TAMPA, FL — Virtual-world crimes can have real-life consequences, as men in Texas and New York now know. Eros LLC owner Kevin Alderman’s dispute with Robert Leatherwood and Thomas Simon spilled over into the real world when Alderman sued the men over cyber-theft. The two separate lawsuits were settled last week, and while they may have failed to set legal precedents, they still stand as warnings that cyber-entrepreneurs are very serious about their investments and may, in fact, have legal footing to enforce them.The lawsuits began in mid-2007 when Alderman sued Second Life avatar “Volkov Catteneo” in federal court over copyright infringement. In the lawsuit, Alderman alleged Catteneo made and sold unauthorized copies of Sex Gen, a software product manufactured by Alderman’s company, Eros LLC. Sex Gen allows Second Life participants to give their avatars — or virtual characters — secondary sexual characteristics and engage in sexual activity within the virtual world.
Uniquely, Alderman’s suit named an avatar as the defendant. It was not until Alderman — who operates in Second Life as a virtual character named Stroker Serpentine — served Second Life creator Linden Lab and other participants with subpoenas that he was able to discover Catteneo’s real-world identity: 19-year-old Leatherwood, a Second Life devotee living in Texas.
The settlement, filed last week in U.S. District Court, allowed Leatherwood to escape without reimbursing Alderman for damages and without admitting guilt. However, Leatherwood did agree not to engage in further infringement of Alderman’s intellectual property and to turn over the real names and email addresses of anyone else who had access to the Catteneo character.
“Kevin is moving on,” Alderman’s attorney, Francis Taney, told Tampa Bay Online. “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.”
Alderman told YNOT, “As far as the consent order, it’s a tool in an arsenal to wield against Leatherwood should he try to create alternate accounts and jump-start his little enterprise. We certainly could have pursued a judgment; however, this is a 19-year-old punk who lives with grandma. If we were lucky, we might have gotten a nicotine-stained laptop and three used Goodyear tires that fit a four-wheel-drive Ford.”
The second suit was filed in January against Second Life Avatar Rase Kenzo, who turned out to be New Yorker Thomas Simon, 36. According to court documents, Simon stole a variety of virtual goods from Alderman’s Second Life shop Strokerz Toyz. That case also resulted in a settlement under which no money changed hands and no guilt was admitted, but Simon’s sticky fingers were precluded from latching onto any more of Stroker Serpentine’s virtual goods.
Although the cases didn’t set an literal precedents because no judge was required to rule on the validity of patents and trademarks in cyberspace, Alderman’s attorney and other legal experts said at least they demonstrated that the courts will take cases like them seriously.
As for Alderman, he’s satisfied with the outcome.
“Honestly, I just wanted to let these asshats know they are ostracized and accountable [for their behavior],” he told YNOT.
