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October 24, 2007, 01:19 PM ET
Law Review Editor: Courts Should Handle Avatar Defamation
Digital characters in virtual worlds like Second Life whose income drops because they have been defamed should be able to seek redress in a real court, according to an article published in the current issue of the Brooklyn Law Review.
The author of the article, Bettina Chin, the publication’s editor in chief and a student at Brooklyn Law School, supports her thesis, in part, by arguing that the relationship between an avatar and his human operator is comparable to that of a sole shareholder and his business entity.
“Like corporations or partnerships, avatars have no separate consciousness, but are efficient mechanisms through which users conduct their businesses in cyberspace. Words directed at avatars as non-living entities affect a user’s in-world reputation and communal existence,” the article states. —-Andrea L. Foster
Categories: Virtual-Worlds
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