Attorney Stephen Wu and his avatar
By Denise Ouellet
Did you ever consider what types of legal issues arise when you’re exploring the endless bounds of online virtual worlds disguised in the veil of any avatar you want to be? Well recently, Stephen S. Wu, Esq. of Cooke Kobrick & Wu, in California, stopped by Suffolk to share his expertise in the area.
As president of the Second Life (SL) Bar Association, Wu has mastered surfing SecondLife, just one of the many online worlds where people create digital versions of themselves and interact with other digital bots called “avatars.” Wu took the audience on a tour of virtual Harvard Law School and showed us the virtual SL Bar Association building where his avatar has hosted meetings and presentations.
Wu says many trends such as increased connectivity, advancements in robotics and the increasing power of computers and networks will lead to more and more people participating in virtual worlds and may eventually blur the line between real people and their online counterparts. While he admits that some of the legal issues we’ll see in these online worlds are just beginning to emerge he points to the following areas of law to watch as they adapt to digital spaces:
- Property (implications of virtual property on estate planning, intestacy and jurisdiction)
- Torts (not only will people have new ways to harm one another but we may see people claiming relief for an injured avatar)
- Intellectual property (copyright and trademark infringements are commonplace in online worlds and remain unacknowledged by the real-world holder of the rights which may affect the future ability to enforce those rights)
- Governance (could virtual worlds gain sovereignty like countries and states?)
For more information visit www.3dinternetlaw.com.
4 comments
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February 22, 2009 at 5:31 pm
Kwame Oh
Having just finished a round of Real Life meetings with the aim of feeling out the ground for potential partners in joint venture, I was dismayed by the horror stories out there specific to what I could only describe as breach of contract although with the experimental nature of the media known as virtual worlds came to the conclusion the clients in most cases had more money than sense, or were desperate not to be left behind, with some of the hype which plagues the integration of the two worlds as is pointed out above.
So would like to comment apart from the obvious areas of law to watch as stated above, there will be a spate of what I term “breach of contract” or if not that over inflated returns be they quantifiable or not.
And would caution all to heed the words which go “Do not promise the Earth when we do not yet know its shape yet” and although the media VW desperately needs the input of real life business to chart the course forward to see if Earth is flat or round, this is the time the snake oil salesmen are ready and waiting to emerge from the depths.
This year with its if not foisted upon us , promised change will bring forward issues of transparency and trust and I welcome this debate as one of the pieces in this puzzle we solve
Julius Sowu
Virtual London
February 24, 2009 at 12:25 pm
Justin Silverman
a quick search on westlaw for federal cases involving “second life” or “virtual worlds” resulted in bragg v. linden research, inc., 487 f.2d 593 (2007).
summary: This case is about virtual property maintained on a virtual world on the Internet. Plaintiff, March Bragg, Esq., claims an ownership interest in such virtual property. Bragg contends that Defendants, the operators of the virtual world, unlawfully confiscated his virtual property and denied him access to their virtual world. Ultimately at issue in this case are the novel questions of what rights and obligations grow out of the relationship between the owner and creator of a virtual world and its resident-customers. While the property and the world where it is found are “virtual,” the dispute is real.
though the case appears to focus on contractual issues, it’s not difficult to imagine conflicts of communication arising: one avatar defames another — whose reputation is damaged, that of the avatar or the computer user? a second life company decides to unfairly use copyrighted material — how do you measure damages? it seems that many of these issues will hinge on a question of scope: how do you determine when potential tortious action transcends the boundaries of a virtual world and begins to inflict real world damages?
April 13, 2009 at 12:53 pm
jhsilverman
now add possible obscenity to the mix. here’s a column about linden labs going to lengths to keep adult content separate from underage avatars: http://technology.findlaw.com/articles/00006/011268.html
October 19, 2009 at 8:55 pm
Justin Silverman
another second life ip story, this one interviews wu:
http://www2.tbo.com/content/2009/oct/17/171604/bz-entrepreneurs-sue-to-protect-virtual-sales/