Second Life Court Ruling Could Limit TOS’ Power

A Pennsylvania man’s bid to sue Second Life operator Linden Labs over virtual property will move forward, and may break some new legal ground regarding the Terms of Service that govern online worlds, according to Mark Wallace over at 3pointD. The suit concerns a piece of Second Life real estate that was purchased by the plaintiff and then confiscated by Linden Labs. A judge allowed the suit to go forward, rejecting Linden’s motion for a dismissal. But as Mark explains it, what is signficant is that the judge ruled, in essence, that the dispute is governed by the court and not Second Life’s TOS. An excerpt:

The court filing is plain: “The TOS are a contract of adhesion,” it reads. A lawyer should certainly weigh in here on just what that means, but as far as I know — and I’ve looked into this somewhat while Peter Ludlow and I were writing our forthcoming book about virtual worlds — it at least means that LL can’t just point to the Terms of Service and claim that all SL users are unequivocally subject to its whims. The court decision essentially holds LL to a higher standard than any virtual world company has been held before, as far as I know. In part, the decision grows out of the fact that real money is at play in Second Life, and out of LL’s and Rosedale’s relentless promotion of SL as a place where money can be earned.

Really interesting stuff. If the lawsuit advances and creates any precedents (still a long way off, but now a legitimate possibility) it would appear to have implications for games that allow real money trading (RMT). Would that include Sony’s Everquest II, which allows players to buy and sell assets in the Sony-sanctioned Station Exchange? This is a case to watch going forward. See additional discussion at ValleyWag, Raph Koster and The Forge.