June 04, 2007
Virtual Land Dispute Goes to Real Court
A Pennsylvania court has dismissed Linden Labs' motion to throw out Marc Bragg's suit against Linden Labs.
Judge Eduardo Robreno of Pennsylvania has ruled that a land-dispute case over a parcel of property in the Second Life virtual environment cannot be forced out of court and into arbitration by the Second Life terms of service.
Marc Bragg, the plaintiff in the case, is suing Linden Labs for terminating his Second Life account and seizing land he had purchased in a Second Life online auction. Linden claims he acquired the land improperly.
Robreno deemed the Linded Labs terms of service "one-sided" in that it provides many avenues for Linden to resolve disputes, but forces Linden's customers into one avenue, namely arbitration.
The ruling paves the way for this case to become the first such dispute over virtual property to be decided in a real-world court.
