SL Lawspot Bringing the law library to the

SL Lawspot Bringing the law (library) to the virtual frontier Kate Fitz SL: Cat Galileo

Bell Library Towers Info Island I

Lawspot Library on the web http: //www. lawspotonline. com

Second Life Lawspot Free legal resources Links to free legal resources on the Web Current topics – elections, Banned Book week, etc. ) Posters and displays “Virtual law” Practice of law via virtual worlds Law as it applies to virtual worlds Self-governance in Second Life

Lawspot’s links: free legal resources on the web Primary law Thomas. loc. gov, findlaw. com, EUR-lex, etc. Secondary sources 'Lectric law Library, Emory Law collection, Cornell Wex, Washlaw WEB Self-help resources nolo. com, free forms sites, links to public law libraries around the country Library law librarylaw. com (Mary Minow), confidentiality of library records, copyright for libraries Law student resources Law school rankings, SL resources for students

Virtual law at Lawspot: Practice of law in Second Life Galileo Law Directory 69 lawyers and law firms 10 dispute resolution services 11 professional associations Collection of SL resources Historical Terms of Service Professional Groups SL Bar Association Virtual Law Association SL German Bar Association Abogados SL Avogados Paralegal Association

Virtual law at Lawspot: Legal issues affecting virtual worlds Links to web reports and commentary on legal issues in virtual worlds Virtually Blind, Law of the Game, Terra Nova, more Index of court cases involving virtual worlds Bragg v. Linden, Eros LLC v. Doe, Blizzard v. IGE, and more Bibliographies Law review articles, news reports, books Resources for practice Second Life Terms of Service (history of changes)

Second Life as legal testing ground Residents' stake in Second Life Intellectual property rights reserved to residents Sales of goods and services $L – US$ currency exchange Land “ownership”* Linden Lab's nonintervention policy No centralized “zoning” Minimal regulation of content (“broadly offensive” standard) No policing of transactions – caveat emptor

2007: Second Life in the courts and the news Copyright disputes Eros, LLC v Doe Eros, LLC et al v Simon “copybot” controversy Right of publicity Celebrity “look-alike” avatars Trademark disputes Trademark infringement: easy, safe, widespread Land disputes Bragg v Linden – settled out of court “Landbot” class action – rumored Land scam: same land (allegedly) sold to 5 different buyers

Unauthorized use of SL trademarks…

2007: Second Life in the courts and the news Gambling Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (probably) applies to Second Life Linden Lab bans gambling ads, then all gambling Taxation of in-world transactions US government investigating taxation Tax in S Korea for major virtual businesses Bank runs, exchange scandal and “ponzi schemes” Ginko bank collapse SL World Stock Exchange fraud Contract law Enforcing agreements in a semi-anonymous (and international) context

2007: Second Life in the courts and the news Criminal law Financial fraud, identity theft, hacking (Dark. Life theft) Belgian rape investigation Porn, money laundering, terrorism? Rights and liberties on international stage -- most restrictive common denominator? “Broadly offensive” standard of behavior -ambiguous, different standards in different areas and cultures Gambling -- prohibition based on U. S. law; Europeans claim unfair Linden Lab response to government demands for info -- whose standards will they use?

Lawyers are taking notice of virtual worlds 2 new ABA committees State of Play annual conference, organized by Harvard Law School, Yale Law School, New York Law School, Trinity University, and in 2007 Nanyang Technological University in Singapore Law and business school courses: Harvard, Stanford, Cornell, Seattle University Nova Southeastern University’s law library Books, articles, blogs….

Benefits to libraries and librarians: Networking and collaboration A major strength of virtual worlds is the ability to “meet” in real time with people in any geographic location. with other librarians: advice, new scripts, sample equipment with other SL communities (patron base!)

Benefits to libraries and librarians: Early experience with new skill sets Librarian skills, transplanted Second Life-specific skills scripting, flying, building Meta-skills: learning “what works” in virtual worlds conceptual framework of navigating, communicating, and providing services in SL – and other virtual worlds Metaplace, Multiverse, Vast. Park, Google(? ), “bespoke” (customized) worlds

Adjusting expectations: SL Library is not 3 -D version of brick & mortar “The project involves reconsidering everything we take for granted about what a library is and does. ” – Alliance Information Archipelago Annual Report, page 11 Exhibits, events more inviting than collections SL's strength is bringing people together, not collecting information sources New types of exhibits What does SL enable that “real world” or traditional web cannot?

Take it seriously: Treat like a new branch in the “real world” Second Life business is “just like a real world business in the sense that to succeed, you must have a plan, be committed, have the talent, the time and the energy. . . ” “[Businesses] have to study the community and figure out how to fit in. Those that do that will not be scorned. ” Daniel Terdiman Author, “The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Second Life”

Interested? Groups for all interests (in-world and out) Health and wellness Tech groups and businesses Business, corporate, and entrepreneurial groups Government agencies Academic institutions of all types Arts -- museums, music, video/machinima Political, charitable, special interest groups Teen grid: Eye 4 You library

Being there Becoming a Second Life native Beyond Info Archipelago: Read a few blogs -Second Life Herald -Second Life Reader -Second Life Inside -many, many more “Best of Second Life” Landmark of the Day http: //thebestofsecondlife. blogspot. com Metaversed “Things to Do” group http: //metaversed. com/things/join Events -http: //secondlife. com/events -http: //www. secondlifeinsider. com /category/events/

Stop by the law library! Second Life: “Cat Galileo” Bell Library (central tower) Info Island I (SE corner) Thank you! Kate Fitz Sacramento County Public Law Library kfitz@saclaw. org Presentation notes and further reading at: www. lawspotonline. com