If you've been keeping up, you already know of the court battle between Blizzard and MDY over the Glider automation software used with World of Warcraft. Another amicus brief has been filed in the case, and this one is a real attention-getter.

An amicus brief (often formally named amicus curiae -- friend of the court) is usually (but not always) where a concerned party submits additional information to the court, often to inform it of a wider impact or implication of certain outcomes beyond the fundamental interests of the direct parties to the case, or to provide other information which the court may be lacking. This isn't uncommon in particularly controversial, far-reaching or complex legal cases. That can go a little further, however, to what is called Intervention, where a third-party seeks to become a party to the case already in progress.

The filer of the Intervention is Jonathan Lee Riches, who is incontestably our favorite US Federal Prison inmate. Riches has previously sued "Adolf Hitler's National Socialist Party", "13 tribes of Israel", Plato, Nostradamus, Che Guevarra, Jimmy Hoffa, the Lincoln Memorial, the Eiffel Tower, the Garden of Eden, the Roman Empire, the Appalachian Trail, Three Mile Island (the island, not just the power-plant), Rockstar Games, George W Bush, Steve Jobs, Perez Hilton, Britney Spears, and hundreds more.

Now he's suing Blizzard because of World of Warcraft, and ... well, let's take a look at why ...

Continue reading Famed felon seeks to join MDY vs Blizzard

Famed felon seeks to join MDY vs Blizzard originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 06 Nov 2008 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Well, not 'banning', per se -- the term isn't exactly a meaningful one in a Second Life context -- Linden Lab is asking for the court to approve its termination of Minsky's account as a part of a general package of relief.

As you may recall, Linden Lab and Minsky have been duking it out over trademarks: Minsky with his registered SLART trademark, and Linden Lab with its unregistered SL trademark. Now, Linden Lab doesn't normally bother with getting court-approval for terminating an account, yet they have asked for it in this instance.

Likely they're worried that if they followed their normal procedure, certain parts of the Second Life Terms of Service would fall back under court scrutiny again -- and it did not fare at all well the last time that happened.

Continue reading Minsky vs Linden Lab: Linden Lab responds, asks court to okay banning

Minsky vs Linden Lab: Linden Lab responds, asks court to okay banning originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 20 Oct 2008 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Virtually Blind's Benjamin Duranske was, just as we were, taken somewhat aback by a recent article that reported that Professor George Stein, the Director of the Cyberspace and Information Operations Study Center at the Air Force's Air War College ("The Intellectual and Leadership Center of the Air Force") told people attending a seminar on security issues and emerging technology that it was okay to spy on avatars because "the Supreme Court has ruled that avatars are not real people" and that avatars are, thus, "not governed by laws." -- thus concluding that there are no significant legal barriers to spying and surveillance on them.

Ouch, huh? We here at Massively have to call bullshit on that. No actual case-law was cited by name, so there's no evidence at this stage that such a ruling exists. Duranske is digging deep to find out if there might be such a ruling and is looking for help in running down any possible references. Up for grabs for one contributor is a signed copy of his book, Virtual Law. Neither we nor Duranske think anything will turn up to substantiate the claim, but who knows? Maybe there is some obscure US Supreme Court ruling out there that we've all missed.

Continue reading Spying on avatars okay? Duranske seeks case-law

Spying on avatars okay? Duranske seeks case-law originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 17 Oct 2008 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Chinese gamer sued for using WoW add-on originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 11 Oct 2008 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The dispute between Richard Minsky (registered owner of the SLART trademark), and Linden Lab (applicant for the SL trademark) has been heating up. Minsky previously filed a civil suit in a federal court, naming Linden Lab, Philip Rosedale, Mitch Kapor and one or more other Second Life users (as John Does) for (variously) trademark infringement, trademark dilution, tortious interference, and fraud.

Until such time as the judge decides whether a preliminary injunction should be granted, a temporary restraining order has been put in place -- most of the restraint being applied to Linden Lab. Meanwhile, Linden Lab has filed a petition of cancellation seeking to have the US Patent and Trademarks Office (USPTO) cancel Minsky's ownership of the SLART trademark.

	Are you a part of the most widely-known collaborative virtual environment or keeping a close eye on it? Massively's Second Life coverage keeps you in the loop.

Continue reading Minsky vs Linden Lab: Restraining orders and petitions

Minsky vs Linden Lab: Restraining orders and petitions originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 23 Sep 2008 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

You may remember Richard Minsky, founder of The Center for Book Arts in New York City and owner of SLART Magazine. We previously wrote about his assertion of his rights and obligations with respect to his SLART trademark, which covers (among other things) Minsky's SLART magazine. The SL portion obviously represents Second Life, and the ART well... that's art.

Minsky originally filed his SLART trademark on 22 March, 2007. It was published for opposition on 18 September, 2007, and finally granted formal registration by the US Patent and Trademarks office on 18 March, 2008 (registration number 3399258). SLART, therefore, is owned by Minsky insofar as the US Government is concerned at the present time, whether that grant was conferred rightly or wrongly, unless it is somehow overturned or abandoned.

Now he has filed a civil suit in a federal court, naming Linden Lab, Philip Rosedale, Mitch Kapor and one or more other Second Life users (as John Does) for (variously) trademark infringement, trademark dilution, tortious interference (that is interference that causes injury), and fraud.

	Are you a part of the most widely-known collaborative virtual environment or keeping a close eye on it? Massively's Second Life coverage keeps you in the loop.

Continue reading Minsky vs Linden Lab: Minsky's mark

Minsky vs Linden Lab: Minsky's mark originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 03 Sep 2008 02:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Blizzard victorious in WoW Glider case originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 15 Jul 2008 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Antonio Hernandez filed a lawsuit in 2007 against IGE, the MMOG-currency for real dollars illicit emporium. Hernandez claims IGE diminishes the overall playing experience for legitimate players and filed on the grounds that stem from farming gold, spamming chat, and camping spawns it allegedly prevented players from receiving full benefits Blizzard intended via World of Warcraft's End User License Agreement.

Hernandez v. IGE: Brock Pierce declaration and Hernandez compel developments originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 07 Jul 2008 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MDY and Blizzard continue to cross blades originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 26 May 2008 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Jail time given to Chinese pirate server operators

Jail time given to Chinese pirate server operators originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 25 May 2008 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

District Court Judge Manuel Real has ordered IGE's Debonneville and Pierce to a status conference at 10AM US Pacific time tomorrow morning (Friday, 25 April). As you may recall, Debonneville and Pierce were settling and had until 14 April to finalize that.

Well, apparently it hasn't been settled and Judge Real wants to know what the heck is up with that, as nothing has been filed by the due-date, though both parties said that they had agreed on all the essentials.

Continue reading IGE founders settlement in doubt, Judge asks WTF

IGE founders settlement in doubt, Judge asks WTF originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 24 Apr 2008 23:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Texan teen, Robert Leatherwood, has settled the Second Life copyright violation lawsuit with Eros LLC, finally having admitted to also being Volkov Cattaneo - which he had previously repeatedly denied as Cattaneo, while simultaneously mocking the case against him and admitting wrongdoing and copyright violation.

As Leatherwood failed to lift a finger in his defense -- not even responding to papers served -- the court handed down a default against Leatherwood, essentially making him the loser, regardless.

Continue reading Robert Leatherwood is a loser, settles with Eros LLC

Robert Leatherwood is a loser, settles with Eros LLC originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 15 Mar 2008 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Blizzard defeats Peons4Hire gold farmers in court

Blizzard defeats Peons4Hire gold farmers in court originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 02 Feb 2008 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Well, it seems like everyone else has had a chance to say bad things about RMT company IGE. Well, now co-founder Alan Debonneville has plenty of bad things to say himself, in his lawsuit for "among other things, numerous breaches of fiduciary duty, breaches of contract, and fraud" against IGE founder Brock Pierce.

"Pierce has broken every fiduciary duty known to jurisprudence and stolen millions of dollars of shares of IGE US, LLC" the complaint asserts - and then it gets mean.

Continue reading IGE founders in legal battle

IGE founders in legal battle originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 30 Jan 2008 23:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

If you've been following Hernandez vs IGE, you'll probably be a bit surprised to find that the Plaintiff (Hernandez) has dropped Hong Kong Internet Gaming Entertainment Limited (IGE) from the Defendants. USA IGE US LLC (the other IGE) remains on the docket.

The Plaintiff alleges that IGE is gold-farming, spawn-camping, devaluing gold, spamming chat, and generally screwing up the experience for everyone else.

Continue reading Hernandez drops HK IGE - Florida Economic Crimes Office investigates

Hernandez drops HK IGE - Florida Economic Crimes Office investigates originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 04 Jan 2008 00:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

There has been a new development with the uncertified class action Herndandez vs IGE. The Plaintiff alleges that IGE is gold-farming, spawn-camping, devaluing gold, spamming chat, and generally screwing up the experience for everyone else. Defendant IGE filed a motion to stay/dismiss in favor of arbitration on 26 October.

IGE has now changed it's stance and withdrawn that motion, and gives the impression that it will answer the complaint in court. That could only be an impression, however.

Continue reading Herndandez vs IGE - IGE withdraws motion to stay/dismiss

Herndandez vs IGE - IGE withdraws motion to stay/dismiss originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 11 Dec 2007 23:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

No, I'm not making this up. In October Giant Interactive Group Inc took action against gold farmers in their MMO, Zheng Tu Online (reportedly the most popular online game in China in 2006, with 1.3 million active subscribers). Giant changed the game-mechanics to prejudice against gold farmers, just one month before their IPO in November.

Well, after kicking out all those gold farmers who were paying subscribers, concurrency figures fell, as did total registrations - and the investors are apparently cross with Giant for both not disclosing their action against the gold farmers, and using the registration figures for September (before the rules-change was made) in their IPO registration statement, instead of the October figures.

Continue reading Investors sue game operator for stopping gold-farming

Investors sue game operator for stopping gold-farming originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 06 Dec 2007 02:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Rase Kenzo (aka Thomas Simon) has pulled a 180, and accepted a settlement offered by Frank Taney, the lawyer representing six well-known Second Life content creators.

One of the conditions of the settlement is that everyone keeps quiet about the whole thing - however the terms of the settlement that have been presented to the court for approval are available.

Continue reading Simon says: yes to settlement, this time

Simon says: yes to settlement, this time originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 04 Dec 2007 01:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Eros LLC has won its case against Texan teenager, Robert Leatherwood (who may or may not be avatar Volkov Cattaneo - it actually no longer matters now if he is or isn't).

Two weeks ago we reported that Leatherwood had failed to respond to the papers served to him in October, and that lawyer Frank Taney (representing plaintiff Eros LLC) was petitioning the court for default judgement.

Continue reading Default entered against Leatherwood

Default entered against Leatherwood originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 29 Nov 2007 04:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Benjamin Duranske at Virtually Blind kicks off coverage of another virtual worlds lawsuit. In this case, it's a third-party beneficiary contract class action claim (Whew. Try saying that three times fast) against IGE and their alleged actions in World of Warcraft.

The plaintiffs allege, basically, that IGE is gold-farming, spawn-camping, devaluing gold, spamming chat, and generally screwing up the experience for everyone else.

Continue reading Class action versus IGE

Class action versus IGE originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 10 Nov 2007 06:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.