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Sponsored by the Institute for Information Law and Policy at New York Law School and the Information Society Project at Yale Law School, the "State of Play: Law, Games, and Virtual Worlds" focused on the legal issues raised by videogames, and in particular virtual world on-line societies, a multi-billion dollar industry and the frontier of computer technology and graphic design. Leading thinkers in their fields discussed free speech, intellectual property, and governance within the gamespace and the impact of what is rapidly becoming of the largest entertainment industries and most important new cultural phenomena on the law. "It was a happening," said New York law School Professor Beth Noveck, Director of the Institute for Information Law and Policy. "Everyone had the sense that that something special had taken place. That something was technologists and lawyers getting together to explore the unfolding revolution of massively multiplayer games and virtual worlds and to understand the impact of these simulated societies from each other's perspective." These worlds, where players from around the world interact in real-time offer a "playground for complex social interactions," Noveck said. As such, they represent an ideal space for learning more about the practices of law, culture and democracy. Jack M. Balkin, Knight Professor of Constitutional Law and First Amendment at Yale Law School and Director of its Information Society Project, said people who design games discovered at the conference that lawyers had been thinking about many of the same issues they confront in running a virtual world through the lens of contract, property, and free speech. At the same time, the lawyers discovered that political and legal systems are developing in these virtual worlds and increasingly becoming blurred with the real world. Among the themes discussed at the conference were:
The legal implications of virtual worlds came to the fore on the second day of the conference when Philip Rosedale, CEO of Linden Lab, creator of online world Second Life, announced that Linden would recognize the ownership of in-world content, including characters, clothing, objects and designs, by the subscribers who make it. The State of Play conference provided an opportunity for those present to discuss the experience of inhabiting virtual worlds and videogames and to try first-hand such worlds as Second Life, There.com, Americas Army as well as experimental game projects, such as Myzel.org from Vienna, Austria and LEGISIM, a political simulation game from the University of Washington. The Conference also hosted a "Democracy Design Workshop," where game designers and senior officials from Washington exchanged ideas for better policymaking in the gamespace and by federal agencies. Among the speakers who participated in the conference were:
The conference is the subject of continuing discussion among attendees at the Terra Nova Weblog http://terranova.blogs.com. Post-conference "buzz," including photos, press accounts and summaries of panels are available at http://old.nyls.edu/games. The conference will be the topic of an upcoming issue of New York Law School Law Review, as well as a book entitled, The State of Play. Production of a DVD is in the works. “Play Again? The State of Play 2.0: More Law, Games and Virtual Worlds” will be held in November 2004. For more information, please visit http://old.nyls.edu/games. Press inquiries, please contact Jim Hellegaard, communications director, New York Law School, at 212.431.2191 or jhellegaard@nyls.edu ### |
