Virtual sex sparks real lawsuit

**Silverfoot** · 12th August 2007, 07:43 AM

Is this world getting stranger or what?!?!?

Quote:

Internet: Creator of amorous avatar software says his code is protected.
By Phil Davis, Associated Press
Article Launched: 08/11/2007 08:11:37 PM PDT

TAMPA, Fla. - Kevin Alderman didn't bring sex to "Second Life." He just made it better.

The 46-year-old entrepreneur recognized four years ago that people would pay to equip their online selves - which start out with the smooth anatomy of a Barbie or Ken doll - with realistic genitalia and even more to add some sexy moves.

Business at Eros LLC has been brisk. One of his creations, the SexGen Platinum, has gotten so popular that he's now had to hire lawyers to track down the flesh-and-blood person behind the online identity, or avatar, that he says illegally copied and sold it.

The $45 SexGen animates amorous avatars in erotic positions. It is software code, written in the scripting language of "Second Life" and placed in virtual furniture and other objects. Avatars click on the object and choose from a menu of animated sex acts.

Alderman filed a civil lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Tampa, Fla., last month alleging an avatar named "Volkov Catteneo" broke the program's copy protection and sold unauthorized copies. Alderman, who runs his business from home in a Tampa suburb, allows users to transfer his products, but prohibits copying.

"We confronted him about it and his basic response was, 'What

are you going to do? Sue me?"' Alderman said. "I guess the mentality is that because you're an avatar ... that you are untouchable. The purpose of this suit is not only to protect our income and our product, but also to show, yes, you can be prosecuted and brought to justice."

Catherine Smith, director of marketing for "Second Life" creator Linden Lab, said she knew of no other real-world legal fight between two avatars.

However, Linden Labs itself has been sued more than once by subscribers over seizures of virtual property. In 2005, Japanese media reported that a Chinese exchange student was arrested for stealing virtual items from other players in an online game, "Lineage II."

"Second Life" isn't a game. There are no dragons to slay or other traditional game objectives. San Francisco-based Linden Lab describes it as "an online digital world imagined, created & owned by its residents."

Linden Lab provides a free basic avatar, a 3-D virtual representation of the user in male or female form. Everything else costs real money. A 16-acre virtual island costs $1,675 plus monthly maintenance fees of $295. Virtual money, called Lindens, can be exchanged with real dollars at an average rate of about 270 Lindens per $1.

Avatars can be equipped with flowing gowns and tiny tattoos, and users with programming and Photoshop skills can reshape themselves into a virtual Greta Garbo or just about any shape imaginable. With a little cash, users can also have people like Alderman transform the avatars for them.

At Alderman's "Second Life" shop, shoppers can try out a dragon bed powered by one of his SexGen engines. Along with programmers and designers, he employs a sales staff who hang around the shop like real salespeople to pitch the perfect sex toys. He is investing in a $25,000 motion-capture suit, a low-end version of one used to create digital characters in movies, to create more realistic sex moves for "Second Life" avatars.

As customers demand more real life in their "Second Life," though, these virtual creations can collide with reality.

"Virtually every aspect of real life is getting duplicated, and all the laws that can be applied to the real world are being applied in 'Second Life,"' said Jorge Contreras Jr., an intellectual-property attorney in Washington, D.C.

Last year, "Second Life" was rocked by a scandal over users who had modified their avatars to look like children and simulated pedophilia. Last month, Linden Lab shut down gambling in "Second Life" after concerns arose that virtual games of chance might violate U.S. gambling laws when members cashed in Lindens for real money.

Now comes Alderman's SexGen suit, which was filed July 3 and seeks unspecified damages. It accuses the unknown owner of the Catteneo avatar of violating copyright and trademark protections by copying, distributing and selling copies of Alderman's software.

Alderman's attorney, Francis X. Taney Jr. of Philadelphia, said the lawsuit has gotten a lot of attention because it involves sex, but is fundamentally about long-established law.

"It's a piece of software and software is copyrightable," Taney said. "It's also expressed in graphics, which also are copyrightable. There is some sizzle. People like to say it's really far out there, but at the end of the day I equate it to basic intellectual property principles."

Unlike many popular online worlds, such as "World of Warcraft," Linden Lab grants its users broad rights to create and sell content with few restrictions. Users can install copy protection and seek U.S. copyright and trademark protections, all of which Alderman did for the SexGen software.

"Whenever you create a situation where people are buying and selling things and potentially misappropriating them from their rightful owners, it is only a matter of time before the legal system gets called in," said Fred von Lohmann, a senior staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation in San Francisco. "This seems like a relatively straightforward case. It sounds like there is a real copyright issue."

Taney believes he knows who Catteneo is in real life, but is confirming it through subpoenas of records of eBay Inc.'s PayPal payment service as well as chat logs and trade history in "Second Life." He said Linden Lab and PayPal turned over their records, and he is preparing another round of subpoenas.

"We're proceeding carefully," Taney said. "This guy has claimed the information he gave to Linden was bogus. We are looking for ways to cross check and corroborate the information."

Catteneo, who did not respond to several interview requests sent through the "Second Life" messaging system, will likely have a hard time hiding.

"There is a whole lot less anonymity online than people think," von Lohmann said. "There are over 20,000 people who have been sued for downloading music. They may have felt anonymous, but they're weren't."

Alderman is unlikely to be the last to drag an avatar into court as the designers in "Second Life" try to protect their creations in the same way clothing designers such as Gucci try to eliminate realistic knockoffs

In recognition of the growing legal issues "Second Life" is likely to generate, the country of Portugal recently set up an arbitration center in the virtual world, though it has no power to enforce its decisions.

The legal issues may be similar offline and online, but von Lohmann said the trials could be a lot more interesting.

"In a virtual world, you have the ability to gather evidence you don't have in the real world," he said. "Everything that happens in 'Second Life' is reflected on computer servers. Depending on how long they keep the records, you could actually replay the event as it happens."

Crypt Keeper(CK) · 12th August 2007, 10:36 AM

Has anyone here ever played that game? Isnt it a spin off of the sims

Saphireena · 12th August 2007, 01:01 PM

I play Second Life and have seen these gadgets in action. Virtual sex experiences can actually be rather exciting if you keep an open mind. It isn't a huge business for nothing. ;-)

And before someone goes telling me: "Ewww you are sick! Get a life! Can't you get any real sex or what's your problem?", take into consideration that this world is full of different kinds of people with different kinds of life situations. For instance I am a single mother of two boys and work a full day job. Some women in my position might go to local bars to pick up one night stands whilst their kids are with a baby sitter at home, but that's not for me. Virtual experiences offer the perfect solution for anyone like me who doesn't have a relationship (maybe doesn't even want one) and yet needs a sexual outlet, a connection with another human being.

As for the lawsuit, I create things in Second Life also and just as we put real money and hours into the things we build in real life, we do the same for the virtual items and services as well. I for one am glad to see someone actually going after these people who disrespect the copyright of other people's hard work.

Kellen · 13th August 2007, 07:01 AM

Second life is more like V-Zones. As a matter of fact it was connected to that world at 1 time, not sure if it still is.

**kingtony** · 13th August 2007, 08:20 AM

Never Played That Game .pretty Weird

Rascal · 13th August 2007, 08:45 AM

Kell, don't think it was Second Life that was associated with vzones... it was Seducity.... and I didn't like either

Crypt Keeper(CK) · 13th August 2007, 09:34 AM

Kinda like the sims2 but this seems way out there heh.

12th August 2007, 10:36 AM	#2
Crypt Keeper(CK) Guildmaster of ATD, Defender of Paxlair! Join Date: Nov 2006 Shard: Sonoma, Chesapeake Posts: 655 Gold: 354 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Virtual sex sparks real lawsuit Has anyone here ever played that game? Isnt it a spin off of the sims

12th August 2007, 01:01 PM	#3
Saphireena Join Date: Feb 2006 Shard: Europa Posts: 27 Gold: 9 Thanks: 0 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	Re: Virtual sex sparks real lawsuit I play Second Life and have seen these gadgets in action. Virtual sex experiences can actually be rather exciting if you keep an open mind. It isn't a huge business for nothing. ;-) And before someone goes telling me: "Ewww you are sick! Get a life! Can't you get any real sex or what's your problem?", take into consideration that this world is full of different kinds of people with different kinds of life situations. For instance I am a single mother of two boys and work a full day job. Some women in my position might go to local bars to pick up one night stands whilst their kids are with a baby sitter at home, but that's not for me. Virtual experiences offer the perfect solution for anyone like me who doesn't have a relationship (maybe doesn't even want one) and yet needs a sexual outlet, a connection with another human being. As for the lawsuit, I create things in Second Life also and just as we put real money and hours into the things we build in real life, we do the same for the virtual items and services as well. I for one am glad to see someone actually going after these people who disrespect the copyright of other people's hard work.

13th August 2007, 07:01 AM	#4
Kellen Find Me If You Can... Join Date: Sep 2006 Shard: Lake Austin Posts: 615 Gold: 55 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Virtual sex sparks real lawsuit Second life is more like V-Zones. As a matter of fact it was connected to that world at 1 time, not sure if it still is.

13th August 2007, 08:20 AM	#5
kingtony How do you tell when you run out of invisible ink? Join Date: Jan 2007 Shard: alantic Posts: 2,662 Gold: 155 Thanks: 0 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	Re: Virtual sex sparks real lawsuit Never Played That Game .pretty Weird For to win one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the acme of skill. To subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill.

13th August 2007, 08:45 AM	#6
Rascal Madam of Mayhem Join Date: Sep 2006 Shard: Lake Austin Posts: 1,552 Gold: 1,065 My Mood: Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Virtual sex sparks real lawsuit Kell, don't think it was Second Life that was associated with vzones... it was Seducity.... and I didn't like either

13th August 2007, 09:34 AM	#7
Crypt Keeper(CK) Guildmaster of ATD, Defender of Paxlair! Join Date: Nov 2006 Shard: Sonoma, Chesapeake Posts: 655 Gold: 354 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Virtual sex sparks real lawsuit Kinda like the sims2 but this seems way out there heh.

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