The first new magazine introduced by ABA Publishing in nearly seven years, called "Landslide",is debuting with the Sept/Oct 2008 issue. It is published by the ABA's Section of Intellectual Property Law and " is dedicated to sharing IP knowledge and experience acquired on the frontlines of legal practice, business, the arts and science, exploring national and international legal arenas.
It will be "a bi-monthly magazine that offers news and analysis on patents, trademarks, copyrights and related topics. Written by and for an audience of intellectual property lawyers, the magazine will cover this rapidly evolving legal specialization through an emphasis that includes business, technology, the arts, legislation and international developments."
The cover article, 'Virtual Worlds, Real World Issues", by Sean F. Kane and Benjamin T. Duranske, looks at the "virtual worlds" that have evolved from the original text-based role playing games into sophisticated 3-D environments in which the participants can engage in various activities with each other that mirror those to be found in the real world. It examinse some of the economic and legal implications of these developing activities in the digital world as well as in the actual one.
One of the co-authors of the article, Benjamin T. Duranske, , has written a book about these same issues entitled, " Virtual Law: Navigating the Legal Landscape of Virtual Worlds", It is published by the ABA Section of Science and Technology Law. The book website states that "If you are one of the many who have read about and heard about virtual worlds but do not really understand what a virtual world is, or even how to use appropriate terminology when discussing them, then this is the book for you."
A good overview of the alternative digital world phenomenon and the growing real world applications, can be found in the recent testimony before the Committee on Energy and Commerce by Laurence F. Johnson, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer The New Media Consortium, entitled “Online Virtual Worlds: Applications and Avatars in a User-Generated Medium”.
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