'Second Life' Sexual Genitalia Spawns Lawsuit
Second Life is becoming more and more of a mirror of the real world. Real estate, relationships, sex and commerce. Where there's commerce, there are lawsuits. The 3D virtual world now has its first, not-so virtual, copyright lawsuit. Kevin Alderman, owner of SexGen, is suing an avatar (virtual game character) named Volkov Catteneo.SexGen changes your Ken and Barbie-esque 'Second Life' avatar into an anatomically correct model with 3D-rendered genitalia. The software package also adds a collection of "sexy" animations for your avatar to perform.
Alderman alleges that the man behind Volkov cracked his copy protection scheme and sold illegal copies of the SexGen software. When confronted, Volkov taunted Alderman saying, "What are you going to do? Sue me?" So Alderman sued him. The case is rooted in basic copyright infringement law, and is drawing attention more because of the sexual nature of the content and the fact the lawsuit started in a virtual world.
From USA Today
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