Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 5 of 5
Full-Text Articles in Law
Nexus Crystals: Crystallizing Limits On Constractual Control Of Virtual Worlds, Joshua A.T. Fairfield
Nexus Crystals: Crystallizing Limits On Constractual Control Of Virtual Worlds, Joshua A.T. Fairfield
Joshua A.T. Fairfield
Can a video game developer or publisher successfully sue a video game player for copyright infringement for not “playing a game nicely,” “cheating,” or “buying software from a third party”? This article suggests a new reason why it cannot. The founding social contract of the new millennium is the End User License Agreement (EULA), not the U.S. Constitution. Website terms of use (TOU) and software EULAs now have an enormous impact on how citizens must act and how their rights and redresses are defined. EULAs contain not only traditional intellectual property licensing conditions but complicated directives regarding what members of …
The End Of The (Virtual) World, Joshua A.T. Fairfield
The End Of The (Virtual) World, Joshua A.T. Fairfield
Joshua A.T. Fairfield
Virtual worlds have been the next big thing for some time now. In 2008, more than 100 public virtual worlds received venture capital funding - a significant increase over previous years. Yet virtual worlds have been going bankrupt faster than ever, including several high-profile firms and worlds. Every technology goes through a shakedown phase, and for virtual worlds the current recession has served as a catalyst for a downturn that, although not unexpected, is nevertheless startling in both numbers and rapidity. This article examines the intimate relationship between how a virtual world begins life and how it ends. The amount …
Castles In The Air: F. Gregory Lastowka's Virtual Justice, Joshua A.T. Fairfield
Castles In The Air: F. Gregory Lastowka's Virtual Justice, Joshua A.T. Fairfield
Joshua A.T. Fairfield
This Article argues that informed consent to contract terms is not a good to be maximized, but an information cost that courts should minimize. As a result, courts ought to minimize the cost sum of information costs and contractual surprise. The Article applies information-cost theory to show that information-forcing rules are often inefficient at both the micro- and macroeconomic levels. Such rules also impose greater costs on third parties than the benefits they create for the contracting parties. When one consumer creates an idiosyncratic deal, the information-savings benefits of standardization are reduced for all other potential consumers. The Article demonstrates …
Mixed Reality: How The Laws Of Virtual Worlds Govern Everyday Life, Joshua A.T. Fairfield
Mixed Reality: How The Laws Of Virtual Worlds Govern Everyday Life, Joshua A.T. Fairfield
Joshua A.T. Fairfield
Just as the Internet linked human knowledge through the simple mechanism of the hyperlink, now reality itself is being hyperlinked, indexed, and augmented with virtual experiences. Imagine being able to check the background of your next date through your cell phone, or experience a hidden world of trolls and goblins while you are out strolling in the park. This is the exploding technology of Mixed Reality, which augments real places, people, and things with rich virtual experiences. As virtual and real worlds converge, the law that governs virtual experiences will increasingly come to govern everyday life. The problem is that …
Avatar Experimentation: Human Subjects Research In Virtual Worlds, Joshua A.T. Fairfield
Avatar Experimentation: Human Subjects Research In Virtual Worlds, Joshua A.T. Fairfield
Joshua A.T. Fairfield
Researchers love virtual worlds. They are drawn to virtual worlds because of the opportunity to study real populations and real behavior in shared simulated environments. The growing number of virtual worlds and population growth within virtual worlds has led to a sizeable increase in the number of human subjects experiments taking place in such worlds. Virtual world users care deeply about their avatars, their virtual property, their privacy, their relationships, their community, and their accounts. People within virtual worlds act much as they would in the physical world because the experience of the virtual world is “real” to them. The …