Once upon a time three years ago, the State of Play conference on law and virtual worlds was the cutting edge. We were exploring new, three-dimensional frontiers of cyberspace and asking such novel questions as: "Is virtual property property?" "Should real world law enter into virtual world spaces?" and "How will such virtual societies be governed?" We talked about the formation of new economies and stock markets, about currency trading and, eventually, about how Julian Dibbell was earning a living selling magic swords and helmets online.
This week (May 4) the venerable New York Times ran an editorial on Funny Money. "For most of us, there is nothing magical about withdrawing cash from an A.T.M. The money that slides out represents some aspect of our real lives — our labor, our interest, our savings. But the idea of using an A.T.M. card to withdraw real money from a virtual life — a fictional online gaming life — takes some getting used to...." It wasn't the only traditional media outlet to cover the launch of Project Entropia. It follows recent articles, not just in tech mags but in Business Week!
Dan Hunter has a critical article posted on Terranova.
Regardless of whether this particular story is a PR stunt to promote sales of a debit card or something truly novel and interesting in terms of cyberspatial relations, the alacrity with which the press picked up on this and took it seriously, suggests that the cutting edge may be getting dull. The new interfaces of cyberspace are becoming familiar.
As we think about what to do for State of Play IV, the question is, what is the new cutting edge? What are the important questions today at the intersection of technology, law and society that we should come together to address? If you're going to convene some of the smartest and most fun people in technology, design, law and businesss and bring them together what should the topics be? Of course, we all know that the best learning comes over coffee and drinks but we need to have an ostensible reason to take off from work.
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