Second Life avatar sues another
Updated on 12 July 2007
In the online virtual universe of Second Life, one avatar has sued another for stealing his intellectual property, the design for a virtual bed.
The oldest profession in real life is also the biggest business in Second Life.
While big name companies see it as a marketing opportunity, for many residents its a perfect playground for their sexual fantasies.
By some estimates, sex accounts for 30 per cent of the Second Life economy and shops do a roaring trade selling sex toys, lingerie and artificial genitalia. Avatars, born with no genitals, have to buy whatever they need.
That means plenty of eager customers for sex shops like Strokerz Toys, which makes hundreds of thousands of dollars a year and its success has landed it in court.
One of its most successful products is the Sex Gen bed, essential kit for any amorous avatar
Stroker Serpentine, real world name Kevin Alderman, claims that another avatar has stolen his bed design, and is selling counterfeit copies.
Using a loophole in the Second Life law, the alleged thief, Volkov Catteneo, and others like him, have been able to espace justice.
