1. We talk quite a bit about virtual goods and their popularity. MMO Behemoth World of Warcraft proved it in the past week, selling hundreds of thousands of an in-game mount called the Celestial Steed at US$25 a pop. No-one but Blizzard software know how many they sold but given queues exceeded 140,000 at one stage, we do know the number is big. 2. The SLENZ project has … [Read more...] about Merged realities – events and issues for virtual worlds
legal
Interzone’s Football MMO: local conflicts
In 2008, we mentioned the upcoming release of Interzone Futebol, a sporting MMO with some promise. Over the past week, issues between local developers employed at the Western Australian office of Interzone and the US-based head office came to a head when Interzone's VP of Business Development, Mike Turner, was confronted by employees. Game Developer blog Tsumea have a good … [Read more...] about Interzone’s Football MMO: local conflicts
Class action lawsuit leveled against Second Life’s Linden Lab
Kevin Alderman’s Eros LLC, a Florida company devoted to mature content which started operating in Second Life way back when, has been the star attraction before. Alderman, also known as Stroker Serpentine in Second Life, has been well-known for his successful, adult business ventures, as well as two successful legal actions for virtual environment based copyright/trademark … [Read more...] about Class action lawsuit leveled against Second Life’s Linden Lab
Who’s your Daddy?
US Congressman Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) would like to be your parent. At least, he would like to act as though he was your parent. Starting back in May 2008, Kirk has been singling out Second Life for special attention: he would like legislation to be introduced that prevents children from accessing Second Life- both the Teen Grid and the Main Grid (he makes no distinction), … [Read more...] about Who’s your Daddy?
SLCN – trademark challenges
As this post by Benjamin Duranske alludes to, Linden lab have requested an extension of time to determine if they'll oppose SLCN registering their name as a trademark. The extension may lead to not much at all in that Linden Lab may decide not to challenge. We've discussed the trademark issue previously and the situation isn't getting any less vexed. We contact SLCN for … [Read more...] about SLCN – trademark challenges