second life contracts ?

I was wondering if any one knows of any standard service forms that some one can modify to there own needs to help them form a contract between 2 parties in Second life. For the building out a complete region.

I have found many do it your self legal forms on line but i was wondering if any one had something that was Second life specific

Worth the paper they are printed on.

Without age/ID verification AND Linden Labs willingness to intervene in any breach you are wasting your time and efforts. We are supposed to get age/ID verification by the end of the month but it's opt in so rather useless for your needs. And as of present, LL WILL NOT get involved in any way with resident to resident dealings.

You're really on your own for building or any other service in Second Life. If you are really hesitant then about the only thing you can to protect yourself is find another way to earn a living in SL. Sorry for the bad news.

Reiterating what was said.

A specification/design document can be useful anyway for doing custom work, but if you want something that's enforcable, you need to swap RL details and write an RL contract.

This is the kind of thing that Zarf Vantongerloo's SL notary is good for. I can't send you a landmark right now, but you can find it in Zarf's picks. Full disclosure: I'm his SL/RL partner. Having a notarized SL contract won't cause LL to back you up in a dispute, but it helps spell out all expectations up front. IANAL, but I think that an appropriately worded SL contract could be held as binding against the RL person behind the avatar.

I think Crucial is asking about RL contracts for SL... not "virtual" contracts. It's a good question. Many RL companies have contracted with SL companies to build-out regions. Presumably, these RL companies required the SL contractors to sign RL documents with RL contact information. Rather than draw up a new document, it might be beneficial to use a document that has already been used and hammered out between RL lawyers, regarding SL content creation. Sorry, I'm not aware of a source other than the companies that do large contract work in SL.

There is no legal reason why a contract for the building out of a region in SL would not be enforceable in a RL court of law. It would be similar for a contract to build a website. The fact that the contracted for service is to take place in cyberspace is not a disqualifying factor.

The major problem in enforcing such a contract would be obtaining jurisdiction over the defending party. Such a case also would raise interesting issues of where the contract was entered into. This problem could be easily overcome by the parties to the contract specifying where the contract was entered into and the State who's laws would govern the contract.

There is a Second Life Bar Association and perhaps by contacting that organization you could get the help that you need.

Actually, Yes, there is. You come after me for reneging on a contract, I say "I don't know what the H*ll she is talking about, I never made that contract with her". NOW,, here's the sticky bit, it now falls to you to PROVE it was indeed me you were speaking to, and no one else. You also need to be able to PROVE i am a person who is legally able to Form an enforceable contract with someone.
You and i have never met face to face, we have had no opportunity to verify one another's identities. We don't even have a verifiable third party WITNESS to the contract proceedings.
You cannot Prove a Contract because you Cannot prove you were ever in conversation with me.

In SL we are pretty mush restricted to the old style "Gentleman's Agreement". One where personal Honor is the Most binding element.
Unfortunately In the Real World Little or no emphasis is placed upon personal honor these days. The idea of one handshake being stronger than any piece of paper is almost forgotten now.

In SL I've found doing business with people on Their (or My) word alone is the norm, and business has been transacted in this fashion fairly satisfactorily for a few years now. "As good as his/her word" actually has meaning in SL.

Rather refreshing, don't you think?

Angel.

yes- there is no reason why you cant come to an "agreement" in SL - but don't call it a contract since it is not enforceable.

Contracts only work in RL with real people who are subject to real penalties and recoveries if they don't hold up their end of the contract.

Also remember contracts are agreements between honest people and when properly designed should eliminate any chance of misunderstanding or miscommunication. Contracts do not protect you against criminals and con artists

I have thought about this too. If there was a big money contract, a mediator would be beneficial for the negotiation. Of course, the mediator must be trusted by both parties, and additionally, they take a small percentage as well. When contract completed, mediator transfers the money from client to contractor. It could be a good business for someone...

There is no reason (we do this all the time), whereby both parties exchange emails detailing services for value, which forms the basis of a contract. These emails will include all chat and IM information discussed so that both parties can concur and vaildate those 'discussions', which go to annex the details discussed solely in email form.

As there are no formal proceedures to start a company/business in SL, unless you are already a RL company, you would be classed as a 'Sole Trader' (UK Term for sole person in charge of business dealings), your only obligation financially is to declare your earnings to the revenue (Tax/IRS) at the approprate time. Using that status, you are also liable for the activities you carryout in a formal business and legal sense. You must also declare your actual premises, even if that is simply a PC in your bedroom, to any party requesting such details and on any documentation issued such as contracts and bills (you can use a registered PO Box as an alternative).

In law, it doesn't matter that you 'trade' within a VR world, no more than as already stated, create websites. What matters is that any form of agreement forms a contract of business. The hard part is getting it to stick in a legal court of law. You may wish to use the 'free' legal doccuments available and make you own addendems applicable to your style of service application.

DoteDote has hit the nail on the head this is a contract between know entities in real life. the job i am being contracted out to do is not very big so i did not want to use my layer at first but after talking with him we have come to an agreement.

When I bid on a project, I create a detailed proposal on a notecard. The proposal describes what is in-scope for the project, defines phases of completion and milestones for payment by phase of completion, and all the other details necessary to determine that the client and I agree on what they are asking me to do for them, and for what price. I get a copy, and they get a copy. Payment of the "Phase 0 fee" for the proposed project plan constitutes acceptance of the contract and authorization to start work. I get paid as each project phase is completed, on acceptance by the client that the work is satisfactory. (If third-party content is needed, that has to be pre-paid by the client, after I negotiate the best price.)

While the plan is being written and revised, I have IM chats with the client and record the conversations, so I have precise notes to refer to for what they asked for, and what I offered. This can also prove useful in a "he said / she said" argument...

Occasionally this means I do a lot of planning work, only to find that they decided to go with another bid. But when the bid is accepted, we both have a clear understanding of what is expected. If they want to add more phases to the project, they can - at a re-negotiated final fee for that additional project phase or phases. If they want to eliminate a phase before work has started, that if fine too. If something is partially completed and the job is cancelled, we negotiate on what is fair.

Would it stand up in court? Probably, but I'm no lawer.

Does it give them a chance to say "Thanks for the great plan", and go off and have someone else build it without paying for the plan? Perhaps, but it's unlikely that they would get the same results by doing so.

In short, it remains a "Gentleman's Agreement", but with the details documemted. It works well for me. Your mileage may vary.