Massively http://massively.joystiq.com Massively http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif Massively http://massively.joystiq.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/<![CDATA[Portions of Twinity virtual world taken offline]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/01/11/portions-of-twinity-virtual-world-taken-offline/http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/01/11/portions-of-twinity-virtual-world-taken-offline/http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/01/11/portions-of-twinity-virtual-world-taken-offline/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

Twinity - Avatars partying
Twinity users are experiencing a bit of lawyerly inconvenience according to virtual world blogger Tateru Nino. Portions of the Metaversum GmbH sim have been taken offline for unspecified reasons, and Nino speculates that "someone's team of undead zombie lawyers woke up and started asserting intellectual property rights and licensing restrictions."

The Twinity project makes use of both Google Maps and 3-D data to recreate cities like Singapore, London, Miami, and New York, but patrons will need to put their online party plans on hold for the time being.

Twinity's dev team posted a cryptic explanation, along with its intent to "try to reactivate the cities in the future."

MassivelyPortions of Twinity virtual world taken offline originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 11 Jan 2012 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>intellectual-propertyIntellectual-Property-Rightslawyerslegalmetaversummetaversum-gmbhmmo-industryTateru-Ninotwinityvirtual-worldsWed, 11 Jan 2012 11:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Academic talks MMO legalese and virtual property rights]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/12/01/academic-talks-mmo-legalese-and-virtual-property-rights/http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/12/01/academic-talks-mmo-legalese-and-virtual-property-rights/http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/12/01/academic-talks-mmo-legalese-and-virtual-property-rights/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

Treasure hoard
Virtual item ownership has been a hot topic in MMO circles for a number of years now. Every so often, an academic will publish a paper regarding the legal and societal implications of trading real currency for fake goods, and the latest such academic is Rutgers University law professor Greg Lastowka.

Lastowka examines a number of high-profile virtual goods disputes (including one that ended with the real-world stabbing death of a virtual thief who sold a rare sword after "borrowing" it from a friend).

The piece also provides some interesting food for thought in the form of nightmare legal scenarios run amok (nerf patch lawsuits and legal action for server shutdowns are just two examples). You can read the full article text at Gamasutra.

MassivelyAcademic talks MMO legalese and virtual property rights originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 01 Dec 2011 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>greg-lastowkalawsuitslawyerslegallegal-issuesMiscellaneousmmo-industryproperty-rightsrightsvirtual-itemsvirtual-propertyThu, 01 Dec 2011 11:30:00 EST<![CDATA[Lawyers representing gold farmers threaten Lum the Mad]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/02/15/lawyers-representing-gold-farmers-threaten-lum-the-mad/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/02/15/lawyers-representing-gold-farmers-threaten-lum-the-mad/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/02/15/lawyers-representing-gold-farmers-threaten-lum-the-mad/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , ,

Late last month Scott "Lum the Mad" Jennings put up a post on his well-known MMOG blog site about an ongoing legal battle. It involves former IGE (yeah, the gold farmers) CEO Brock Pierce and co-founder of the company Alan Debonneville. Lum's excellent post, which quotes heavily from the lawsuit documents unearthed by the site Virtually Blind, does little more than sum up the case in one location. Not only have we been following the case along with the VB site, but numerous others have as well.

And yet, in a post on the Broken Toys site today, Lum notes that somehow he's the one that has received legal threats from Brock Pierce's legal team. They've basically asked him to take down the post by the close of business today (February 15th). Mr. Jennings, being a practical person and with no interest in going toe-to-toe with lawyers, is planning to do just that. He does get off a nice shot back at them in his response, saying "I welcome your client's renewed dedication to legal documentation and remind him that there are several outstanding end user licensing agreements attached to games I have assisted in operating in the past, regarding the explicitly forbidden trade of virtual items and characters in said games that he and his company have performed and expedited, that would benefit from his and his company's attention."

Of course, their harshly worded note has prompted responses from other MMOGbloggers, such as these posts from Ryan Shwayder and Matt Mihaly. Perhaps Pierce's team should have considered the impact before they asked Lum to take down his post about the lawsuit. This one, over here on his site. His post concerning Brock Pierce and Alan Debonneville. This post right here.

MassivelyLawyers representing gold farmers threaten Lum the Mad originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 15 Feb 2008 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>alan-debonnevillebreakingbrock-piercefarmersgold-farminghernandez-vs-igeigelawyerslegal-threatslum-the-madrmtscott-jenningsstonewallingFri, 15 Feb 2008 10:30:00 EST