Technology Litigation Attorney Frank Taney Quoted in the UCLA Journal of Law and Technology
Users of the virtual world participate in individual and group activities using illustrations of themselves known as "avatars." Residents can create, buy and sell virtual products and services.
According to the article, "[I]n these online gaming environments, where computer code and lax community standards are the only limits to an avatar's liberties, players are invariably subject to the deviant acts of other players … the victims cannot turn to any virtual justice department or real world jurisdiction to seek direct relief from the perpetrator. Rather, victimized players are left in a disgruntled and uneasy state of game play."
Such was the case in Eros LLC v. Simon, in which "six plaintiffs who are content creators for Eros LLC claimed that Thomas Simon stole computer code to replicate their adult-themed products that they created and sell in Second Life. As a result of the knock-offs, Eros LLC purported that it had lost significant sales."
Taney, who represented the plaintiffs, warned that such a case simply highlights the demand for real world law applicability to the virtual world platform.
"Some people think it's a joke and real-life laws don't apply to Second Life. There will come a point there will no longer be any dispute."
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