Today’s Internet Law Tip: Common Sense

Just now as I was perusing through the Threat Level Blog, three stories in particular caught my eye. Because after reading each, I had the thought: Don’t these people know how the Internet works? Therefore, I offer these three bits of advice for Internet users everywhere.

(1) If you are a government agency, do not use Wikipedia as a resource when making major decisions.

(2) If you are a hacker, do not post pictures of your cat that have personal information about yourself in the background.

(3) If you are front-page news because of your involvement with a Vice Presidential candidate, take down your MySpace page.

My graduate school adviser always made the point to her online communities class that in twenty years, we won’t be able to run a presidential election without having to deal with the media dredging up blogs where the candidates once spewed their teenage angst. That day may be coming sooner than we think.

IP’s Next VIP? You!

From my recent posting at JETLawBlog:

Managing Intellectual Property, a global magazine not just for lawyers but for large businesses and other intellectual property owners, recently released its annual list of the most influential people in the world of IP. The top ten include names like Francis Gurry, the deputy director of WIPO, and Chief Judge Paul Michael of the Federal Court of Appeals, known for his patent decisions.

The number one spot? “The avatar,” Second Life. This, of course, refers to the virtual representation of the user/player in the online virtual world Second Life. As noted by Managing Intellectual Property:

No conference on intellectual property today, it seems, is complete without a session on them; no textbook or learned article comes without a reference to their implications for IP rights owners. Wherever you look, people are talking about online worlds such as Second Life.

Interestingly enough, SL (launched in 2003) has been growing lately… while at the same time attracting fewer new users. The growth is economic, suggesting that the already-highly-engaged SL regulars are intensifying their interest in and use of the world, even if the appeal to new users is fading. But meanwhile, the legal interest in SL is also intensifying. With virtual worlds beginning to supplant the novelty value of the Internet in terms of cutting edge law, more and more legal scholars are considering issues of “virtual law,” particularly in regards to intellectual property.

Legal practitioners are carving out a niche in the world as well. The Second Life Bar Association even offers virtual CLEs and legal lecture series. Where else can you get continuing education credit while “sitting” between a giant rabbit and a lawyer in an impeccably tailored suit (who also happens to have alien-green skin)?

In any case, Managing Intellectual Property seems to be hitting the mark in terms of the Next Big Thing in IP… it may not be Second Life in particular, but with everyone from EA Games to Google working on their own virtual worlds, the legal issues aren’t going away anytime soon. The celebration of “the avatar” reminds me of Time Magazine’s Person of the Year for 2006: “you.” Like Web 2.0 content creators and movers-and-shakers, you are the heart of virtual worlds, you and your avatar.

Image Source: flickr/pathfinderlinden