Saturday, May 27th, 2006

Second Life Publisher Sued Ove Virtual Land

How real is your virtual world? Do you have any rights to the virtual property you've purchased, whether it be items, gold, or land?

One of the most contested trends in multiplayer online gaming is the ability to trade real-world cash for online goods. But do you really own those goods, which don't exist as much more than digital information?

Attorney Marc Bragg seems to think so, which is why he's suing Linden Labs, creators of Second Life, a popular Massively-multiplayer Online (MMO) game. Bragg alleges that Linden has denied him access to his virtual assets. The attorney has posted a press release about the suit on his website.

Bragg v. Linden Research, was filed May 1 in a local district court in West Chester, Pennsylvania. According to Wired, Bragg filed suit after Linden cut off access to his virtual estate (his "sims" or virtual land plots), which includes several nightclubs, and denied him access to his supply of Linden dollars (virtual cash), worth about USD $3,200.
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