Virtual Law: Navigating the Legal Landscape of Virtual Worlds

The American Bar Association recently published an innovative virtual worlds legal book, Virtual Law: Navigating the Legal Landscape of Virtual Worlds (2008).

From the Reviews:

"The book is timely, circumspect, well written and grounded where it is supposed to be while provocative in areas that it needs to be. The author's experience in virtual world use and commentary shines as he teases out the importance of law to virtual worlds, and vice versa. Benjamin Duranske makes virtual law in concept and practice very tangible and understandable. This book is not only a book introducing Virtual Law -- it is a book of reference for lawyers, virtual world users and virtual world owners alike." -- Taran Rampersad Virtual World/Second Life®/ICT Consultant, KnowProSE.com

"Knowing 'virtually' nothing about Second Life, I finally determined to curl up with Virtual Law as continuing education this weekend. I didn't put it down until I finished it. The comprehensive outline of topics, the accessible language, and spot on exhortations of the relevance of this technological phenomenon should make this a best seller. The book gave me, a total amateur, several business development ideas on first reading, and I look forward to actually spending real dollars, not Lindens, to purchase several more copies for non-lawyers to read." -- Chris Grant , Esq. CEO InfecDetect , LLC Princeton, NJ

"Ben Duranske hits the mark again and again with this clear, straightforward overview of legal issues in virtual worlds. All of the main arguments are here, in a single source, allowing the reader to balance the claims of contract law against those of property law in regulating the toughness of the magic circle. Woven together, these arguments constitute a desperately-needed consensus, one that recognizes the inevitable influence of real-world law on the future of this critical medium, but also its limits." -- Edward Castronova Associate Professor, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana

"Benjamin Duranske's 'Virtual Law' is far and away the most thorough, clear-sighted, and enlightening introduction to the legal implications of virtual worlds that has been written. It is a must-read for anybody -- lawyer, plaintiff, or defendant -- with a stake in the legal system's fast-evolving relationship with this strange new realm of human affairs." -- Julian Dibbell Contributing editor, Wired magazine; co-moderator, Terra Nova collaborative blog; author, Play Money: Or, How I Quit My Day Job and Made Millions Trading Virtual Loot
From Amazon Product Description:

This book introduces readers to the emerging and exciting world of virtual law. It examines current cases and legislation impacting virtual world providers and users, and makes predictions about the future application of current law. It addresses the application of intellectual property law (copyright, trademark, and patent), criminal law, property law, contract law, securities law, tax law, and civil procedure. It also provides practical advice to lawyers who wish to create a virtual world presence for their practice or who have clients with virtual world connections. The book includes extensive appendices listing in-world and web-based resources for practitioners and legal scholars.

For further reading/viewing:

"Metanomics Revisited", Metanomics with Robert Bloomfield, September 22, 2008
"Blawg Review #156", Virtually Blind, April 21, 2008
"Virtual Banking Revisited", Metanomics with Robert Bloomfield, January 14, 2008
"Virtual Banking", Metanomics with Robert Bloomfield, January 10, 2008