As our economic problems continue, we should continue to look around and discover ways to improve our situation. If I had political power, my first order of business would be to stop frivolous lawsuits. It seems like you can log onto a news site, or flip open a newspaper without seeing someone being sued over patent infringement, or a copyright issue.

It seems like the encompassing effect of patents is growing, and any general outline is enough to sue someone over. Of course, protecting your IP is important, but just where is that line between justified and frivolous?

The latest lawsuit comes by way of Worlds.com. They are suing the MMO game publisher NCSoft for their use of 3D virtual worlds. Worlds.com claims that they are in possession of a patent, dating back to the 90’s that, “enables thousands of simultaneous users in a 3D virtual space”. Doesn’t get more general than that does it?

As of now Worlds.com is only going after NCSoft. According to this article, this could just be the beginning. Be weary all you virtual world travelers out there.

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