Linden Updates Second Life TOS After Legal Action

Yesterday Linden Lab announced an update for the Second Life Terms of Service to deal with the ways that dispute resolutions are handled. Formerly, Linden required arbitration through a venue of its choice, but that restriction was recently dismissed by the courts. In the case of Bragg v. Linden Research, Judge Eduardo C. Robreno held [pdf] that the arbitration clause of the TOS represented an unconscionable contract of adhesion. The new Terms allow for "binding, non-appearance-based arbitration" for claims under $10,000.

The claims may be received by telephone, online, or written submissions, which means residents are no longer obligated to make the trip to San Francisco to make their case. And as Eric Reuters points out, that may lead to arbitration taking place within the virtual world.

"We’re extremely excited about arbitration centers coming to Second Life,” Catherine Smith, a spokeswoman for Linden, told Reuters. "If the arbitrator selected can conduct arbitration in Second Life, we’re very much open to using Second Life to resolve disputes between Residents and Linden Lab."

The new process for arbitration could be conducted for under $185 through the National Arbitration Forum, reports Linden Lab, with the company picking up the rest of the tab.

Claims over $10,000, however, will need to be filed in "courts located in the City and County of San Francisco, California."  That makes large claims slightly more expensive  and difficult to file while helping smaller claimants get through more quickly.

As Benjamin Duranske points out in his reading of the move at Virtual Blind, "Overall, given the fairly small amounts of money involved in many disputes between residents and Linden Lab, it is probably a good change for Second Life users."