The State of Play: Law, Games, and Virtual Worlds (Ex Machina: Law, Technology, and Society) (Paperback)

~ Jack Balkin (Author), Beth Noveck (Author)
Key Phrases: game conceit, visual virtual worlds, atomistic construction, Second Life, Ultima Online, First Amendment (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This is a spectacular collection of essays on the present and future of virtual worlds. It's a perfect introduction for those who have yet to experience them, and more important, a thoughtful companion for those who do."

- Jonathan Zittrain, Oxford University

"The State of Play is an extremely comprehensive look into digital worlds and how those worlds are evolving cultures, changing lives, reshaping the way we think and communicate. If you want to understand where modern culture is headed and learn more about incredibly fascinating experiences taking place in virtual worlds, pick up and read this book now."

- Richard Garriott, a.k.a. Lord British, Creator of Ultima Online and Executive Producer, NCsoft

"These essays, by the best thinkers in their fields, will be read, debated, taught, and cited in court cases as we struggle to figure out how to live in a world which is part digital and part social, part real and part imaginary."

- Henry Jenkins, author of Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide

”Is useful and interesting for students of surveillance.”

- Surveillance & Society

”With diverse essays from game designers, social scientists and legal scholars, The State of Play is a provocative consideration of virtual jurisprudence.”

- Paste Magazine

Product Description

The State of Play presents an essential first step in understanding how new digital worlds will change the future of our universe. Millions of people around the world inhabit virtual words: multiplayer online games where characters live, love, buy, trade, cheat, steal, and have every possible kind of adventure. Far more complicated and sophisticated than early video games, people now spend countless hours in virtual universes like Second Life and Star Wars Galaxies not to shoot space invaders but to create new identities, fall in love, build cities, make rules, and break them.

As digital worlds become increasingly powerful and lifelike, people will employ them for countless real-world purposes, including commerce, education, medicine, law enforcement, and military training. Inevitably, real-world law will regulate them. But should virtual worlds be fully integrated into our real-world legal system or should they be treated as separate jurisdictions with their own forms of dispute resolution? What rules should govern virtual communities? Should the law step in to protect property rights when virtual items are destroyed or stolen?

These questions, and many more, are considered in The State of Play, where legal experts, game designers, and policymakers explore the boundaries of free speech, intellectual property, and creativity in virtual worlds. The essays explore both the emergence of law in multiplayer online games and how we can use virtual worlds to study real-world social interactions and test real-world laws.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: NYU Press (November 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0814799728
• ISBN-13: 978-0814799727
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #592,837 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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  #37 in	Books > Nonfiction > Law > Intellectual Property > Communications
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  #80 in	Books > Computers & Internet > Business & Culture > Digital Law

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Intellectual Cybersquatting, June 14, 2008

By	The Dilettante "Dilly!" - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

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When Judge Richard Posner first called himself and other legal academics "intellectual entrepreneurs," he was at least half-kidding (in a Chicago kind of way). But in recent years the "market" for legal scholarship has become among the most cutthroat in the world. Professors seem desperate to be the first to homestead new territory in any emerging market.

The work of economists like Edward Castronova has demonstrated that virtual worlds constitute a new frontier, ripe for cutting edge scholarship. The authors in this book are staking their claim to its legal issues. But just being the first to a topic does not mean you have anything interesting to say about it. Castronova's work is interesting, but you don't need this book to understand it. The remaining essays in this book reminded me of cyber-squatted domain names. "What will happen?" they all seem to ask, but they don't offer many answers or even interesting speculations.

The real problem here is that law exists to dealing with real-world consequences, while virtual worlds exist to eliminate them. Law may eventually get some traction in virtual reality, but it hasn't happened yet. If you want to be there when it does, don't read a law book - get yourself into a MMPORG. Just don't plan on keeping your job or your marriage.

1 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bring on the Metaverse, January 11, 2007

By	Colin Miller - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Great book, interesting essays about where our digital lives are going.