Virtually Blind | Virtual Law

Benjamin Duranske’s Final Post at Virtually Blind

Benjamin Duranske — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 05:15:13 +0000

At least for now, this is my final post at Virtually Blind. It’s been a blast, but personal and professional obligations have taken center stage, and at the moment, I just do not have time to keep posting at the rate VB’s readers have come to expect. The site will remain online as a research [...]

Benjamin Duranske Guest Hosting Special Edition of Metanomics Featuring Virtual World Authors

Benjamin Duranske — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 21:42:17 +0000

Benjamin Duranske, VB’s editor and author of Virtual Law, is guest hosting a special edition of Metanomics on Monday, December 8 at 12:00 PM Second Life time (Pacific). The show will feature a number of other virtual world authors talking about their books and their current projects — just in time for the holidays! Guests [...]

Quicklinks: Taxes, Blogs, Patents, Lawsuits and More

Benjamin Duranske — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 21:04:37 +0000

Virtually Blind periodically runs “quicklinks” — items that are not long enough for a full story, but are worth a click. Here’s the current batch. The Chartered Institute of Taxation will be conducting a seminar on virtual world tax issues at Second Life’s Depo Business Park on Tuesday, the 2nd of December at 3:30pm GMT [...]

Second Life Miss Universe Pageant Trumped by Real Life Trademark Holder, Linden Lab Assists

Benjamin Duranske — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 17:30:03 +0000

I recently ran across a story about a dustup over alleged misuse of the “Miss Universe” trademark in Second Life (via Twisted and Tawdry). Cutting through the drama (and there’s plenty, if your drama levels are low) the story appears to be that “The Trump Organization” — as in Donald — is enforcing its “Miss [...]

CLE Seminar “Web 2.0 for Lawyers” in Second Life Saturday, November 22 at 12:00 Noon Pacific

Benjamin Duranske — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 14:50:18 +0000

As part of the SL Bar Association’s speaker series, Kate Fitz (Second Life’s ‘Cat Galeilo’), is presenting “Web 2.0 for Lawyers” in Second Life Saturday, November 22 at 12:00 Noon Pacific time. Fitz, who is a public law librarian in Sacramento, California and member of the California bar, serves as the SLBA’s Vice President of [...]

Virtual World Screenshots Raise Copyright Questions

Benjamin Duranske — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 02:21:05 +0000

There’s an interesting post over at Not Possible In Real Life asking the question: “What is the correct (and legal) way to attribute photography and video shot in virtual worlds?” I was going to leave a comment there, but there’s really no way to answer this question off the cuff, so I’m turning it into [...]

Polska Republika Self-Governance Project Launched in Second Life; Constitution Posted

Benjamin Duranske — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 16:55:03 +0000

The Polska Republika has launched as the newest self-governance project in Second Life. Here’s the Polska Republika website, and, since it’s entirely in Polish, here’s a traditionally suspect Google translation. The Polska Republika has posted a Constitution (here’s the translation). This is fairly clearly not an attempt to recreate modern Poland — among other discontinuities, [...]

SLART Update: Rosedale and Kapor Move to Dismiss, Minsky Responds, and Minsky Answers Counterclaims

Benjamin Duranske — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 21:11:26 +0000

There are three new filings in the SLART trademark suit. First, Philip Rosedale and Mitch Kapor have filed a Motion to Dismiss (.zip, w/exhibits) arguing that Minsky’s fraud claims lack sufficient specificity. Minsky has responded (.zip, w/exhibits), and has also filed an Answer (.zip, w/exhibits) to Linden Lab’s counterclaims. There’s not too much to say [...]

Third-Party Motion in World of Warcraft Bot Case Accuses Blizzard of… Well… Beats Me

Benjamin Duranske — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 16:33:17 +0000

This is an update in the MDY v. Blizzard case. Sort of. Here’s the deal — people who have nothing to do with a case sometimes file motions in U.S. Courts. These motions usually take the form of the amicus brief filed earlier by Public Knowledge, a digital rights advocacy group. But sometimes they take [...]

China Imposing 20% Tax on Profits on Virtual Money

Benjamin Duranske — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 17:39:48 +0000

The Wall Street Journal’s China Journal reports that China is directly taxing profits made on sales of virtual currency, apparently whether or not the virtual world or game provider affirmatively supports “real money trade” in its game or virtual world. From the WSJ post: The State Administration of Taxation said on its Web site Wednesday [...]