Fantastic article. I attended a seminar put on by the SL Communicators this past week on legal issues in SL. The meeting was well attended, mostly by IT types, but a few notables: I sat next to and chatted with a PR person in RL. As PR types, who work in the IT industry, begin to talk about virtual worlds and opportunities, I imagine the buzz will only increase. The legal issues discussed at the seminar were IP related: copyright, patent, fair use, that sort of thing. But legal issues in other fields will also arise, including among other things, corporate related M&A, litigation (of course), employment/HR, just to name a few. The only question is how some of these will manifest. For example, in the employment/HR space, will virtual worlds be a place to find information or also a place to meet with colleagues around the world, develop virtual communities around certain fields of interest etc (e.g. Executive Assistant World?). If the latter, issues to grapple with will include what is appropriate behavior and use of a virtual world while at work, how to differentiate between worklife and personal life (particular for the increasing number of people working from their homes), etc. Lots to think about. |
