From the Editor

By Martin Lasden
     
Whenever we're working on a big story around here, we naturally assume that a certain amount of outside reading will be required. Usually, that means digging up archived news stories, judicial opinions, and law review articles. However, in the course of her reporting for this month's cover story, "Real Law in the Virtual World," Managing Editor Chuleenan Svetvilas decided that she needed to go beyond the usual, Lexis-accessible sources to consult a work of science fiction.
      In Neal Stephenson's 16-year-old cyberpunk thriller Snow Crash, characters create alter egos for themselves called avatars. These avatars interact with each other online in ways that constantly blur the distinction between the real and the virtual world. Stephenson calls his creation the "Metaverse." But, as Svetvilas notes, the author could just as easily have called it Second Life. "I don't consider myself a techie," she says, "but I do read a lot of science fiction. And when I found out that there's actually this thing called Second Life, I was naturally intrigued. I also thought it was strange."
      Second Life first opened its virtual doors to the public in 2003. Since then an estimated 6.7 million people have become active users, assuming cartoon-like identities that often, but not always, bear a striking resemblance to what they look like in real life. There, in their 3-D alternate world, they exchange information, buy and sell goods in virtual dollars (which can be converted into hard cash), and sometimes even have sex with one another. And though there's obviously a fanciful element to all this, judging from the real-world lawsuits that have been filed as a result of what's gone on in Second Life, it's become much more than just a game.
      Enter the lawyers.
      "The technology is not quite there, just yet," says Svetvilas, who met lawyers online through her look-alike avatar, Manda Moran. "But I think it does have the potential to become another important way lawyers can interact with their clients."
      Meanwhile, there is no shortage of sticky legal issues to iron out. For example, is it lawful for nonlawyers to sell legal advice online in Second Life? Svetvilas (or should I say Manda?) promises to keep us posted.


     

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