This happened this week, as reported by VERN.  I liked their quote, “Avatars United can be described as a sort of “Facebook for avatars”, complete with a third-party applications ecosystem.”  On the Avatars United Website you can see over two dozen worlds/games that are represented.  After the jump, I’ll get further into questions about the integration of these sites with real-life social networks.

For your information, just a snippet from Avatar United’s Terms of Service:   ”Subject to the terms of our Privacy Policy, by transmitting or posting any User Submission, you hereby grant us a nonexclusive, royalty-free, perpetual, transferable, irrevocable, worldwide and fully sub-licensable and transferable license to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, sell, assign, translate, distribute, prepare derivative works of, display in any form, media, or technology, whether known or hereafter developed, alone or as part of other works, perform the User Submissions in connection with the Avatars United Website and Avatars United’s (and its successor’s) business, including without limitation for promoting and redistributing part or all of the Avatars United Website (and derivative works thereof) in any media formats and through any media channels.”

In other parallel acquisition news, IMVU (avatar-based chat) announced acquisition plans with Zoosk.  The full story here at Virtual World News, which lists the process as ” IMVU users over 18 just click the “Dating” link under the Community tab in IMVU and create their dating profile. Then they’re off. ”  Simplifies things, heh? 

Just a quick question for the developers of these games…. what are you doing, exactly?  Is it just me (feel free to comment) but many of us are in online worlds to ESCAPE from the offline worlds.  We aren’t visiting the games dragging in our real-world friends; we’re visiting the games to find more interesting friends… and to be a more interesting friend ourself.  Many people I read seem to feel this is a slippery slope integrating the offline worlds more closely with the online worlds.   It’s like going to a party and “the boss” being there, or a friend you owe money to.  Is there no place going to be left (Even Second Life and IMVU) where you don’t think, “Why don’t I make this more real and find out this person’s real likeness; or even city and occupation?  Might your healer be in real life a petty thief, or your petty thief a doctor?  Do I want to know?  Is this just me?  Really?

For more serious considerations, think about this:  Do these use the same terms of service?  Do you have to “approve” the Terms of Service when you click-through to the other service the first time?  Every time?  If not, why not?  Does it give notice just because you KNOW that they are associated in some fashion?  What if you do not know?  I think they will, especially as they go through the beta phase, reach some sort of “entry page” that forces you to acknowledge that you’re using the other site subject to their terms of conditions.

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.

Avatar, Identity, and Signature as moral guide; New Book by an author explains Theological Implications of our Avatars

Judging real people by their avatars; should we be ashamed, or is it just natural? (Another compelling article by the always thoughtful Pixels and Policy Website).

Avatars and online identity A piece by a VC (venture capitalist?) discussing the process of deciding upon an avatar. It talks more about perception than actual identity, but makes a lot of very good points.

Avatars and anonymity Article from IDtrail website that lists the anonymity that avatars give you as a good thing. Describes whether anonymity is a good end goal of itself – I’ve often been accused of being a paranoid person about anonymity – but this writing shows I’m not the only one. And most notably it does intertwine the idea of identity and avatar as one and the same.

Issues of Identity in Online Worlds Phenomenally powerful piece about identity in the online world. This is the link to the HTML version of the powerpoint. You should reference this and go back to it often if you’ve an interest in the topic. Author is listed as Ulrike Schultze, from Mardi Gras Conference 2009 at Lousiana State University.

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And now below the fold, for the hardcore that have made it this far, some reference material, “egghead” material if you will, for those wanting to guess what the courts will decide upon that first “huge” identity/avatar case.

Avatars and Personification A great database of anecdotal and also authoritative information on avatar the idea. A great read and an incredible starting point if you want to get into the meat of the psychology of this subject.

Identity as a multi-layered self in Web 2.0 environmentsA deep discussion of the meaning of an avatar in the whole Web 2.0 context. I don’t understand it totally, but author seems like the kind of person that would make a great expert witness in the first big “Avatar theft” lawsuit that comes down the pike

And lastly, a couple of older (but still magnificent) entries on SSRN – very deep, and willing to make guesses about future legal decisions.

Playing in the Virtual Arena: Avatars, Publicity and Identity Reconceptualized through Virtual Worlds and Computer Games, Jon M. Garon, available here.

Trademark Law and the Social Construction of Trust: Creating the Legal Framework for Online Identity, Beth Simone Noveck, available here.

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.

A-Avatar (lawsuits in Madden, Guitar Hero, and Second Life for actions of avatars)

B – Banned in Games (lawsuits by Estavillo vs Sony, SD Cal Estavillo v. Sony Computer Entm’t Am. Inc., 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 86821; along with others)

C-China – China shuts down World of Warcraft… twice. (Good story on Gamasutra)

D - Developer’s Corner ( a regular feature on this blog spotlighting a developer’s role in promoting fun and reducing lawsuits)

E-Everquest (the first, the groundbreaker)

F-Facebook (lawsuits over privacy and “scamming” games cause major changes in the principles on the Facebook platform)

G-Gamer’s Rights (Here, and on my own site)

H Harassment (Sexual) Article in the Guardian.

I- In-game bank (In Eve Online, a real in-world bank is embezzled)

J – Joystiq legal - still the best read every week; blazes the trail

K-Kurt Cobain …. his use in video game causes controversy and widespread comment about use of dead celebrities in video games

L-Lineage (the largest MMO in China)

M – Madden Football (sued by retired players for using their likenesses)

N-No Doubt …. sues Activision, is sued by Activision (lawsuit here)

O – online petition (for online game, Modern Warfare 2); gamers try to launch intiative for dedicated servers outside Activision control (FAILED)

P – Playstation Network (sued for updates which crippled add-on firmware)

Q – Questing – In WOW, Shacknews has an article about 9 problems of questing [[Author's Note - seriously, unless Qbert was sued in the last six months, just scraps here]].

R - Runescape; Jagex is the parent of Runescape

S – Second Life… a slow year for litigation, but these important lawsuits worth note (Bragg v Linden Labs, No. 06-08711, for land taken by LL, citation here)

T – Turbine sues Atari ; also Turbine mentioned here

U – User Interface; usability From the always worthwhile Gamasutra, a daily read.

V-Voice Actors (voting to decline union’s recommendation for new agreement)

W-World of Warcraft (sues to close Wow Glider add-on as an illegal “bot”; Virtually Blind still your best source)

X – Xbox; 1 million Xbox users banned

Y – Youth market; youth endangered

Z- Zynga (sues former developer for trade secrets)

My apologies to “bots”, “Lords of the Rings Online”, “virtual goods”, and others for the 26-sided tyrrany and limitations of the alphabet. Additions and corrections welcome; but if you think this type of a list is easy (complete with relevant links) try just doing a list with household goods.

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.

This is not a long, dry exposition on the intricacies of estate law. Heck, there’s not enough case law out there to do a seminar or a paper about this subject. Here’s just a couple of talking points to get your mind thinking about your own personal online experience and how you want to protect your interests, pass on your interests, or wind up your online life in case of the worst.

A good article at Massively about the possibility of an MMO Will and Testament.

CNN has a very good thought piece about the different options available to protect your online legacy. My favorite quote, “Assuming the site is handled with respect, virtual memorials respond to a basic human need to remember our deceased family, friends and colleagues,” said Robert M. Fells, general counsel for the International Cemetery, Cremation and Funeral Association.”Based on our members’ feedback, I’d have to say that virtual memorial sites are gaining popularity with the public as a very practical alternative to being present at the grave site,” he added. “There’s nothing ‘weird’ about them as far as we have seen.”

World of Warcraft had a very interesting discussion in one of the forums about accounts after the death of the account-holder.

Digital Immortality and Death 2.0; Article on PSFK. Amazing quote, “To further complicate matters, while the space continues to evolve at an accelerated rate, the legal system struggles to keep pace, leading to a current situation where notions of who exactly owns these digital assets – individuals or sites – remains unclear. Though you may have spent the last 20 years building your character’s dominance in the dungeons and on the battlefields of World of Warcraft, if you never pass along your login information to anyone who can carry on your legacy, what then?”

An amazing article about the symmetries between a life in Second Life and the real-life story of a player. Like all good writing, the article makes you feel like a voyeur for reading, but somehow freed up with the insight of the article. A haunting quote is “Not only were people commodifying themselves, but their commodification had a long tail. Their inner personal lives would remain product for the platform owners long after they had passed on.” You can read the Second Life Terms of Support here discussing serious issues.

Other games are taking it a step farther. Mindark is working on virtual wills for its game Entropia.

Here are a last couple of links about Virtual legacy, one is a project to preserve the legacy, and another finally a Goodbye to this article.

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.