This week, in The Virtual Whirl, we're taking a look at the vigilante side of intellectual property rights.

For many, it seems like a good idea to mass-report or name-and-shame intellectual property rights violators whenever and wherever you see them ... but is it really?

Continue reading The Virtual Whirl: Of villains and crusaders

The Virtual Whirl: Of villains and crusaders originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 13 Feb 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Eros LLC, and graphic designer Shannon Grei (Munchflower Zaius) have filed a class-action lawsuit against Linden Research Inc, more commonly known as Linden Lab, developers and operators of popular virtual environment Second Life, on behalf of themselves and of copyright/trademark holders and Second Life content creators.

Filed in the Court of the Northern District of California yesterday, the complaint defines four groups of class action and alleges: four counts of trademark infringement (two direct, one contributory, and one vicarious), four counts of copyright infringement (two direct, one contributory, and one vicarious), a breach of California Business Professional Codes §§ 17200 and 17500, one of Intentional Interference with Economic Relations, and one of Negligent Interference with Economic Relations.

Continue reading Eros LLC, Shannon Grei form class action against Linden Lab for infringement

Eros LLC, Shannon Grei form class action against Linden Lab for infringement originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 16 Sep 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Ever since the original panic over Copybot (a Second Life bot that was trivially equipped to duplicate geometry or avatars) there's been a recurring series of rumors about Copybot 2.0, starting from about a week or two after the original fuss.

Every month we get Instant Messages or emails about Copybot 2.0. We also get the occasional message that Elvis Presley has a Second Life avatar, and that someone is spreading a virus around in a Second Life object or texture that will delete our files, kill our housepets and burn our homes down.

Continue reading Copybot: the self replicating meme

Copybot: the self replicating meme originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 20 Mar 2008 06:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.