Worlds.com has reportedly settled its patent infringement lawsuit with NCsoft. The terms remain confidential and as of this morning neither company has a press release on its website. Worlds.com filed the suit on Christmas eve in 2008 after rattling its patent saber months earlier. To some, it is surprising the…
In what will be the first such case heard by the Supreme Court, the highest court in the land will address in its October term whether a California state law that bans the sale and rental of violent video games to minors runs afoul of the First Amendment right to…
In what turned out to be an April Fool’s prank, Gamestation modified its Terms of Service to include a provision that required users to sell their soul to Gamestation before they could make any online purchase. Pretty amazing prank! What’s more amazing is that nearly 90% of the users agreed!…
This article from Slate.com provides an interesting discussion regarding the applicability of virtual worlds and MMORPGs to economics research. One of the things the article points out is that research in the real world must handle inevitable data loss – making calculations like GDP the result of estimates and approximations…
Last Monday’s Washington Post article talking about making money by coding and selling Second Life products doesn’t provide any surprises for anyone familiar with virtual worlds. The most interesting thing about it was its placement – the front page. When articles about virtual worlds and gaming have historically been relegated…
In a growing trend, another patent infringement lawsuit was recently filed against nearly two dozen companies involved in virtual worlds, video games, social networks and other websites. The plaintiff, Balthaser Online, appears to provide a web application that enables users to create Adobe Flash animations and interfaces for inclusion in…
The Federal Trade Commission released a study raising issues regarding adult content in virtual worlds that virtual world providers should consider when evaluating their privacy, content storage, access, and age verification policies. The FTC also highlights “best practices” for virtual world providers dealing with these important issues. The full report…