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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.

There are four essential parts to a fourm policy: 1. Instruction  2. Limitation  3.Legal protection  4.Input/Discourse   Of course, there’s more to it than this: full discussion after the jump…

The first part is instruction.  Even though a game maker has seen dozens of forums, for many users they have no idea what is OK or not OK to talk about.  The instructions should be fairly clear about the general range of  topics allowable in the forums, or if the forums are categorized, the instructions should direct the user  towards what category where a certain post should be posted.

The second part is limitation.  Most common limitations include language, racism, religious discussions, personal attacks, and other common-sense limitations on touchy subjects.  Also often excepted is discussion of the developer’s choice’s in the game making, known bugs and cheats, and unsolicited suggestions as to how to improve game-play.  This part depends upon the developer’s concept of what a forum is for.  Other limitations include commercial posts, spam, linking-out to other games/sites, or any subject that doesn’t help the game-player.

Legal protection:  This in some way reiterates the topics in the second section.  Limits on personal attacks on other forum users, racism, religious rants, off-color language, and off-topic posts are prohibited.  This gives a legally defensible position if there is litigation related to some one feeling they were libeled or illegally attacked on a forum topic.  For the legal protection to have the best effect, the developers’-publishers’ have to have a person(s) moderating the forums for these unacceptable posts.  If the legal protection language is done properly, then the administrators have the right to warn, and then eventually ban the person from the forum, and even from the game/MMO itself. 

Input/Discourse:  This is why most people come to a forum to participate.  If the first three elements are taken care of efficiently and seamlessly, the valued customer can discuss, suggest, and gently vent to their hearts content.  A little teasing, good-natured ribbing, or even over-familiarity are allowable if the administrators can guide the discussions in a firm yet direct way.  And the meaning of community is most at evidence here if you can use that forum to worry about building inertia and good-will for the game rather than constantly fighting the legal aspects, which can be invisible yet well-done if you use some foresight, planning, and a good lawyer (with the common sense of a gamer).  Most gaming lawyers will have a solid template that you can customize for your independent or small gaming site.

Finally, here are some links (for example’s sake only) given without commentary.

World of Warcraft Forum Rules http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/forum-coc.html?sid=1

 Eve Online Forum rules  http://wiki.eveonline.com/en/wiki/W/index.php 

Second Life Forum rules https://blogs.secondlife.com/community/features/blog/2009/02/25/second-life-discussion-guidelines

 Activision Forum Rules http://forums.activision.com/viewtopic.php?f=41&t=517

 EA Forum Rules   http://forum.ea.com/eaforum/posts/list/335106.page

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.

Yeah, it happens a lot. One has to decide between your clan and your marriage. This post is to alert you to some stories, anecdotes, and resources to help you save your true love (or your marriage, too)

The most amazing WOW addiction Website I’ve found (even though I’m sure there’s many). Claims over 45,000 stories of addiction, recovery, (re-addiction), backsliding…. just read it, trust me.

Article in The Times (UK Edition) about women complaining that WOW is ruining their marriage.

Social networks also add to this trend, according to “Pixels and Policy”. Some law firms claim that virtual flirting accounts for 20% of divorces. Predominantly they are discussing Facebook, but inline chat is prevalent in most every online game.

Don’t expect Second Life to escape un-accused, either. Here’s the article, from CNN, in which the divorcing wife makes the strange-sounding accusation, ” “I looked at the computer screen and could see his character having sex with a female character. It’s cheating as far as I’m concerned.”

A divorce article from Divorce 360.

OK, this one is just strange. A soldier (serving his country in Iraq) comes home to find a “Mii” on the Wii, that looks almost identical to the male-friend his wife was having rumors surrounding. Read the post. Just strange.

Finally, a common-sense article that states the obvious. Facebook doesn’t cause cheating. Cheating sleazebags do. In other words; don’t blame the messenger. If your significant O is spending more time away from you with you…. do your best to be more interesting than whatever is pulling him/her away. Of course, sad to say, maybe he/she isn’t worth it. Obviously, I’m not a divorce lawyer; video-game lawyer… so yeah, MAKE SURE the video games worth it before you blow it all… remember, marriage is a lifetime but the video game will only be supported for 3-5 years tops.

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 full story from PC Mag says report claims adult content still viewable by children, despite precautions. Notably, “It is far too easy for children and young teens to access explicit content in some of these virtual worlds,” FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz said in a statement. ”

One short thing to note in the virtual worlds’ defense, in the reports’ Footnote 26: “In visiting each online virtual world studied, the Commission’s researchers did not put themselves in 45. the place of an average virtual world user. Instead, the researchers were specifically instructed to search for as many different types of explicit content as possible in the time allotted, performing key word searches using explicit terms, looking for explicitly-themed discussion forums and chat rooms, and observing explicit avatar chat.” I only have an opinion as an attorney, not a researcher, but that kind of testing would seem much beyond the pale of unbiased researcher and would go towards “ghost hunting”(i.e. if you go looking for ghosts you’re going to find them).

From Ypulse, a Website focused on youth worlds, “The FTC report brings to light the challenges facing companies trying to cash in on the virtual world phenomenon.Unlike traditional pre-packaged products, online virtual worlds are driven partially (and sometimes primarily) by user-generated content.”

A family-friendly Website, Netfamily news says “This is a great start. As purely user-driven media, virtual worlds are a frontier for research on online behavior.”

A social games Website article notes “Given important First Amendment considerations, the Commission supports virtual world operators’ self-regulatory efforts to implement these recommendations.”

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Here is a representative sample of the many Websites attacking the content or methodology of the Study.

Ars Technicais critical of the FTC study. It says “That’s on top of the fact that the biggest threat to kids online is… other kids. According to a 2009 report by Harvard’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society, the percentage of children being sexually targeted by adults online is very low compared to kids targeting other kids

Massively (features on Massive Multiplayer Online games) reported the results were to be expected. They pointed out ” some elements of the study’s methodology are a bit questionable, especially as their list of explicit material included words common to anyone with a history of playing video games. (Or cable television.)”

PlayNoEvil, predomimnatly a developer and security Website, talks about the difficulty of the type of age verification proposed in the government report. ” One suggestion that is solid is to use an “Age Neutral” request for a new user’s age – e.g. “Enter your birthdate” rather than “Are you under 13″.The other is to tag a computer as being used by a minor if they try to login again with a different age.”

A difficulty that’s not discussed is online access through simple devices, Nintendo DSi, Iphones, and other platforms that aren’t really computers but allow net acess. I would predict that to be a “hot point” of the next government report following up on this report.

Last note: one recommendation by the report would seem to be unanimous to both sides of the argument. “The report recommends that parents and children become better educated about online virtual worlds, and affirms the FTC’s commitment to ensuring that parents have the informationthey need to make informed choices. A consumer alert, Virtual Worlds and Kids: Mapping the Risks, is available at www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/alerts/alt038.shtm.

As always; a couple of intellectual discussions which further the brief discussion above, for those wishing to inform themselves:

Protecting Children in Virtual Worlds, cited as Protecting Children in Virtual Worlds Without Undermining Their Economic, Educational and Social Benefits, Benjamin Duranske, Pillsbury Winthrop LLP, Robert J. Bloomfield, Cornell University – Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management, October 13, 2009
Washington and Lee Law Review, Vol. 66, 2009

Social Networking and Age Verification, cite as Thierer, Adam D., Social Networking and Age Verification: Many Hard Questions; No Easy Solutions (March 21, 2007). Progress & Freedom Foundation Progress on Point Paper No. 14.5. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=976936

A related but interestingly similar argument: a Supreme Court case related to delivery of another contraband, tobacco products, to a minor, and the expectation that online delivery measure up to the standards of actual in-person delivery of product.

I encourage comments upon this topic, pro or con, as I consider this one of the most important issues facing online games.

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.

Let’s break down the component parts first of all. No discussion of legal terms is complete without a glossary, so I’m going to give you the abridged version. There will also be a referral for outside reading to understand the history of community in video games.

Universal banning – A pipe dream. Not yet technologically possible from an economic standpoint. For example, that would be Sony (or Activision) or Microsoft feels you have created a grievance so heinous, or repeated on so many occasions, that your personal ID (not just your gamertag, or your machine-tag, or your IP address, but you PERSONALLY, are banned from their games online at any computer, any console, or any IP address.) Developers can only dream of this type of power.

Banned by gamertag – this is the way of most online games. Depending upon whether player is paying for the gaming, or whether it is free-to-subscribe (and paid via optional add-ons) the banning varies in effectiveness. Tracks you by username and billing/registration information. Obviously if free-to-subscribe it is simple (if you are dishonest) to give an email address and a fake name.

Banned by game console or IP address – This is the most used these days. Especially with Xbox360 and PS3 accounts now updating regularly so as to tie these to the internet, the difficulty of “just playing” and not connecting is very complicated. And so the banning effectively “bricks” the Xbox360 or the PS3 to any additional updates through the company servers.

Starting from most recent to a little earlier: here goes…

Bragg vs. Linden
A great article on Law.com about the banning of Bragg. It is insidiously complicated or notoriously simple, depending upon how you look at it. Here is your legal citation and synopsis, “After a dispute over a land auction, Linden seized Bragg’s virtual land as well as an account with $2,000. Bragg v. Linden Research Inc., No. 06-08711 (Chester Co., Pa., Ct. C.P.). ”

Dailytech tells the story of the estimated one million X-box live customers banned from using the service for having modded consoles. The quote from Microsoft is “When a Gamertag comes up as violating our policies for online behavior, the person who owns that Gamertag is punished by being banned from the service. Keep in mind, this isn’t just a ban on a particular game. This is a ban on the Xbox Live service as a whole, so you won’t be able to go online at all during your ban”

Activision’s proactive legal strategy to give cease-and-desist orders to Websites running programs/addons that Activision feels violates the terms of use. (The Cease and Desist letter posted at Play No Evil video-game security blog).

Blizzard bans WOW glider from ingame use, and is victorious in the lawsuit. This is another version where the users are permanently banned.

Amicus brief filed by Public Knowledge in the case. Incredible background if you’re asking “what’s modding?”.
Ongoing coverage of the case given by Virtually Blind from 2008. Still the superior coverage of the older cases.

Kotaku has a story about Blizzard banning 350,000 users in Battle.net. The justification and method listed is “The Diablo II CD keys associated with the closed Diablo II accounts are now restricted from playing on Battle.net for approximately 30 days. Repeat offenders will have their accounts closed and their CD keys permanently banned from Battle.net. As a reminder, we reserve the right to close the accounts and ban the CD keys of players who are caught cheating on Battle.net. ”

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Here are a couple of places to find some background on the philosophy of games, choices, and banning.

Interview with Raph Koster :A point he brings up during the discussion is that the biggest and most successful games on the market are the ones that present very little choices for the gamer, and pegs them into roles that need to be fulfilled or they fail (World of Warcraft is the example).

So to this lawyer, it makes sense that the games with the fewer choices would be the most vigilant about enforcement to restrict those choices (i.e. mods, add-ons, etc.).

2. Commentary on a video-games Website; “is there a banning quota?”

3. Again, a good sampling of the response from developers as far as banning games.

4. Posts tagged banning at Massively.com (A great resource for MMO news)

5. Why Governments aren’t Gods and God’s aren’t Governments. Great article, especially concerning the whole philosophical reasoning of why an operation must be able to govern in games.

6. And lastly, of course, one for the eggheads. Basically, an article that gave me a headache, so it MUST BE GOOD.

If you’re looking for a broad statement of philosophy from me about this subject, you can move on. It is like all games, the choices on banning reflect the choices of the developers. Whether that is an actionable offense by the developers to kick out a player forever from their world, that legal decision is in my opinion at least 5 or 10 years away at least.

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.

From the Website Ablegamers (for challenged gamers of all types)

This comment on Gamertell thinks it may be a bit frivolous…

Just a personal note: a gaming environment is an ideal environment for people with challenges of all types to lift themselves up and gain valuable experience in life and also in work environments.

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Here are some representative articles covering the same subject.

Please read this article in the Jerusalem Post about the “White Cane” for a blind person. The most remarkable quote about the software is “Users can can feel tension beneath their fingertips through the joystick as they navigate around a virtual environment. The joystick stiffens when the user meets a virtual wall or barrier.”

Audio game maker is The Audio Game Maker is “part of Game Accessibility.com, a series of activities conducted by the Accessibility foundation in order to improve the accessibility of computer games for players with impairments.”

Gaming with a Physical Disability (Blindness)

From Metaverse Journal, an article about amputees and gaming.

A very good Journal article (beware, large pdf) which talks about health issues in Second Life and other virtual worlds. The top 5 groups that were found were

(1) Support for Healing 899 members (Mental health and other issues)
(2) Transgender Resource Center 845 members (Gender identity issues.)
(3) Positive Mental Health 763 members
(4) Wheelies 565 members. (Disabilities themed nightclub.)
(5) Depression Support Group 427 members issues.

And some Second Life links to groups for individuals challenged in different ways.

Second Life for the Visually Impaired
Alternate viewers (that may assist the visually impaired, as well as others).. be sure to check the Second Life blog to make certain the viewer is allowable under their Terms of Service.
Second Life accessibility hasn’t been updated in a while but the links page is great.

I’d invite any SL’ers reading this column to contribute their group relevant to this discussion in the comments.

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.

Here is the response from the Facebook developer’s blog. The main notable quote for me is that “In addition to steps we’ve taken to build teams and technologies devoted to this issue and continual outreach to work with members of the ecosystem on ways to improve their practices, it is the responsibility of both developers and ad networks to make sure the content running in third-party applications is appropriate.” Also surprising to some people might be that ” more than 70% of our(Facebook) 300 million active users engage with applications each month.” There’s a lot more in the article and if you use Facebook and use applications in Facebook you should read the article.

The whispering that started and turned into a roar is from an article by Techcrunch. Besides the tabloid-worthy headline, the story tells of the many complaints now being received about some applications in Facebook. From the story, “Major media can’t stop applauding the companies long enough to understand what’s really going on with these games. The real story isn’t the business success of these startups. It’s the completely unethical way that they are going about achieving that success.”

The story continues to tell of the different ways that consumers are deceived. It says, “Zynga may be spending $50 million a year on Facebook advertising alone, fueled partially by lead gen scams. Wonder how Facebook got to profitability way ahead of schedule? It was a surge in this kind of advertising. The money looks clean – it’s from Zynga, Playfish, Playdom and others. But a large portion of it is coming from users who’ve been tricked into one scam or another.”

You should read through the full list of accusations to see if you believe it holds water. The question of course is, who is responsible, Facebook, the developers, or the advertising networks? Just a little note regarding “they should be checking it” statements… if you look at TV programs that have the disclaimer, “This is a commercial programs and the programmer and the network has not responsibility”…. these came about because at some time in the past someone did think “If it’s on TV, it must be OK.” Its getting to the point Facebook has to look at the number of people who are saying (rightly or foolishly) “if it’s on Facebook it has to be OK.”

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Here are some other stories along similar lines.

An article from Pixels and Policy about “Cybercrime booms in the Virtual World”. One of the best points “With no standardization between worlds, there is no way of knowing whether one source is making and cashing out Linden Dollars, Warcraft Gold, or any other in-game currency. This makes tracking accusations of money laundering extremely difficult.” It’s a wide-ranging article discussing potential fraud ranging from money-laundering to identity theft to even terrorism. Well worth your time if you have any interest at all in the subject.

Here is an older, yet very well read article about Second Life. Its been attacked by many in SL, but it raises some very cogent viewpoints about attempts to make money in a market unregulated by monetary police. My favorite quote is ” Put simply, you can seldom trust those with whom you’re doing business in SecondLife. Even supposedly well established, well regarded business citizens are prone to defaulting on any obligations which prove inconvenient. Whole banks will disappear over night, along with your L$ (LindenLabdollars) balance.”

And as in any self-respecting article about cybercrime, I MUST, I SIMPLY MUST say something about jurisdiction. In the article “Cybercrime leaves Cybercops in the Dust” it is discussing jurisdictional issues and other complications. The article states “Online fraud perpetrators are also finding clever ways to launder their money, using non-bank payment services, such as e-gold, to make it harder for investigators to “follow the money.” They also set up accounts with their proceeds and have associates in another part of the world withdraw the money as profit or reinvest it in other criminal activities or spam campaigns.” There’s also some fairly depressing statements in the article, which echo advice I have to unfortunately give out to many prospective clients with small (but large to them) losses in online arenas. “In the courts, where penalties are traditionally imposed based on damages, the extent of damage caused by cybercrime is hard to assess, and it’s tough to get victims involved. Individuals often don’t realize what’s happened, and businesses — breach disclosure laws notwithstanding — are generally reluctant to go to court.”

So apparently, the losses are much larger than reported, as the damage to a business’ reputation, well, they perceive that to be a bigger hit than any possible reward by taking the matter to court. As a lawyer focused on this type of case, I’m hoping that this will change.

3 for the B

#1 Know who you’re dealing with. If it’s a brick-and-mortar company, there’s always somewhere to complain to. But if you are paying real-life (or even simulated) dollars, have a backup physical address when you’re dealing with large transactions.

#2 Don’t react slowly. Note everything down while it’s fresh in your mind, complain profusely and even annoyingly to any and all authorities, and then keep these emails in a dedicated folder for this particular issue. Use dates, names, tracking numbers, all these resources in your complaints as you will have difficulty tracking that down later should it ever reach the point of going to court.

#3 Do not, ever, take what “they” say for granted. 5 years ago, domain name theft or trademark hijacking were rampant and “they” said it was a cost of doing business. Now, there are dozens of cases that indisputedly show a trademark may be used as a basis for recovering a domain name if certain things are proven. Don’t believe that it is hopeless, document like there’s no tomorrow and then protect your rights in any and all ways possible.

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.

Mysteriously, most of the sites that list EULAs that I use as reference have dropped away over the past year or so.

All of these EULAs that I am sending your way are off the publisher’s front page, no deep-linking, and no commentary at all. Enjoy and use this as a resource for your gaming decisions.

1st Part:

http://secondlife.com/corporate/tos.php Second Life Terms of Service

http://www.lotro.com/support/policies/218-eula (Lord of the Rings Online)

http://www.ea.com/1/product-eulas (All major EA games)

http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/legal/eula.html (World of Warcraft)

http://help.station.sony.com/cgi-bin/soe.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=12248 (Everquest)

http://www.eveonline.com/pnp/eula.asp (Eve Online)

http://us.ncsoft.com/en/legal/user-agreements/aion-user-agreement.html (Aion)

http://us.ncsoft.com/en/legal/user-agreements/city-of-heroes-user-agreement.html (City of Heroes)

http://us.ncsoft.com/en/legal/user-agreements/lineage-2-user-agreement.html (Lineage 2)

http://www.habbo.com/papers/termsAndConditions (Habbo Hotel)

2nd Part: Choice of law and choice of forum (as of late 2007) (stolen with impunity from Benjamin Duranske’s excellent blog Virtually Blind- I did write the article that he excellently edited)

Online World Choice of Law Choice of Forum

IMVU State of California San Francisco County

Second Life State of California San Francisco County for all matters over $10k. Binding Non-Appearance Arbitration (Phone, Teleconference, Avatar) for Matters Under $10k.

There.com State of California California

The Sims Online England (for EU residents), State of California (for everyone else). England (for European Union residents), Northern California (for everyone else).

Active Worlds State of Massachusetts Arbitration required – either “on-line before the Active Worlds Tribunal” or before a panel of the American Arbitration Association Boston, Massachusetts.

Entropia Universe Sweden Sweden

World of Warcraft State of Delaware Arbitration required except for IP cases, computer crime, and claims for injunctive relieve. Arbitration to be initiated in Los Angeles, California (for international players), or at “any location convenient to you” (for U.S. players). All non-arbitration claims to be filed in Los Angeles, California.

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I’d request that my readers send in the Terms of Service links for any major games or virtual worlds that I have left out. Help me please keep this post strictly informational and not editorialize, I plan to write a short piece about EULAs in the near future where I will invite your excellent opinions…

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.

World of Warcraft is shut down in China once again by government authority. Here’s the full story at gamasutra. The most telling information is that even in a government as centralized as China there is sometimes a lack of communication. The size of WOW in China is stunning, fueled by lower subscription costs; according to Gamasutra almost half of WOW 11.5 million subscribers are in China. You can read my previous stories on the travails of running WOW in China here and here.

The PS3 Owner (Estavillo) is appealing the court decision against him. Sony’s Playstation Home won in the lower court, but the story of his appeal is here. My earlier post on the subject talks about the issues of Estavillo v Sony. It’s a good read, especially demonstrating how sympathetic facts can propel a case, even when the existing law does not seem to show a precedent.

Remember the sentimental stories you’ve read about games closing, and classy ways (I’m looking at you, Matrix online) to do that, and not-so-classy ways to close a world? Well here’s a story about a disgruntled customer who isn’t happy with coupons.

And the fourth and final update, a pulse check on Second Life. Yep, it’s ALIVE! (Insert creepy Dr. Frankenstein laugh). Everything in RL(real life) is static, yet Second Life continues to grow.

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.