to afford a lawyer or find pro bono help). Therefore, great injustice can occure just because the Judge only listens to one side. There is no means to complain about this other than the Appeals Process, which is even more expensive than the original court procedure because of the cost of transcripts.

Also a lot of people think the ACLU automatically steps in when any grave miscarriage of justice is about to occur. In California, the ACLU only supports Appeals cases…and even then they have to be selective.

Normal citizens also have absolutely no recourse when a state agency or branch of state government acts outside of jurisdiction. The Governor’s Office sweeps demands for investigation under the rug. Thus it fall back on the individual citizen to sue to maintain their rights…and most just don’t have the means to do this.

If other States have the same inadequate and costly court system as California, I think it’s only a matter of time before the veil of “individual rights” drops, and the true system of “rights protected only for elites” is revealed.

However, I think the problem of the inaccessible court system is already bubbling in the public subconscious, and partly fuels the search for justice in virtual spaces.

By: Taran Rampersad

Taran Rampersad — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 07:35:23 +0000

Hah. Ordered. And a few other goodies. Hopefully by then I’ll be done with all these other books…

By: Doubledown Tandino

Doubledown Tandino — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 05:48:06 +0000

Thanks Ben ( /me takes a small bow )
My Smurfy’s Law type comments on your blog are just letting ya know I’m out there and reading :O)

By: Benjamin Duranske

Benjamin Duranske — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 15:43:32 +0000

@6 – comment of the month. And now I am really tempted to title my chapter on potential pitfalls to watch out for in virtual worlds, “Everybody Poops.” I have a feeling my publisher might balk at that though.

By: Doubledown Tandino

Doubledown Tandino — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 09:36:56 +0000

I’m glad you found this book, because otherwise your fallback for references would’ve been “Everybody Poops”
…which still may have some valuable points.

By: Taran Rampersad

Taran Rampersad — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 01:00:14 +0000

Jazzman – at a glance it does look like Homo Lindens… bad graphic, I guess. :-)

By: Taran Rampersad

Taran Rampersad — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 00:59:40 +0000

No problem, Benjamin. I’m dancing with a travel itinerary myself – I need to make sure the book gets collected, so its… argh. :-) And yeah, the reading stack… wow. Almost done with the one on the Commons. Fun, fun, fun…

By: Jazzman Jibilla

Jazzman Jibilla — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 00:44:55 +0000

I’ll be checking my local library in vain no doubt.
When I first loaded your page I saw the book cover graphic but took the title to be ‘Homo Lindens”. Glasses really helped!

There’s nothing quite like digging into the history of your chosen subject and coming up with a nugget.

By: Benjamin Duranske

Benjamin Duranske — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 16:52:29 +0000

Thanks Taran – I think I mentioned this, but I ordered Future of Reputation via your site after your post on it. Haven’t read it yet, but it’s at the very top of my (too large) book pile.

By: Taran Rampersad

Taran Rampersad — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 16:46:45 +0000

Extremely cool. I’ll put it in with my next Amazon order… (and yeah, I’ll buy it through your site. =D)

Good find. Very good find.