Upload
rachel-hampton
View
216
Download
0
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
Liberties in Virtual Environments
Nic SuzorQUT Law School
Institute for Creative Innovation
virtual environments
Multiplayer Real time simultaneous Immersive Persistent
suspension of disbelief, not virtual reality
picture: AlexPGP @
flickr
evolution
picture: kgeiger @ flickr
evolution
evolution
picture: stuartp @ flickr
evolution
AA store, built by Aimee Weber
narrative environments vs social spaces
Game style worlds World of Warcraft, Lineage (I & II), City of
Heroes, Everquest (I & II), Star Wars Galaxies, etc.
Strong central narrative Social spaces
Second Life, A Tale in the Desert, Project Entropia, There, etc.
No central narrative – free form
Who cares about games?
subscribers care about games
mmogchart.com
publishers care about games
Vivendi Games division three-month earnings (second quarter 2006): Earnings: €162 million (AUD$274.5 million)
up 29.6 percent Profits (before interest and tax): €39 million
(AUD$66 million) up from €5 million ($8.5 million) the previous
year. Growth attributed primarily to WoW
Includes loss on start-up investments for Sierra Online and Mobile Games divisions
http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=10824
economists care about games Castronova on Everquest in 2001:
Nominal wage USD$3.42/hour GNP per capita USD$2,266
77th in the world, between Russia and Bulgaria
Project Entropia, Second Life real currencies, real exchange rates booming virtual real estate business
It's not just about money and property
Castranova: 20% of Everquest players live in Norrath and commute to Earth to
support themselves
Not just money!
Social relationships people live, love, learn in these spaces play, trade, socialise – no real limit to
motivations of participants
“Virtual worlds are entitled to respect because real people care about them and
come together in them.” -- Grimmelmann
What are the rules?
what are the rules?
Governed by contract (EULA, ToS) Blizzard may terminate this Agreement at any
time for any reason or no reason. In such event, you must immediately and permanently destroy all copies of the Game in your possession and control and remove the Game Client from your hard drive. Upon termination of this Agreement for any reason, all licenses granted herein shall immediately terminate. (WoW EULA, cl 6)
The virtual world is the property of the platform owner a (mostly) benign dictatorship
What are the problems?
near-term tensions
Real Money Trades (RMTs) Virtual crimes Virtual liberties Intellectual property – copyright Privacy
Tension: Real Money Trades MMORPGs are boring Time-poor players pay others to grind for
them money, items, status
Game-based worlds often prohibit RMTs seen as a breach of the magic circle potentially harms subscription model –
removes grind, and lowers barriers to exit players dislike both 'eBayers' and 'farmers'
eBayers obtain benefits without labour; farmers cause inflation
RMTs (cont)
Blizzard banned 30,000 accounts in May – removed 30 Million gold (USD$3.2M)
Actively encouraged by other worlds Everquest, Ultima Online – centralised trading Project Entropia, Second Life – fluid economy
Selling property of the publisher, or buying the labour of the participant?
sweat shops, or new economy entrepreneurs?
Fox News – WoW sweat shopsAnshe Chung @ Business Week
who gets to make the rules?
UO farming rigInternet Gaming Entertaiment
PunkBuster
what happens if the rules change?
Expect virtual environments to adopt a services based economy power-levelling, custom designs, etc
Economy based primarily on artificial scarcity vulnerable to inflation, flooding by platform
owner or participants Detinue and Conversion of virtual wealth? Suits against platform owner for unfair
competition?
Should we ever prevent platform owners from making changes which affect
perceived value?
(Bartle warns that admins must have the power to make changes)
Question
Tension: Virtual liberties
Freedom of expression Freedom of the press Freedom of association
As more of our interactions occur in these virtual environments, who controls our relationships?
Public activities in private spaces Who has rights of exclusion?
Are these places going to be countries or country clubs? -- Prokofy Neva, upon being banned
from a 'public library' in SL
Freedom of the press
Anshe Chung @ Business WeekAnsche Chung's previous life as an escort
<http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/01/17/1168709794333.html>
Anshe Chung, self proclaimed Second Life Millionaire, has had a lot of publicity over the past year
Second Life's first Property Magnate
Organised a Q&A session for CNET in December 2006
Freedom of the press
Anshe Chung's CNET interview disturbed by flying penises
http://www.smh.com.au/news/web/good-grief-bad-vibes/2006/12/21/1166290662836.html
Anshe claimed copyright in videos of the attack, and made a DMCA complaint against reporters
Complaint withdrawn after advice from the EFA that the videos were fair use
Freedom of the press
Video removed from YouTubehttp://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5387867190768022577&q=Anshe+Chung
To what extent should the press be able to report on incidents in a VE without being
sued for copyright infringement?
Question
Freedom of expression
Participants unable to represent their environments machinima game guides (Kopp v Vivendi)
Image: Tristan Pope
When everything a participant can see is a digital copyright work, it becomes
impossible to represent their environment without infringing copyright.
Should we allow people this ability?
Question
Freedom of association
Naked gnome protest
http://www.cesspit.net/drupal/node/491
Freedom of expression – political protest
Protest at Le Pen's Front National's SL HQ NWN <http://nwn.blogs.com/nwn/2007/01/stronger_than_h.html>
Freedom of expression – political protest
Neighbouring land used to erect protest signs NWN <http://nwn.blogs.com/nwn/2007/01/stronger_than_h.html>
And the protest degenerates into days of violence NWN <http://nwn.blogs.com/nwn/2007/01/stronger_than_h.html>
Community reactions SL Left Unity group “will be manning a
protest [...] until FN go or are ejected. Wherever fascists are we will ensure they get no peace to corrupt and lie to decent people.”
"With this persons we can't debate or ignored. We can't because it's not acceptable."
"They're a bunch of losers, [...] We're gonna tighten security and come back." - FN Officer Wolfram Hayek
NWN <http://nwn.blogs.com/nwn/2007/01/stronger_than_h.html>
Fantasy Westward Journey
http://www.zonaeuropa.com/20060709_1.htm
Fantasy Westward Journey
http://www.zonaeuropa.com/20060709_1.htm
Fantasy Westward Journey
Around 10,000 protesters
http://www.zonaeuropa.com/20060709_1.htm
Fantasy Westward Journey High level alleged
ringleader locked up in a permanent prison, guild disbanded
Playing for 2 years, leader of a top-five guild, spent AUD$6500+ on points and equipment
Avatar name translates to “Kill the little Japs”
Guild name to “The Alliance to Resist Japan”
http://www.zonaeuropa.com/20060710_1.htm
Examples demonstrate the power of protest in virtual environments
If it weren't for issues with server load, do we have an obligation to allow non-violent
in-world protests?
Question
Virtual liberties – discrimination
Tired of intolerance, Sara Andrews wanted to start an in-game guild which was friendly to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered players:
“OZ is recruiting all levels, but especially 50-60s! [...] We are not "glbt only", but we are "glbt friendly"!”
Response from Blizzard:
Please remember that it is up to our sole and absolute discretion whether or not to allow certain types of language in the game. While some language in and of itself may not be offensive, it may incite certain responses in other players that will allow for discussion that we feel has no place in our game. As such, I am afraid that I am unable to reduce, reverse or otherwise amend our previous decision.
Blizzard changed their mind and apologised.
Is this a situation where we would have expected the law to intervene to prevent
private censorship?
Question
Tension: Virtual crimes
Fraud? online
gaming? tax
evasion? Money
laundering?
Virtual crimes
Extortion? Griefing?
http://www.secondlifeherald.com/slh/2005/01/extortion_anshe.html
Who decides when an action in a virtual environment is a 'crime'?
Should criminal law ever regulate purely internal actions, or should these be within
the control of the platform owner?
Question
How do we decide what to do?
Evaluating potential approaches
Essential tension:
allowing virtual environments to develop
vs
regulating to protect legitimate interests
It's just a contractual relationship...
Solution
Limits to a contractual solution
EULAs and ToSs are one-sided
Virtual worlds are designed to encourage high switching costs
Play is constructed in a way that benefits the subscription model
“if you don't like it, leave”?
right of exit dependent on low switching costs high switching costs important for continued
subscriptions Very difficult to leave an environment which
is designed to attach you property, status, social relationships
It's a contractual relationship
(subject to consumer protection laws)
Solution
Consumer law and implied terms
UK, EU, Victorian legislation on unfair terms A term in a consumer contract is to be regarded as unfair if,
contrary to the requirements of good faith and in all the circumstances, it causes a significant imbalance in the parties' rights and obligations arising under the contract to the detriment of the consumer. (Fair Trading Act 1999 (Vic) s 32W)
Part IVA TPA focuses on procedural not substantive unconscionability
Modifiable contracts
Jankowich: 75% of virtual world EULAs specify that the
proprietor may amend or modify the agreements at will;
40% per cent allow modification without notice to the participants.
Such terms could be reasonably rendered void by a court for uncertainty, or may fall afoul of statutory restrictions on the ability to unilaterally modify agreements.
Termination at will
Jankowich 75% of virtual world contracts allow
termination at will by the platform owner Could be a statutory unfair term in certain
jurisdictions The broad discretion as to whether to
fulfil the contract may renders the platform owner's consideration illusory
The trap of invalid contracts
If the EULA or TOS is void (uncertainty, adequacy of consideration, or unconscionability), the participant has no right to access the virtual environment
Where does that leave the user?
Imposing categorical rights and responsibilities?
Solution
Statutes of interration
Castronova and Balkin suggest creating legal categories of virtual environments
Imposing rights and restrictions based upon the chosen category E.g. Commodified worlds must guarantee
some level of free speech; or Game based worlds are granted safe habour
from claims about changes they make in world
Statutes of interration
May prove too inflexible to be useful Depends on categorisations of VEs Will be difficult to develop middle-ground
approaches May be too prescriptive to allow new
types of virtual worlds to develop May prevent individual worlds from
evolving as their needs change
Case by case application of general principles
Solution
A Sui generis law of virtual environments
a minimal set of actionable wrongs and inalienable rights?
● Realms supporting or benefiting from RMTs bear responsibilities to participants?● conversion and detinue?● Restrictions on mudflation, devaluing economy?
● Right to property for participants?● Jankowich: property rights would allow participants
to bargain with platform owners● But would also restrict the platform owner from
shaping the environment
A right to exit
Participants have no power unless they can exit or vote with their wallets Real Money Trades can significantly lower
switching costs (for commodified indicators) Standardised transfers? Increased competition? Increased interoperability?
Are low switching costs necessary for a liberal environment?
Limits of sui generis approach
Could be quite a haphazard approach Individual courts or legislatures could
wreak havoc on virtual worlds if law is brought in by flawed analogies
Where do we go from here?
Evaluating potential approaches
We've identified interests and tensions
The next stage of this research is to develop a model to evaluate these potential approaches
How do we know when to regulate and when to let these realms develop for
themselves?
The wisdom to know the difference