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Building a Better EULA
This is the first phase of the Building a Better EULA Wiki. Check back here often (and see our recent changes) for updates!
Note 4/10/08: welcome to our new visitors. If you've visited this page recently and found it overrun by spam, we greatly apologize. In the last week the site has reached critical mass in a spam bombardment that we are currently cleaning up. Sorry for the inconvenience, and it should be much more stable now!
Mission
The Building a Better EULA project is part of an initiative by virtual world developers to explore the future of digital rights in virtual spaces. It is our thesis that the next stage of evolution in virtual space involves the rights and ownership of the participants in that virtual space, and that existing forms of virtual government and user rights are antiquated and insufficient to give virtual citizens the investment necessary to ensure their long term buy-in with a virtual world. These effects are observable in the rise of virtual property related lawsuits and commitments made by virtual environments that are not in sync with their EULAs. We posit that by providing concrete, legally-supported, reasonable rights to players, a future virtual world can and will out-compete the existing "feudal" models.
We believe that:
- government regulation is not necessary for virtual world evolution -- it can emerge proactively;
- users are smart and compassionate and do not require dictatorship for peace;
- users become more invested in a virtual environment when they own the goods they purchase there;
- virtual goods exchanged via commerce should belong to the purchaser to the same degree that real life goods are;
- users in virtual spaces that do not have totalitarian EULAs engage in effective self policing;
- a "virtual world" is inherently distinct from an "online game", but the lessons of one feed the business potential of the other;
- centuries of human history show that where a population does not have rights, it will demand and win them;
- by standing on the shoulders of human rights evolution, we can build a next generation virtual space that will take user involvement to the next level.
News & Press Coverage
- 10/25/2007: Check out the blog!
- 10/9/2007: Erik and Erin interviewed on Virtual Worlds News.
- 10/1/2007: Erik was interviewed about GoPets and the BetterEULA Project on Yi-Tan's Weekly Tech Call #153
- 8/17/2007: VirtuallyBlind.com covers GoPets and the Better EULA Project.
- 8/9/2007: Raph Koster discusses the GoPets EULA and user rights topic in his blog.
Project History
The Better EULA Project was started by Erik Bethke following overwhelming response to a presentation he gave at Casual Connect 2007 in Seattle, WA.
You can listen to the podcast of Erik's lecture and view the Powerpoint presentation here.
Branches of the Better EULA Project
Building the New EULA
Developing components of our human rights-based Creative Commons model EULA.
The Evolution of Law in Human Governments
The evolution of basic rights-supporting law such as due process and habeas corpus in real-world human governments.
Virtual World History
Moments in the history of virtual spaces that changed the way we view the place of digital worlds in the human mindspace.
Property Ownership and Virtual Space -- Legal Issues
Legal issues surrounding ownership of property in virtual space.
Current EULA Analysis
Events and analyses surrounding current EULAs on the market today.
Historical Analysis -- Human Rights History
Human rights history and its analogs in virtual space.
Tracking Advances in Virtual Space
Movements forward toward a rights-positive environment in virtual space.
Organic Online Communities
The development of online communities and how they influence the development and management of virtual worlds.
Contact Information
For press inquiries and general interest questions, contact Erin or you can leave a comment on Erik's livejournal.
Further Reading
Under construction...
Books
Websites
Related Projects
- Raph Koster's Declaration of the Rights of Avatars and discussion
- A Bill of Rights for Users of the Social Web
- The Identity Rights Agreements Working Group
- The Synthetic Worlds Initiative's Declaration of Virtual World Policy
Papers
- "Parlaying Value: Capital in and beyond Virtual Worlds", Thomas M. Malaby, U. Wisconsin @ Milwaukee.
- "Control and Contingency Online (Introduction to Edited Volume Command Lines)", , Thomas M. Malaby, U. Wisconsin @ Milwaukee, on online world governance.
- "Virtual Worlds and Digital Rights: Can Stealing an Online Gamer's IP or Magic Sword Mean Real-World Legal Hot Water?", Sean F. Kane, Internet Law & Strategy Newsletter, Vol. 3, No. 9, September 2005.
Tools
Wiki Help
Consult the User's Guide for information on using the wiki software.
