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"We haven't heard much in the way of Second Life drama lately, but this next copyright infringement case may remind us all of the juicy real life implications of playing in a virtual world. \nKevin Alderman is a successful entrepreneur that manages to rake in a good amount of money from his business dealings in Second Life.  Aside from the Amsterdam sims, which has been acquired by a Dutch media firm for $50,000, Alderman has created the SexGen bed, offering a rather entertaining piece of furniture for the playable web game users.  As Second Life resident Volkov Catteneo has allegedly copied the bed and sold it for a third of its retail cost ($45.11), Catteneo is severely cutting into Alderman's profits.\nThe copyright infringement lawsuit has one major obstacle though\u2014no one knows the true identity of Catteneo.  Alderman is looking to subpoena Second Life in order to obtain Catteneo's personal identification information, but the creators of the virtual game have been largely unresponsive so far.  In a move similar to that which is required by other media websites, Alderman reported Catteneo's copyright violation by the direction outlined in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, but was subsequently instructed to use the in-world \"abuse reporting\" system.\nUntil all of this is sorted out, Catteneo will be referred to as John Doe for the purposes of the law suit.  The person behind the avatar is reportedly unwaivering in regards to the lawsuit, and is taking pride in their status as being somewhat of an untouchable.  Nevertheless, this law suit touches on several legal issues that are pertinent to commerce and social behavior that takes place via the Internet.  Mirroring several of the legal woes that YouTube is currently being attacked for, the outcome of this case in particular could have an effect beyond the virtual fantasy land.\nSimilar law suits include Daniela Cicarelli vs. YouTube, and T.V. versus Union Township Board of Education."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2007/07/03/second-life-sexbed/>