Commenter Benjamin Duranske put us onto his great article on trademark infringement in SL. It may seem that these knockoffs are harmless; it's all in good fun, right? Nobody really believes that they're receiving anything like the real deal, it's just a crafted object. Yet that object is trading off the cachet of its RL progenitor, so if nobody cared about such things, nobody would bother to buy these copies.However, if/when, say, Apple decides to develop an in-world presence, would residents be more likely to buy their versions of virtual iPods? Let's face it: legality aside, knockoffs that come preloaded with mp3s are going to be infinitely more attractive to residents than Official Apple iPods, which won't be preloaded with anything. As always, the unsatisfying answer remains "Time will tell."
(incidentally, the Akela Snarls are trademark Jakkal Dingo -- don't sue me!)
(Via virtuallyblind.com)
