[MUD-Dev] Re: Blacksnow revisited

[Robert A. Rice Jr.]

There is a part six on unknown player now

  http://www.unknownplayer.com/archive/02/03/20/466.php

which talks about another lawsuit from the FTC against an online
auction company and against some individuals (including a Richard
Phim and a Lee Caldwell). The question is posed if these are the
same people from blacksnow (Richard Phim and Carman Lee
Caldwell). If it is, then this is pretty interesting stuff and could
really open a huge can of worms and be bad news for the blacksnow
guys. Personally, I wouldn't be surprised if they are the same
people and the law enforcement community gets involved pretty soon,
especially in light of the terms of the judgement in the FTC suit.

I have posted some comments and opinions of my own on the whole
issue at our new forums:

  http://www.zreality.com/vb/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=21 

If you are interested in my two cents, check it out (you will have
to register).

What gets me is that blacksnow asserts they are providing a service,
yet their website clearly offers in-game gold in exchange for real
dollars. Are players paying them to sell items? No, I think not. I
mean really...do you pay walmart to provide a service? Or do you pay
walmart for goods/products?  (check out the posted "legal disclaimer
and buyer's agreement" listed on the blacksnow site)

Even then, I can't see where blacksnow (or anyone else for that
matter) can claim ownership to digital data and information that is
on a server owned by someone else. The arguement that a lot of these
people use, selling their "time", is also a crock of bull in my
opinion.

What concerns me most though, is the potential ramifications their
lawsuit may have on the community. If a court rules (and I am no
lawyer by the way, this is just my opinion) that players DO own
in-game items and have the right to sell them, what is to stop
someone from calling the police when their character is robbed? Or
what if a server time warp occurs and items are lost? Does the
developer then have the legal obligation to pay the user or replace
the lost items? Imagine what a nightmare that would be.

Regards,

Robert Rice
www.zreality.com
MMOG Service and Support

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