Virtual Legality?fyrhotburnkittyJanuary 4 2006, 19:38:15 UTC
"Ambulance chaser" isn't necessarily a synonym for "lawyer", only personal injury lawyers who unethically seek out injured people to be their lawyer. Most of the situations described (constitutional freedoms, theft, criminal activity, economics, copyright infringement) don't fit in to that category
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Something to consider.
anonymous
January 5 2006, 00:11:05 UTC
To start off with, you have to consider how far the law stretches into the games. For example, in MMOGs, theres murder and poaching abound. Law enforcement needs permission from the private entity to access the virtual world. Same holds true for lawyers and the courts.
That said, keep in mind that if it stays in the virtual world, it is up to the rule enforcement body of that world. (the GM). As such, Second life's setup permits standard law enforcement into it as if it were real life. WoW has rules setup to seperate the two, and it's up to the GM's to enforce.
- What happens when one player steals another player's property? In the virtual world, it is up to the GM's to enforce the EULA
- What happens when players create content that infringes upon the copyrights or trademarks of real-world companies? Been done, At least marvel was better about it than the RIAA
- What happens when players engage in 'legally indecent' acts? Can EA (developer of Sims Online) be sued for letting a ten-year old operate a virtual brothel? Can it be
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Re: Something to consider.
anonymous
January 5 2006, 06:21:56 UTC
reading this what your saying (and a agree with) is even though your paying and your there. it's house rules the house being the company's operating it (and I'm guessing the GM's by extension).
Re: Something to consider.shadostahkerJanuary 6 2006, 00:35:47 UTC
"- Do players have rights of free speech and expression? Ahh, the old "I pay so I can say what I want" routine. The WoW community site has this pop up about every season for a few weeks. The final judgement on this is that you are using someone elses property, so you are subject to their rules. The Virtual world in games is NOT a democracy."
Exactly. It's like "You can say whatever you want, but I don't have to allow you to remain in my house while you say it." Blizzard owns the WoW servers and thus gets to decide what is acceptable on them. Just like schools and restaurants can have dress codes, they get codes of conduct.
Allow me to answer this piece by piece...radblackroseJanuary 6 2006, 06:52:22 UTC
using precedent in the genre:
- What happens when one player steals another player's property?
I don't know about the US and Europe, but in Korea you get a knife to the stomach for that stuff. I'm not kidding, such an incident did occur.
Usually this is handled by GMs as a scam/theft issue.
- What happens when players create content that infringes upon the copyrights or trademarks of real-world companies?
Marvel vs. NCSoft, over customers being able to create knockoffs of already existing superheroes. That lawsuit was settled.
- What happens when players engage in 'legally indecent' acts? Can EA (developer of Sims Online) be sued for letting a ten-year old operate a virtual brothel? Can it be sued by players who suffer real financial damages at the hands of a virtual mafia?Such an endeavor would have to be conducted with secrecy that would have to be communicated by other means than channels in the current game, otherwise customer service could be all over that like a wet blanket
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Comments 42
that was one of the selling points to me. :)
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That said, keep in mind that if it stays in the virtual world, it is up to the rule enforcement body of that world. (the GM). As such, Second life's setup permits standard law enforcement into it as if it were real life. WoW has rules setup to seperate the two, and it's up to the GM's to enforce.
- What happens when one player steals another player's property?
In the virtual world, it is up to the GM's to enforce the EULA
- What happens when players create content that infringes upon the copyrights or trademarks of real-world companies?
Been done, At least marvel was better about it than the RIAA
- What happens when players engage in 'legally indecent' acts? Can EA (developer of Sims Online) be sued for letting a ten-year old operate a virtual brothel? Can it be ( ... )
Reply
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Ahh, the old "I pay so I can say what I want" routine. The WoW community site has this pop up about every season for a few weeks. The final judgement on this is that you are using someone elses property, so you are subject to their rules. The Virtual world in games is NOT a democracy."
Exactly. It's like "You can say whatever you want, but I don't have to allow you to remain in my house while you say it." Blizzard owns the WoW servers and thus gets to decide what is acceptable on them. Just like schools and restaurants can have dress codes, they get codes of conduct.
Reply
- What happens when one player steals another player's property?
I don't know about the US and Europe, but in Korea you get a knife to the stomach for that stuff. I'm not kidding, such an incident did occur.
Usually this is handled by GMs as a scam/theft issue.
- What happens when players create content that infringes upon the copyrights or trademarks of real-world companies?
Marvel vs. NCSoft, over customers being able to create knockoffs of already existing superheroes. That lawsuit was settled.
- What happens when players engage in 'legally indecent' acts? Can EA (developer of Sims Online) be sued for letting a ten-year old operate a virtual brothel? Can it be sued by players who suffer real financial damages at the hands of a virtual mafia?Such an endeavor would have to be conducted with secrecy that would have to be communicated by other means than channels in the current game, otherwise customer service could be all over that like a wet blanket ( ... )
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http://www.playnoevil.com/serendipity/index.php?/archives/247-MMO-Mafia-Gold-Farming-The-Beginning-of-Virtual-Organized-Crime.html
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