over on Hypergrid Business i saw a link to a legal firm that has started a blog dealing with legal issues specific to virtual worlds and video games. video games are often big money and involve a much larger community, so it’s natural to expect legal issues. as virtual worlds continue to grow, we will likely see legal issues increase as well
being aware of legal perspectives and trends can help us safeguard the future of virtual worlds (remember the uproar last year with SpotOn3D who has since changed their name)
the legal blog, Virtual World Law Blog, might be a good source to check on occasionally or subscribe to (or consult if you need legal help!)
as another resource, i sometimes use Google Scholar which has options to search patents and legal documents
here’s some current research (may 10th) from the VW Law blog that is kind of interesting:
Social network gaming has decreased among its primary demographic, females age 12-44, with less than 43% of users age 12-17 (down from 54% in 2011) and about 36% of users 25-44 (down from 40% in 2011) reporting playing on a weekly basis.
hmm, less Farmville? no wonder Facebook shares closed down 13% today from their initial offering on friday=p
Thanks, Ener. When it comes to laws and our Rights, the more resources we have, the better.
Sarge Misfit
23 May 12 at 8:47 am
Thanks for the heads up Ener.
Browsing through the Virtual Law Blog led me to the new MA Ed Virtual Worlds at UWE in Bristol (UK)
http://www.uwe.ac.uk/elearning/virtualWorldsMA/courseDetails.shtml
Nice to see some people doing serious work with this.
There seems to be a lot of elearning activity at UWE that I wasn’t aware of.
Keith Selmes
23 May 12 at 9:11 am
I’ve also forwarded your post to my advocate, Ener. He loves this stuff :-D
Sarge Misfit
23 May 12 at 12:33 pm
holy crap! a Master’s degree in VWs? wow
i’ll sound snobby, but don’t do your Master’s in it, maybe some coursework and a paper, but not the primary specialisation of it!
but it is cool to see! =)
excellent Sarge, more info is better and while that Law Blog is a marketing thing for that law firm, it does show an increasing importance of virtual worlds even in this very niche stage
Ener Hax
28 May 12 at 8:47 pm