Naughty Lawsuit in Second Life

Not that this will surprise anyone, but there's a wee bit ofnaughtiness to be found in Second Life. In fact, expressing one'ssexuality in the most bizarre possible manner is as common as dirt inSL. It's so popular in fact, people are willing to pay to enhance theirability to act out.

Thus when Kevin Alderman, who ownsEros LLC, began selling a mod that allows SL avatars to expressthemselves more vividly, he started raking in the cash. Recently,another player copied Kevin's code and began selling those same modsin-game. When Kevin confronted him, the player said, "What are yougoing to do? Sue me?"

 

If a picture is worth a thousand words, this one describes Second Life perfectly (courtesy: breedveld.org). 

Andsure enough, that's what Kevin is trying to do. The big issue here iswhether or not Kevin can sue for this: it's a mod to a game he doesn'town, it's a virtual service (not a real one), and finding out who theoffending person is, as well as documenting the financial loss itself,is among the problems that need to be faced. Some experts have opinedthat this is, in fact, a straighforward case and that Kevin shouldprevail. Of course, that remains to be seen. Joystiq has a brief write-up on the issue.