| I'm really interested to see the property system because this is the first big "social MMO" project to come after Second Life.
Now, if I'm looking at Second Life and I'm a lawyer, I'm thinking two things. One, Second Life's "property rights! For you!" system has gotten it a lot of good buzz and probably some revenue. Second, its actual EULA is a mess of contradictions, and it's about to get in a world of hurt based on any number of legal theories.
So, where do you go from there? You can either go full-forward and cede legal control over part of your project to these Youtube-esque content developers, or you can go the Warcraft route and deny them anything legally, but give a wink and a nod towards the grey market. Or I guess you can hash it like SL has.
Now, I'd love to see Option 1. I'm guessing that Raph and crew would love to see Option 1 from a philosophical standpoint. Did Option 1 survive the cold light of day? I'm thinking "no way." No way can anyone create a viable online game space that cedes legal control to third parties. It creates way too many unanswered questions. | 