Is Second Life IP Issue More About SL’s Broken Economic Model?

There’s an interesting debate going on in the word of Second Life about the control of copyright and its affect on creativity.

On one hand, your Second Life avatar can drive a BMW, tap an Apple computer, wear Gucci clothes – without paying the original first-world creators of these products. The people behind Second Life have been rather vague about this when questioned but have argued that IP hinders creativity and that what an avatar makes in Second Life they own.

On the other hand, Second Life prohibits the copying of products and designs made in Second Life. If an avatar creates an object in Second Life they can click a ‘do not copy’ box which restricts its replication.

So… from what PSFK can work out, they’re saying it’s ok to copy real world brands and products and reproduce them in Second Life (and even turn a profit), but you can’t copy a virtual world brand or product because…. erm, the system that creates wealth in Second Life would collapse. Who would buy and sell SL-made items, when you can just rip ‘em with a SL-burner.

And those burners are being made: projects have been started to overcome this restriction – and therefore allow the copying of Second Life in-world products.

What’s driving this? Well we seem to be in this era where young people don’t see that copying media is wrong and Second Life in one way supports this, and in another prohibits it.

Kevin Kelly recently wrote about the fact that technology will overcome any obstacle that an IP holder may impose. Maybe the fundamental problem with Second Life is that it uses a very first world form of economics – capitalism. The real world is having to rethink its business models to cope with the absence of rights ownership – maybe Second Life and its residents will have to rethink their business models too .

3pointD has more on the debate.