Feeling silly
Unfortunate name for rip off
What do you do if you cannot lay your hands on a Nintendo Wii? Go out for a Wee.
Games
NCSoft sued for avatar patent infringement
(Via Colin Miller) NCSoft, the producers of virtual worlds such as Lineage, City of Heroes and Guild Wars has been sued by virtual platform developer Worlds.com, which holds several patents on 3D environments. Back in December, Terra Nova had reported that Worlds.com had announced that it would be enforcing its Read more
Cybercrime
IE security flaws
The BBC is reporting that there is a new fatal flaw with Internet Explorer that allows hackers to gain access to a computer and steal passwords. In other news water is wet, politicians lie and Windows Vista is a huge disappointment. Seriously though, this is usually the perfect opportunity for Read more
Cybercrime
Cybercriminals making a killing on magic swords
(via Pangloss) The European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA) has published a report about the prevalence of cybercrime against virtual world inhabitants. The report states that: “2007 was the year of online gaming fraud – with malicious programs that specifically target online games and virtual worlds increasing by 145% Read more
Games
The evils of virtual worlds
Yesterday was the official “bash virtual worlds” day in the UK press. With the launch of the latest World of Warcraft expansion (Wrath of the Lich King), news sources went overboard in the coverage of thousands of costumed geeks queuing outside Oxford Street’s HMV; at some point the game’s launch Read more
Cybercrime
Woman jailed for killing avatar
Internet news sites are abuzz with the report that a Japanese woman has been jailed after reportedly “killing” her virtual husband’s avatar after a virtual divorce. A 43-year-old Japanese piano teacher was virtually married to a 33-year-old office worker in the online game Maplestory – a cutesy Korean manga-style world. Read more
Games
Technophobic memes in the press
One of the recurring themes in this blog has been the popular depiction of technology in the media, particularly in mainstream press. It seems to me that there is a pervasive view of information technology in some sectors of the press, where new technologies are to be met with fear Read more
Conferences
Virtual Policy ’08 Conference
I’ve just attended Virtual Policy ’08 in London, organised by BERR and the Virtual Policy Network. This has been a different event because it has brought together regulators, industry, educators, developers, economists, and academics to explore current and future policy issues involving virtual worlds. The wide number of sectors represented Read more
Cases
World of Lawcraft: Breach of EULA is infringement
(via B2fxxx and Terra Nova) Back in March we reported on an important suit involving World of Warcraft and software developers MDY (I don’t know why I’m using “we”, it’s only me writing this). The suit involved cheating autopilot exploit which allows a player to gather gold automatically by using Read more
Creative Commons
Company rulez
Company Rulez is a video mocking Microsoft’s Game Content Usage Rules made with Halo 3, or as it says, that game with helmeted dudes and aliens produced for that console by that company that Bill Gates founded. While I have praised the Game Content Usage Rules previously, I can see Read more