According to Reuters Linden Lab today complied with subpoena requiring them to reveal the records they have about Volkov Catteneo for the Eros/Stoker Serpentine lawsuit. Probably not much of a surprise to anyone to be honest (even less of surprise having tried to under the reasons a subpoena can be denied they're written in lawyer speak, not English).At the same time over on Virtually Blind there is a link to an article in The American recommending that the law be changed in such cases, specifically that the current, quite limited reasons for refusing a subpoena be broadened, and require the plaintiff to produce evidence suitable to overcome a "motion to dismiss" before they can compel someone to reveal real life data about pseudonyms, such as your Second Life name.
OK, the timing is nothing more than coincidence but an interesting one. Benjamin is seeking debate about these changes, and I don't want to steal his thunder so please comment over there on this specific issue.
1. It is no secret that I'm a friend of many parties involved (disclaimer!). That said, I think Stroker deserves a lot of credit for making a stand here; every content creator in Second Life should give him a pat on the back for making a statement on the part of all of us. The intellectual property involved in this case is as real as that of a book, an article, a blog post, a song, or any piece of code: it should be protected as such under the current law. Stroker deserves a lot of credit for making a statement that thievery will not be accepted, even if the cost of making that statement may be more than you can ever realize through the legal system.
In my opinion, this is the most important case ever filed with regards to Second Life, and I hope Linden Lab continues to refine the internal processes to protect the IP they've promised to those who create the virtual world: the content creators. I'm glad to see the RL legal process move forward as most of us thought it would.
Regards,
-Flip
Posted at 8:18PM on Aug 6th 2007 by FlipperPA