What could be the first infringement lawsuit concerning conduct i...
What could be the first infringement lawsuit concerning conduct in Second Life was filed in the U.S. District Court, Tampa, this week. Eros sells “virtual adult-themed objects” within Second Life, including SexGen code that purchasers can use to engage…
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in sexually explicit actions with avatars on a virtual bed. The SexGen mark is awaiting Patent and Trademark Office consideration, an Eros filing said. The items, sold on a “no copy” basis in-world, can be transferred among users but not copied, similar to record labels’ terms with digital purchasers. An avatar known as Volkov Catteneo cracked the copy protection on Eros goods and has been selling the code to Second Life users in Georgia, West Virginia, Great Britain and other places, the complaint said. Eros wants Second Life owner Linden Lab to turn over information to help identify Catteneo’s creator. Linden probably has the person’s name, phone number, and e-mail, postal and IP addresses, activity logs and credit card information, considering the avatar’s currency and land purchases in the virtual world, the filing said. Catteneo also has a PayPal account under the name “Aaron Long,” so the eBay-owned company must have financial data and transaction logs from the person behind the avatar, Eros said. Neither Linden nor PayPal has revealed information on Catteneo in response to Eros requests, despite language in their terms advising users that their personal information can be turned over to third parties at company discretion, the filing said. A message sent to an e-mail address that Eros said it traced to Catteneo bounced back to us.