Trademark Infringement on Second Life: Right or Wrong
June 9, 2007 | Filed under News, Second Life
Following on from the is second life a game post the other day, I had a totally different outlook to second life after reading some of the comments left by users of the virtual world (and no it does not seem to be a game).
I have since seen that people trade everyday and earn money from second life as well as doing many things they cannot in this life, but I was left with the question “Do laws still count in second life?”
I ask this as a report from Reuters explains that at least 1 percent of Second Life transactions are counterfeit goods (that’s around 1.4 million transactions per year).
So if people are earning money with counterfeit goods in second life (1% according to Reuters), does this break laws in this life?
It’s an interesting question; feel free to sound your comments.
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In a recent landmark legal case against Linden Labs, a Pennsylvania Federal Court Judge ruled that the Linden Lab’s Terms of Service for Second life is “Unconscionable and unenforceable…”
The case involves a Pennsylvania man who was removed from SL. He sued Linden Lab for the loss of his in-world property, which he said was worth close to $10,000 USD.
Linden Labs tried to have the case dismissed, but the Judge refused and ruled against them.
This means that you (or anyone) has a legal right to the property you own in Second Life. And it emplies that real world legal authority extends into virtual worlds.
So yes… most likely, if someone sells you “counterfeit” Gucci sunglasses in SL they are commiting a crime that might be punishable by law. However, how real world laws are applied in world will be much debated, as SL citizens come from all over the world, where laws are not all the same.