State of Play II: Conference

State of Play will be held this year at New York Law School, Tribeca, New York City from Oct 6-8, 2005.

The State of Play, an annual conference sponsored by New York Law School and Yale Law School, explores the next frontier in the evolution of cyberspace: virtual worlds.

Last years inaugural event, "State of Play: Law, Games and Virtual Worlds," introduced the emerging legal, economic, cultural and sociological issues in these three-dimensional computer environments. Participants from a variety of different disciplines discussed the impact of virtual worlds on real world law and the rise of law in virtual worlds.

"State of Play: Reloaded" continues the conversation. It highlights two themes: the role of intellectual property and governance in virtual worlds. Should we import copyright and trademark into virtual spaces? Can we exclude them? What should be the relationship between real and virtual world economies? Should legislatures protect virtual world property? What are the possibilities for using virtual spaces to practice the activities of real world democracy? Should virtual worlds be treated as separate jurisdictions with their own evolving norms and forms of dispute resolution? What is the potential for using virtual worlds to promote democracy and self-governance?

Conference Coordinator: Mr. Edward Chin, echin03@nyls.edu 212-431-2368, Program Coordinator of the Institute for Information Law at New York Law School

Press Contact (including blogger inquiries): Mr. Jim Hellegaard, jhellegaard@nyls.edu 212-431-2191, Communications Director, New York Law School

The Institute for Information Law & Policy and the Information Society Project will be soliciting contributions and proposals for next year's State of Play conference in October 2005. We welcome proposals for panels, papers, speakers and exhibits for next year's event and will circulate a Call for Proposals after State of Play 2. Suggestions should be sent to Mr. Edward Chin at echin03@nyls.edu