![]() Rights to virtual property are no less important to many in the virtual world than in the real world. “While this may seem bizarre, people invest real time and money in the virtual world. “Virtual worlds such as Second Life will lead to more real-world lawsuits and controversy as we struggle with how real-world laws should apply to the virtual world,” Canton wrote. Canton, who specializes in technology issues and privacy at Harrison Pensa LLP, predicts in his year-end blog, expect to see more in the coming months. It was the first of several lawsuits that year involving Second Life, and, as London, Ont. Terms weren’t disclosed under a confidentiality agreement. He claimed the company improperly confiscated his virtual real estate holdings and other properties.Ī few months later, after a judge ruled that Linden Labs couldn’t hide behind its terms-of-service agreement, because it provided only one-sided remedies, the site reported the dispute settled, and the account under the online moniker of “Marc Woebegone” was restored. The starting gun was fired last May when attorney Marc Bragg from Pennsylvania sued for $8,000, after Linden Labs, which created and owns the Second Life site, shut down his account. The most prominent of the virtual sites is Second Life, and while it may be the playground of thousands of people who have too much time, too much money, and no real life, it’s also enough of a phenomenon for major brands like IBM, for example, to create a virtual presence where they make major announcements in parallel with the real world and showcase their technology and history.Īs such, about $1 million changes hands on the site every day, and that’s why over the past year it’s also attracted a flurry of lawsuits that have brought the issues of copyright, intellectual property, and property rights to the forefront. ![]() It’s part of a burgeoning area of law driven by the rise to prominence of websites like Second Life and Weblo, where participants exchange real dollars for two-dimensional items or artificial real estate, and where they are jealously guarding trademarks and copyrights. These aren’t trivia questions or a first-year law school essay challenge. Can you steal something that doesn’t physically exist? Is portrayal of a criminal act in the virtual world prosecutable in the real world?
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