Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

The Law And Virtual Worlds

Posted by Zonk on from the 60-lawyer-lfg-pst dept.

Via GamePolitics, commentary on the Game Tycoon and Terra Nova sites about how virtual world events and the law can interact. Property rights seem to be the largest sticking point of late, with a recent event in 2L being the focus of the discussion. From the Terra Nova article: "In introducing Point to Point (P2P) movement in Second Life, Linden Lab fundamentally altered the economic structure of the virtual space. In response to protests Linden has offered to buy back land as a form of 'compensation'. Taken together with the recent FBI reports is this the dawn of a liability culture within Second Life heralding a new form of virtual space?"

3 of 30 comments (clear)

  1. Linden Labs can be sued.. by BrookHarty · · Score: 2, Insightful

    It doesnt matter what their Terms of Service says, they promoted a world for profit and thus entered contract laws. Terms of Service cant take away your legal rights.

    Look how SONY's TOS listed spyware, doesnt legalize spyware to be installed.

  2. Re:cool that they're doing that... by Sparr0 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Now a player who wants to play some Settlers of Catan and then do some bowling can do both without wasting 30 minutes getting from one game to another. SL is less a world and more a lobby for a thousand other games.

    A house/store in UO plummeted in value every time the game world got larger and new areas were added that drew people away from the travel route that the store was located near, and possibly even became negative in worth if visiting the location became a burden on the player who owned it as he was doing more business in the new areas of the world.

    So what if some "virtual property" within the game became less valuable? Linden Labs never promised that high traffic areas would stay high traffic. Even if you consider this a direct analog to real property, the government is not liable to billboard owners (or owners of the land beneath them) when a highway is relocated such that the billboards become non-visible.

  3. Re:cool that they're doing that... by eggstasy · · Score: 3, Insightful

    This post is slightly misleading. May I ask what is your name in SL? Did you join in 2004 or later?
    Second Life has always had P2P teleportation. It was certainly there when Beta started in 2002, and even after telehubs arrived, you could still offer someone a teleport and they would bypass the hub system, instantly arriving at your location.
    I run a second life history wiki: http://history.secondserver.org/
    If you like it and decide to join SL, feel free to use my referral link, and I will gladly give you the referral money and help you get started.