well it's in the ToS for SL and SLX

Plus it's not LL/SLX's job to look for possible infringement, that is the burden that rests on the owners of said rights.

There is a button on every SLX item that allows them to be reported for infringement, like when a ton of NFL content showed up (and you think Taser is evil... you ain't seen nothing compared to the NFL's trademark lawyers... and yet all they did was report it and get it removed.)

Here is the thing: It is more akin to youtube than the classifieds

If someone on youtube uses trademark or copyright materials, youtube as a corporate entity knows nothing about it because they do not vet or veto any content uploads.

They have no hand in the content creation at all (unlike say There where everything has to go through corporate governance)

So till the corporation brings it to LL/SLX's attention they can't act because they know nothing about it (a good example was during the superbowl there was a ton of NFL related merchandise put up on SLX, but was taken down swiftly both there as soon as the NFL contacted SLX with the links to the content.)

The links on SLX include report item button, for just such issues.

It is not LL or SLX that has to look out for the infringement, it is the legal team of the corporation that holds said rights.

Same thing, really. file a trademark complaint and SLX pulls it in a hearbeat. they did it for Ford, Jeep, NFL, etc...

The problem is they are suing the newspaper for the classified ads (the exchange website) that someone else is using to sell the item that violates their trademark.

And for the record SLX is super fast on responding to trademark violation in removing the item from the listings, and if Taser filed a proper DCMA request LL would respond as well in world.

It's Taser's job to file the proper paperwork and work with the system, since LL does not vet any content the users create. (There does... and look at how well it is going)

This is Taser saying to the new york times : Hey we're going to sue ya because a person is selling knock off stunguns under the taser name in your classified section and you are making a cut from said classifieds. Oh and we are not going to go after them, just you.

Nope, they are no more the retailer than the classified section of a newspaper

Wrong They are a host of content created by a user. Much like youtube They make a little bit of money off the sale through the website of SLX but that would be the only real damages Taser could go after (all of maybe 100 bucks us) Taser still needs to follow the usual DCMA procedures that even the RIAA follows when they go after a youtube video

Simply send a notice of close of operations... If every ISP were to send such a letter to every user, and to the governement bodies responsable for trying to make them foot the bills for the *IAA tactics people would stand up and take notice It's one thing for geeks to pay attention, but I bet you even the less tech savy will stand up and take notice when they realize this will mean they lose thier internet service because the ISPs don't want to be put in this situation. But it's sad to say they will not, greed is a powerful thing... But the thought of your country suddenly being kicked off the internet superhighway because of the actions of the *iaa shills forcing the isps to pay for monitoring and filtering... as well as turn folks into criminals without a trial... Should make them say wait a minute.

Google image search.... Google in general with ad words... So is google next on the chopping block?

Or simply let parents parent. Hell the games have a rating on them and list what is in them, online games... Would they let their little innocent kid out on the internet unsupervised... it's full of things they don't want little bobby to see. You can legislate it in... but none of the parents that would use it... would need it because they already are parenting The ones that want it are not parenting to begin with, and wouldn't be there to use when they let the TV/Net babysit the spawn

It was brought up about the income from second life, and the irs has ruled in the past ti counts as income once it's converted to real world dollars based on the fact there is a variable rate (similar to how you stocks are not taxable till cashed out, but dividends you receive are taxed as income) It gets even simpler in most of the games out there. Since it's all owned by the game company and real world selling is against the rules. But it still falls under the other income field on your tax form if you violate the TOS or use say SOE's marketplace to sell in game items for real world money. Remember they busted Al Capone not for any of his other crimes, just tax evasion because he didn't pay the taxes on his income from his illegal operations. When you convert it in any way to real world money, it is now income and taxable.

In Second Life you own the ip rights to your creations. You agree to a limited use license on their servers though. Key thing is in games where you pay real cash, things can be valued a good bit. But, all that virtual wealth is non-taxable as the exchange rates from the virtual to the real fluctuate. Much like stocks, you don't pay taxes on it till you cash out and have real assets in the cash. Games like WoW and EVE where the buying of things for real world money is against the rules, the game company owns everything meaning you pay to play on the servers with the understanding you really own none of the virtual goods your characters posses. The games with the pay to buy perks are iffy, as is sony with their markets for EQ