Second Life sued (again) for land values??
Report on the lawsuit from “Courthouse News”
http://www.courthousenews.com/2010/04/20/26549.htm
CNN coverage of Second life class-action over land values
http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/05/10/virtual.property.second.life/?hpt=Sbin
Inc. Magazine coverage of the lawsuit
http://www.inc.com/news/articles/2010/05/second-life-virtual-land-dispute.html
LA Magazine short article
http://articles.latimes.com/2010/apr/30/business/la-fi-lazarus-20100430
Blogger’s article quite skeptical of the lawsuit
http://terranova.blogs.com/terra_nova/2010/04/bragging-again.html
Website ostensibly dedicated to the lawsuit
http://www.virtuallanddispute.com/ , with pdf (unverified) of filing http://www.virtuallanddispute.com/pleadings/evan_spencer_carter_v_linden_labs_virtual_land_property_rights_class_action_lawsuit.pdf
Related discussions along the same theme (for background or entertainment)
(OLD_SCHOOL DISCUSSION)Sherrifs Of Norrath (Yes, from 2003 – read comments from Koster and other well-knowns)
http://terranova.blogs.com/terra_nova/2003/10/sheriffs_of_nor.html#c234193
Virtual World Fedualism (A related view)
http://works.bepress.com/james_grimmelmann/21/
Why Do People Buy Virtual Goods
http://www.slideshare.net/vlehdonv/why-do-people-buy-virtual-goods-ten-attributes-that-influence-item-desirability
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Quick commentary. I don’t recall a lawsuit of this type being successful. Maybe my readers can update my knowledge. But one of the compelling arguments, the “real estate” argument, does remind one that in property law there is “real property” law and then all the other types of law. I’m not going to get into that (RE law being one of the reasons I’m a big-city and not a small-town lawyer), but I’m interested in seeing how this lawsuit rolls out. Read the complaint and I’ll be really looking forward to seeing if any of my readers think it is different than the previous ones, or if this one may be successful.
Jay Moffitt is a Tennessee attorney. This blog is for entertainment and educational purposes only and does not consitute legal advice or create an attorney/client relationship. Jay Moffitt is not certified as a specialist in this area by Tennessee and Tennessee does not certify specialists in this practice area. All comments will be answered promptly and courteously as long as they are germane to the discussion and do not contain specific game names or incidents.
Tags: class action, gamers rights, online games, real estate, Second Life
