Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Update on the Ozimals vs Amaretto Legal Fight

New World Notes recently reported on a new development in the legal brawl between Ozimals and Amaretto. The trouble began in December 2010 when Ozimals filed a DMCA against Amaretto saying the scripts for Amaretto horses resembled those of Ozimals bunnies, and Amaretto responded with a counter-DMCA and copyright lawsuit. Later, the judge issued a temporary restraining order on Linden Lab against issuing a DMCA on Amaretto, which legal Blogger Eric Goldman called “a bizarre twist.” he felt it brought up legal questions about Linden Labs and it’s ability to control content.

Since then, the court has “granted an injunction that only applies to Ozimals' sending of takedown notices and makes no reference to restrictions on Second Life.” Perhaps another victory for the horses, but the legal dispute hasn’t ended, “Although this ends the most interesting angle of the dispute, the bunnies vs. horses dispute remains pretty interesting on its own. Normally, I would expect a dispute like that to get resolved quickly. I'm a little baffled how the revenue streams from these virtual animals can profitably support full-scale litigation warfare. Unfortunately, the parties seem to be going down that path.”

There have been no further comments on the feud on either of the petmakers websites. Ozimals was celebrating it’s first anniversary, and offering a bunny as one of the gifts for the Helping Hands charity. Amaretto mentioned trouble in the form of an “Amarettocheats” website. spreading drama, and a bug resulting in sick horses.

To add to the confusion, there was an incident at the Amaretto barn reported by New World Notes, in which a number of residents picketed the place in a farcical protest, saying it was animal abuse and depravity to force the virtual horses in “underage” breeding and sell them, invoking the name of religion. This was almost certainly unrelated to the legal mess, but it was certainly one strange distraction from it.

"Curiouser and Curiouser."

Sources: New World Notes, Tech & Marketing Blog

Bixyl Shuftan

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