Two interesting pieces on virtual law
Two very interesting articles lately thrown in the blogosphere by VirtuallyBlind and Terranova. The first one, written by Farnaz Alemi (Latham & Watkins LLP), can be found on UCLA Law Tech Journal and was reviewed by Benjamin on VirtuallyBlind. Ashcroft Burnham, one of the founders of the Metaverse Republic, has been challenging many of the commenters on VB in what came out as a very, very interesting discussion.
Thomas Malaby on Terranova has an interesting commentary on governance and legitimacy in virtual worlds, two points which, for us, are of the utmost importance. The most interesting point Malaby makes is about Second Life, where he spent some time as a research intern. Quoting from Malaby:
Second Life is a good example of a project – and Linden Lab has been a good example of a company – that is deeply informed by the “left-libertarian” attitude toward technology and its promise which has shaped everything from the structure of the early internet to the proliferation of personal computers, but about which I do not have sufficient space to say more here (see Turner, 2006). Suffice it to say that in a political sense Linden Lab in 2005 was characterized by an almost overpowering faith in technology, matched only by a similarly monumental suspicion of vertical authority – especially bureaucratic authority, although charismatic authority was suspect as well. The paradox for Linden Lab was how to realize the ongoing creation of Second Life in a way that was consistent with their idealized vision of individual creativity and liberty, while remaining indisputably and unavoidably the single most powerful institutional player on the scene.
In the next posts, we’ll give you an update on the ongoing activity of the Metaverse Republic, so stay tuned for more 
