Virtual Animals, Real Lawsuits

From the "Second Life" trailer at secondlife.com

In the world of virtual living within spaces like Second Life and Playstation Home there are a lot of things that you also find in the "real world" - things like people, buildings, animals, and so on. 

Today we can add something new: lawsuits.

Amaretto v Ozimals is a case (no pun intended) in point.  This case involves "virtual animals" in Second Life.  Virtual animals have been "in development" for some time - for example in Second Life as the evolution of chickens through horses.

Second Life allows people to create new objects and to animate them with a scripting language called LSL.  A while back someone "invented" virtual chickens.  The chickens were animated (walked around and moved on their own) and also required maintenance, e.g., feeding.

This advanced over the years into things like horses.  Today's Second Life animals have genetics and can be bred as well as eat and require other maintenance.  (Breeding virtual animals with genetics was also key elements of games like FaunaSphere.)

Owners can purchase animals either from dealers or from other players, maintain them, feed them, breed them, and sell the offspring.  But the real money is not in selling the animals but in selling the food.  Apparently the food is somehow tied to the specific animal type and creator and can only be purchased from one source.

The case above involves Ozimals, a maker of virtual Second Life rabbits, and Amaretto Ranch Breedables, LLC, the creator of Second Life horses. 

Ozimals alleges that Amaretto copied its technology in creating its horses.

This has resulting an a federal lawsuit - a good summary of which can be found here.

While this is basically a case of ownership and copyright imagine the fun lawyers could have as legal recognition expands into virtual worlds: lawsuits over virtual injuries, lawsuits over virtual crimes like virtual adultery, the list is endless.

In Playstation Home you can use a virtual camera to take pictures of the virtual world - hence virtual evidence will soon be involved in prosecution of virtual crimes.

Various "hacking" laws make it a federal crime to misuse computers and/or software for things other than their intended purpose - so if I register as a male in some virtual world yet create a female avatar (or an animal avatar), strike up a relationship with another player in my faux form - instant lawsuit under the hacking laws.

This will result in the need for real and/or virtual divorces of "married" characters.  Perhaps marriage between avatars will be legally recognized - at least within "in game" laws.  So soon virtual divorce will rear its ugly head.  And because these games involve real "virtual property" the divorce will require lawyers to divvy up the loot amicably.

If divorce doesn't work no doubt some hacker will conjure up a mechanism using scripting languages to murder another player.  Perhaps develop virtual anthrax for virtual terrorism (after all they can script "big" life, why not small life as well).

If you watch the trailer at Second Life from which the snap shot is taken above you will see the happy couple on a boat and on the Eiffel tower.  What if he wants to eliminate her for a new romance - what if only he returns from the boat trip or throws her off the Eiffel tower?  Can she sue?

Second Life has a currency called Linden dollars that have a real exchange rate with US Dollars.  Perhaps new US dollars will have to be modified to support "all debts public, virtual and private."

In World of Warcraft what happens if your healer fails to bring you back to life during a crucial conflict?  Why virtual malpractice could be alleged and lawyers brought to bear.  So battles will have to be cleared with battle permits through virtual lawyers on site during the fray.

Given enough time courts will require presence in virtual worlds in order to see and hear virtual evidence, after all a jury will have a hard time visualizing a "class seven gold battle axe" used to kill a spouse.

Soon virtual prisons will be needed to hold virtual criminals - laws passed that if you are in a real jail your character will also have to serve time.

I imagine eventually avatars will also gain reproductive ability - genetics, and so on.  Then there will be virtual custody battles - again requiring more real and/or virtual lawyers.

Aren't games fun?