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November 8: Virtual Justice - The New Laws of Online Worlds

Virtual worlds often seem like they have their own governments….and their own laws. Whether expressed through a EULA or a Terms of Service Agreement, virtual worlds are often governed by individual codes of conduct and enforcement that are derived less from “real-world” laws and more by the platform owner’s lawyers. But the law doesn’t end at the border of a virtual world, and the continually evolving ways in which governments, regulators and judges interpret the law as it applies to virtual worlds is an increasingly important subject as online communities grow.

Robert Bloomfield welcomes a very special guest, Greg Lastowka, Professor of Law at Rutgers University on the eve of the publication of his new book: Virtual Justice, The New Laws of Online Worlds.

Published by Yale University Press, Professor Lastowka’s book explores crime, governance and a history of law in virtual worlds:

Business is booming on the virtual frontier, as billions of dollars are paid in exchange for pixels on screens. But sometimes things go wrong. Virtual criminals defraud online communities in pursuit of real-world profits. People feel cheated when their avatars lose virtual property to wrongdoers. Increasingly, they turn to legal systems for solutions. But when your avatar has been robbed, what law is there to assist you?

In Virtual Justice, Greg Lastowka illustrates the real legal dilemmas posed by virtual worlds. Presenting the most recent lawsuits and controversies, he explains how governments are responding to the chaos on the cyberspace frontier. After an engaging overview of the history and business models of today’s virtual worlds, he explores how laws of property, jurisdiction, crime, and copyright are being adapted to pave the path of virtual law.

Join us for this in-depth discussion of trends, insights and the future of law, crime and governance in virtual environments on Monday November 8th at 12 p.m. Pacific.

You can join in through our main stage in Second Life, or watch a live video stream of the event on this page.

Guest Biographies

Greg Lastowka

Greg Lastowka is a Professor of Law at Rutgers University, teaching on property and intellectual property. He is an expert on Internet law and his opinions have been quoted in publications such as Nature, The Economist, Scientific American, and the New York Times. He is a co-director of the Rutgers Institute for Information Policy & Law.

Professor Lastowka earned his B.A. summa cum laude at Yale College in 1991. From 1994-1996, he served with the United States Peace Corps in Turkmenistan, where he was the co-author of the first Turkmen-English dictionary. He earned his J.D. from the University of Virginia in 2000.

Prior to joining the Rutgers faculty in 2004, Professor Lastowka clerked for Judge Walter K. Stapleton on the Third Circuit and practiced intellectual property and technology litigation at Dechert LLP. While at Dechert, he was pro bono co-counsel for Ken Hamidi in the landmark case of Intel Corp. v. Hamidi.

His book, Virtual Justice, was published in November, 2010 by Yale Press.