The state of play : law, games, and virtual worlds / edited by Jack M. Balkin and Beth Simone Noveck.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Balkin, J. M.

Noveck, Beth Simone.

Series:

Ex machina

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Video games--Law and legislation.

Video games.

Virtual reality.

Physical Description:

viii, 304 pages ; 23 cm.

Place of Publication:

New York : New York University Press, [2006]

Summary:

The State of Play presents an essential first step in understanding how new digital worlds will change the future of our universe. Millions of people around the world inhabit virtual words: multiplayer online games where characters live, love, buy, trade, cheat, steal, and have every possible kind of adventure. Far more complicated and sophisticated than early video games, people now spend countless hours in virtual universes like Second Life and Star Wars Galaxies not to shoot space invaders but to create new identities, fall in love, build cities, make rules, and break them. As digital worlds become increasingly powerful and lifelike, people will employ them for countless real-world purposes, including commerce, education, medicine, law enforcement, and military training. Inevitably, real-world law will regulate them. But should virtual worlds be fully integrated into our real-world legal system or should they be treated as separate jurisdictions with their own forms of dispute resolution? What rules should govern virtual communities? Should the law step in to protect property rights when virtual items are destroyed or stolen? -- These questions, and many more, are considered in The State of Play, where legal experts, game designers, and policymakers explore the boundaries of free speech, intellectual property, and creativity in virtual worlds. The essays explore both the emergence of law in multiplayer online games and how we can use virtual worlds to study real-world social interactions and test real-world laws. Contributors: Jack M. Balkin, Richard A. Bartle, Yochai Benkler, Caroline Bradley, Edward Castronova, Susan P. Crawford, Julian Dibbell, A. Michael Froomkin, James Grimmelmann, David R. Johnson, Dan Hunter, Raph Koster, F. Gregory Lastowka, Beth Simone Noveck, Cory Ondrejka, Tracy Spaight, and Tal Zarsky.

Contents:

Virtual worlds : a primer / F. Gregory Lastowka and Dan Hunter

Virtual worldliness / Richard A. Bartle

Declaring the rights of players / Raph Koster

The right to play / Edward Castronova

Law and liberty in virtual worlds / Jack M. Balkin

Virtual crime / F. Gregory Lastowka and Dan Hunter

Owned! Intellectual property in the age of eBayers, gold farmers, and other enemies of the virtual state / Julian Dibbell

Virtual power politics / James Grimmelmann

Escaping the gilded cage : user-created content and building the metaverse / Cory Ondrejka

There is no spoon / Yochai Benkler

Who killed miss Norway? / Tracy Spaight

Who's in charge of who I am? : identity and law online / Susan P. Crawford

Privacy and data collection in virtual worlds / Tal Zarsky

Virtual worlds, real rules : using virtual worlds to test legal rules / Caroline Bradley and A. Michael Froomkin

The new visual literacy : how the screen affects the law / David R. Johnson

Democracy : the videogame : virtual worlds and the future of collective action / Beth Simone Noveck.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

081479971X

0814799728

9780814799710

9780814799727

OCLC:

70176784

Publisher Number:

9780814799710

9780814799727