Well, it was bound to happen. A Pennsylvania attorney/ex-Second Life citizen is taking Linden Labs to court claiming that they illegally took away items he "allegedly acquired using an exploit by a SL user". Shortly after, he was banned and lost "everything". A Pennsylvania court has already denied two requests from the San Francisco-based company to dismiss the case.
The case will still need to play out and only concerns the sum of $8,000. However, it appears that greater scrutiny and enforcement of commerce within Second Life and other virtual worlds is possible and may be necessary. The "commerce" (largely characterized by pyramid schemes, faulty valuations, and unreal exchange rates) could be subject to real world law.
It's too bad there aren't any court shows filmed in Pennsylvania. I would love to see Judge Judy wrap her head around this one and then explode. She's a robot, I tell you.
The Virtual World Just Got a Little More Real [Valley Wag via C|Net News]
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