Category Archives: Video Games

On Virtual Travel

Why would a denizen of a virtual world want to cross over into another virtual world, especially if she couldn’t bring her special powers, skills, or goods into that other world?  This was the question asked in a comment the … Continue reading

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Laws for the Virtual Universe

What if virtual worlds, no matter their purposes, narratives, unique details, and other variations, could be linked? What if they had borders between them, keeping the right stuff in its place, but in other ways being permeable? Continue reading

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New ways of looking at video game IP

This is where we tread the line between copyright and patent – between creative work and invention – that has plagued software intellectual property protection for a very long time. The game bears enough in common with its paper-and-dice ancestors to merit some form of patent consideration; yet the invention here is in fact a platform for storytelling – a tool to inspire and facilitate the creation of content by its users. Continue reading

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Software IP and Games – which model applies?

At the moment, video games, because they are software, are covered by copyright.  But traditionally, games were covered by patent. Hmm.  I’ve argued before that software should be sui generis, governed by a hybrid model of patent and copyright: The … Continue reading

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Are there benefits to “piracy”?

The pro-copyright lobby groups would have you believe that all unauthorized reproduction (and distribution), colloquially known (inaccurately) as piracy, is horrid for the industries concerned, and is destroying them. Many say that unauthorized copying actually benefits the concerned industries. Do you think this is true? If so, which industry benefits the most? I’ve created a poll and I would like you to let me know what you think. Feel free to comment to this post. Continue reading

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How to make the Massive Tech Show into a massive tech show

I’ve been critical of the Vancouver Massive Tech Show both here and on Tazzu. I’ve branded it as boring, uninspired, a waste of an afternoon, and anything but either massive or a show. I’ve been challenged to propose something better, … Continue reading

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Fair Play and Griefing in Second Life

Terra Nova has an interesting piece on the issue of fair play in virtual worlds. I think the question is whether “griefing” could be considered infringement to fair play, which implies that fair play exists as a principle, and infers … Continue reading

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Selling your everything: Non-comp clauses, IP, and employment contracts

I would like to write, today, about a murky subject I’ve been thinking about for a few weeks. The various forms the germ of this post has assumed over those weeks all stem from a particular type of clause – … Continue reading

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