Has Your Avatar Gotten You in Legal Trouble?

Do you have a Second Life? Not the reincarnated kind, but the kind in which you create a digital alter-ego to play with the other avatars, known as "residents," in the 3-D virtual world launched by Linden Lab in 2003?

If so, you may need a lawyer.

Second Life's virtual population has exploded—and so, too, have the budding entrepreneurs who've launched businesses selling products like clothing, skins, shapes, sex toys, and furniture.

And—human nature being what it is, online or offline—now they are suing for copyright infringement.

In October, six Second Life content creators sued Thomas Simon, alleging that the New York City man had exploited a security flaw in the Second Life software to duplicate thousands of copies of their products.

Simon, whose Second Life avatar is a sky surfer named Rase Kenzo, agreed to settle the case, paying $525 for the profits he derived. He also agreed to disclose any alternative accounts he holds on Second Life, and to allow the plaintiffs to inspect his Pay Pal accounts.

Last week, Eric Reuters, the Second Life name of a Reuters reporter who covers this world, reported that Simon had taken a pass on the plaintiffs' offer to settle the case for $2,000 in compensation and $5,000 in legal fees. "I don't even have $7,000," he said. He told Reuters he was looking for a lawyer to represent him pro bono.

Just how does a digital entrepreneur track down the real-life location of an avatar, so to begin the process? The plaintiffs' lawyer, Francis X. Taney of Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney, declined to comment on the case, citing the terms of the settlement.

In an earlier case, Taney served subpoenas on Internet service providers in order to track down the real-life person behind Second Life character who called himself Volkov Catteneo.

Volkov allegedly sold copies of a digital bed developed by Eros LLC, which is owned by Second Life's reigning porn mogul, Stroker Serpentine (a/k/a Kevin Alderman). The bed is purportedly the first with built-in sex position animations.

In any case, Volkov turned out to be 19-year-old Robert Leatherwood of North Richland Hills, Texas. Leatherwood ignored court deadlines and Taney got a default judgment for his client.

Observers say these two cases could establish precedents for copyright of virtual property on Second Life, but Taney doesn't believe his clients are asking the courts to stretch.

"I have never viewed this as a great leap of logic or legal analysis," he says. And expect more to come. "These things may seem quirky now, and they may always seem quirky to some people. But as the amount of commerce grows, you'll see the bigger players come in," he says.

So if you are shopping for virtual toys for your loved one's avatar this holiday season, please, be careful out there.

by Karen Donovan

_{Photograph of a scene from Second Life by Reuters/Second Life/Landov}