TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Creator Of Virtual Sex Toy Settles Lawsuit In Theft Case

ADVERTISEMENT

By ELAINE SILVESTRINI

The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 22, 2008

TAMPA - A lawsuit between made-up characters in a virtual online world has been settled in real-life federal court.

The suit, brought by the maker of a virtual sex toy, was thought to be the first involving copyright and trademark laws in virtual reality.

Set in a popular online world known as Second Life, the case pitted Lutz entrepreneur Kevin Alderman, who uses the online persona - or avatar - called "Stroker Serpentine," against a character who goes by "Volkov Catteneo" and whose real identity and location at first were unknown.

Alderman alleged in his federal lawsuit that Volkov Catteneo had copied and sold a virtual toy called a "Sex Gen" made by Alderman's company, Eros, and marketed within Second Life. The device, Alderman said, manipulates Second Life characters into various sexual actions.

After issuing subpoenas to the owners of Second Life and others, Alderman amended his suit to name Robert Leatherwood of Texas as being behind the Volkov Catteneo avatar. In October, Leatherwood denied in an interview with The Tampa Tribune that he was the avatar. But in an interview published March 6 with Reuters, he acknowledged he was behind the character.

In the settlement filed in U.S. District Court, Leatherwood agreed not to copy or sell any merchandise owned by Alderman's company, Eros, without permission. He also agrees not to help anyone else make or sell the merchandise and to turn over the e-mail addresses of anyone who had access to the Volkov Catteneo account on Second Life.

The settlement does not involve money.

"Kevin is moving on," said Alderman's attorney, Francis Taney, who said Leatherwood didn't have much in the way of assets for Alderman to pursue. "Ability to collect on any judgment is a factor. It's certainly a factor here. ...The most important thing is to get the conduct stopped so it doesn't create an ongoing problem. We have here an injunction against a real-life person. I'm pleased that we were able to get that relief."

A similar lawsuit Alderman joined in New York also has settled, Taney said.

The cases echoed across the Internet and caught the attention of lawyers and geeks around the world. At least one legal expert said the outcome set precedent, affecting a wide range of Internet commerce, from online news sites to sales of movies and music.

With the settlement, no judge will rule on whether the trademark and copyright laws apply to virtual commerce.

"You couldn't call this precedential, but ... I really haven't heard any well-reasoned arguments why copyright and trademark laws or other intellectual property laws wouldn't apply" in virtual life," Taney said.

Reporter Elaine Silvestrini can be reached at (813) 259-7837 or esilvestrini@tampatrib.com.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT