Virtual Regulations

If I had been asked how serious of an issue virtual regulations were I would have said that most of our existing laws could probably adequately deal with any legal issues that would arise. I would have been wrong. After reading User-Generated Content and Virtual Worlds by Greg Lastowka I can comprehend now the vast array of unique difficulties presented by user generated content. It seems to me now that we need more user/producer protections to protect content. This is particularly true as virtual content has now begun to generate real vale and that in turn has very real life effects. In the case mentioned by Lastowka, Bragg vs. Linden Labs it seems that neither side was entirely correct. Mr. Bragg had certainly violated the terms of service by essentially hacking the server and gaining unfair access to virtual land at the expense of both Linden Labs and other users who were not able to have that access. Linden Labs however provides a unique service and with regard to subscribing members, is making a profit off of the users. Their contract is designed to their extreme advantage and users have no option but to accept the terms of service or go elsewhere. The issue here is that there are not many other products out there that offer the type of user freedom that linden labs offers. The terms of service leave no room for negotiation. It would be completely impractical to negotiate terms of service with each individual member, but there must be a way to make terms of service more fair to both parties and protect both companies and consumers as they navigate the legalities of virtual content.