Ok, so virtual property disputes aren't exactly new, but there's a little wrap up on some of the current issues over at a Canadian website. Most of the issues discussed revolve around Second Life, but the questions of virtual property and other virtual issues are getting increasing attention:

[Entertainment lawyer Susan] Abramovitch said the virtual economy has opened the door to new legal issues that are only starting to be addressed around the world.

"The original question is, do we actually need to specifically regulate the virtual economy?" Abramovitch said. "Is it different enough to create challenges or do the regulations that exist in our physical world apply?"
The answer, she said, is gaining importance because private companies currently dictate the "rules" of the virtual world through their end user licence agreements.

Concerns regarding EULAs have gotten a fair bit of (academic) attention in the past couple of months, but the fact that these "virtual" cases are getting real world settlements raises a lot of interesting questions.

Virtual world disputes landing in real-world courts [Canada.com]

Wu began by discussing the recent Bragg v. Linden Labs court case — in brief, a legal battle between a Second Life user and the world's parent company over land that Bragg apparently improperly acquired, resulting in a ban from the world by Linden. That case, Wu says, was a landmark in that it demonstrated that virtual property rights have tangible value in the court system ....

"What are the prevailing customs that should apply?" Wu asked. "Is it the country where the company is based? Is it the country where the customer lives? We don't even know what the basic virtual property rights are that we should be concerned with."

These sorts of issues will get nailed down eventually (maybe?), it's a serious balancing act in a lot of ways. And once you mix in the reasonably global nature of many MMOs? Well ....

Human and Property Rights in Virtual Worlds [Worlds In Motion]

The Complaint (which is, remember, by its nature entirely one-sided) tells a dramatic and undoubtedly controversial story about virtual property company IGE. It starts at the beginning, when the founders allegedly met playing Everquest, and proceeds like a script for a straight-to-video movie.

It includes third-hand allegations of cash from an earlier venture being spent on illegal drugs, a claim that Pierce's dog was shot by the "Spanish FBI," and allegations of minors being transported across state lines for sex. The complaint even takes a swipe at former-child-actor Pierce's filmography (Pierce played a young Emilio Estevez in The Mighty Ducks and The Mighty Ducks 2, and the lead in First Kid). In short, this is not your average business spat.

PlayNoEvil has some insightful comments up regarding some general problems this case points to. In any case, rare is the court filing that is this entertaining.

Lawsuit Against IGE Founder Brock Pierce Alleges Underhanded Dealing at Virtual Property Company [Virtually Blind via PlayNoEvil]

The center will provide an exchange platform for assets and equity, and offer fund-raising, intermediary and pricing services for companies, said Cai Minyong, president of Shanghai United Assets and Equity Exchange (SUAEE).

More than 30 items ... were listed on the exchange with a combined price of about US$4 million.

Of course, the idea of intellectual property being traded in a country notorious for not really caring about IP rights in any sense of the word is a little ironic. Still, China is desperately trying to give its homegrown game and animation industries a boost in an attempt to compete with countries like Korea, Japan, Taiwan, et al. We'll see how it pans out.
Trading starts on animation, cartoon and game industry exchange [ChinaDaily via Xinhua]