State of Play (Conference series)
Encyclopedia
State of Play is a conference series put on by the Institute for Information Law & Policy at New York Law School
which deals with the intersection of virtual worlds, games and the law.
and governance in virtual worlds. Should we import copyright and trademark into virtual spaces? Can we exclude them? What should be the relationship between real and virtual world economies? Should legislatures protect virtual world property? What are the possibilities for using virtual spaces to practice the activities of real world democracy? Should virtual worlds be treated as separate jurisdictions with their own evolving norms and forms of dispute resolution? What is the potential for using virtual worlds to promote democracy and self-governance?
, the Information Society
Project at Yale Law School
, and the Berkman Center for Internet and Society
at Harvard Law School
. Focusing on social relationships in the metaverse and how to build vibrant, flourishing, creative places the conference drew leading voices in the online virtual world and videogame space together with legal and social thinkers to explore the next-generation of cyberspace and the legal implications of its massively-multiplayer, immersive and graphical environments.
While all previous State of Play conferences had been held at New York Law School in the Tribeca district of New York City
, in keeping with the global scope of the event, State of Play V was held at the Marina Mandarin in Singapore.
games where characters live, love, buy, trade, cheat, steal, and have every possible kind of adventure. Far more complicated and sophisticated than early video games
, people now spend countless hours in virtual universes like Second Life
and Star Wars Galaxies
not to shoot space invaders but to create new identities, fall in love, build cities, make rules, and break them."
New York Law School
New York Law School is a private law school in the TriBeCa neighborhood of Lower Manhattan in New York City. New York Law School is one of the oldest independent law schools in the United States. The school is located within four blocks of all major courts in Manhattan. In 2011, New York Law School...
which deals with the intersection of virtual worlds, games and the law.
Past Conferences
There have been five State of Play conferences to date, with the sixth planned for June 2009.SoP I: Law, Games, and Virtual Worlds (November 13-November 15, 2003)
This interdisciplinary conference on virtual worlds examined the state of play at the time in an effort to understand the phenomenon of digital games and the virtual worlds they create, creating a discussion the complex social, psychological, and legal issues to which they give rise.SoP II: Reloaded (October 28-October 30, 2004)
State of Play: Reloaded continued the conversation. It highlighted two themes: the role of intellectual propertyIntellectual property
Intellectual property is a term referring to a number of distinct types of creations of the mind for which a set of exclusive rights are recognized—and the corresponding fields of law...
and governance in virtual worlds. Should we import copyright and trademark into virtual spaces? Can we exclude them? What should be the relationship between real and virtual world economies? Should legislatures protect virtual world property? What are the possibilities for using virtual spaces to practice the activities of real world democracy? Should virtual worlds be treated as separate jurisdictions with their own evolving norms and forms of dispute resolution? What is the potential for using virtual worlds to promote democracy and self-governance?
SoP III: Social Revolutions (October 6-October 8, 2005)
State of Play III: Social Revolutions was the third annual State of Play conference on the future of cyberspace convened by the Institute for Information Law & Policy at New York Law SchoolNew York Law School
New York Law School is a private law school in the TriBeCa neighborhood of Lower Manhattan in New York City. New York Law School is one of the oldest independent law schools in the United States. The school is located within four blocks of all major courts in Manhattan. In 2011, New York Law School...
, the Information Society
The Information Society
The Information Society is a peer-reviewed academic journal on sociology, that was established in 1981. It is published five times per year by Routledge and covers topics related to information technologies and changes in society and culture...
Project at Yale Law School
Yale Law School
Yale Law School, or YLS, is the law school of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Established in 1824, it offers the J.D., LL.M., J.S.D. and M.S.L. degrees in law. It also hosts visiting scholars, visiting researchers and a number of legal research centers...
, and the Berkman Center for Internet and Society
Berkman Center for Internet & Society
The Berkman Center for Internet & Society is a research center at Harvard University that focuses on the study of cyberspace. Founded at Harvard Law School, the center traditionally focused on internet-related legal issues. On May 15, 2008, the Center was elevated to an interfaculty initiative of...
at Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. The school is routinely ranked by the U.S...
. Focusing on social relationships in the metaverse and how to build vibrant, flourishing, creative places the conference drew leading voices in the online virtual world and videogame space together with legal and social thinkers to explore the next-generation of cyberspace and the legal implications of its massively-multiplayer, immersive and graphical environments.
SoP IV: The Terra Nova Symposium (December 1-December 2, 2006)
State of Play IV: The Terra Nova Symposium was an intentionally smaller event intended to engage in the serious study of virtual worlds by getting researchers to inquire into the nature of research into these worlds. The Symposium gathered researchers, scholars and thinkers together to ask how virtual worlds should be studied, as well as what are the most fruitful lines of research, the most interesting substantive developments, and the most fascinating voices from whom we should be hearing? This conference was capped at 60 participants and was put on in conjunction with Terra Nova, the blog about the serious study of virtual worlds.SoP V: Building the Global Metaverse (August 19-August 22, 2007)
State of Play V: Building the Global Metaverse was a pioneering global conference on virtual worlds, inviting experts across disciplines to discuss the future of cyberspace and the impact of these new immersive, social online environments on education, law, politics and society. The hallmark of the conference was a multi-disciplinary perspective on emergent virtual realms capable of seamlessly supporting communication, commerce and interaction across national and continental boundaries.While all previous State of Play conferences had been held at New York Law School in the Tribeca district of New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, in keeping with the global scope of the event, State of Play V was held at the Marina Mandarin in Singapore.
SoP VI (June 19-June 20, 2009)
State of Play VI: New York Law School’s State of Play Conference will convene in New York to examine the past, present and future of virtual worlds. The conference will focus on the startling rise of virtual worlds and multiplayer online games, and ask whether these worlds have reached a plateau in their development. At the same time we will question whether professionals and academia have reached a limit in our understanding of these worlds, and ask whether there are useful research questions still left to pursue.SOP Academy
The State of Play Academy is the first law and technology academy built in a virtual world. Its purpose is to challenge the traditional means of imparting a legal education — in time, place and manner—by experimenting with opportunities offered by the virtual space. It is funded by a grant awarded to New York Law School by There.com.SOP Book
In 2006, NYU Press released The State of Play: Law, Games and Virtual Worlds, an essential first step in understanding how the emergence of virtual worlds has impacted the real world and how the real world has in turn shaped the development of virtual places. "Millions of people around the world inhabit virtual words: multiplayer onlineOnline game
An online game is a game played over some form of computer network. This almost always means the Internet or equivalent technology, but games have always used whatever technology was current: modems before the Internet, and hard wired terminals before modems...
games where characters live, love, buy, trade, cheat, steal, and have every possible kind of adventure. Far more complicated and sophisticated than early video games
Computer and video games
A video game is an electronic game that involves human interaction with a user interface to generate visual feedback on a video device. The word video in video game traditionally referred to a raster display device, but following popularization of the term "video game", it now implies any type of...
, people now spend countless hours in virtual universes like Second Life
Second Life
Second Life is an online virtual world developed by Linden Lab. It was launched on June 23, 2003. A number of free client programs, or Viewers, enable Second Life users, called Residents, to interact with each other through avatars...
and Star Wars Galaxies
Star Wars Galaxies
Star Wars Galaxies is a Star Wars themed MMORPG for Microsoft Windows developed by Sony Online Entertainment and published by LucasArts.-History:...
not to shoot space invaders but to create new identities, fall in love, build cities, make rules, and break them."