Legal question: Trusting that others are keeping the TOS

Hi, Linden folks:

I would like to ask a question concerning legal liability for actions in SL, with regard to the TOS.

My understanding is that the TOS specifies that any SL resident who patents something in SL must give all other residents, plus LL, a license to use that patent. In other words, it is impossible to use a patent to keep someone from developing a competing object within SL.

However I have been told (by someone I spoke to out of world) that this may not work. They claimed that the patent holder can sue for patent infringement anyway. When the defendant points out that the TOS requires them to grant a patent license, the patent holder simply announces that they are in breach of the TOS, and have not in fact granted such a license! Since the lawsuit does not involve Linden Labs, their breach of the agreement with LL has no effect on it and the lawsuit for patent violation can continue.

I find it difficult to believe this works, but IANAL and you are (or at least you have them), so can you let me know what the situation in this case would likely be?

The same situation applies with responsibility to keep underage users out of adult areas: if a person was for some reason held legally responsible for failing to do so, could they defend myselves by stating that by being on the main grid while underage the affected user has broken the TOS? Will this be acceptable for a resident who may be under the age at which they can enter into legal agreements?

Hi Yumi, as a legal question, let me forward this to Ginsu Linden and see what he has to say on the matter.

This is a good question, but unfortunately there are at least two reasons I cannot give a satisfactory answer to you. First, you are largely asking me questions pertaining to your legal position ("the lawsuit does not involve Linden Lab", and I cannot provide legal advice to you. As I've noted many times, I am Linden Lab's lawyer, and this means that providing advice to Linden Lab's customers would be a conflict of interest. Obviously, Linden Lab would like to see all users of Second Life as well as the court system abide by the terms of service for Second Life.

However, Linden Lab does not control the court system - and that's the second reason I don't have a good answer for this question. It is possible in this country to file a lawsuit for virtually any reason. Some of the issues you raise may be a case of first impression, which means that no one knows for sure what a court may rule. Even in cases with relevant precedent, the outcome of any lawsuit is subject to some degree of unpredictability.

In short, if these matters raise significant legal issues for you, then you are well-advised to seek advice from a competent legal professional who can apply analysis to the particular circumstances of your case.