LAWRENCE LESSIG COMES TO SECOND LIFE (UPDATED)

Update, 1/22: The event was last week, but an illustrated transcript of the event begins here and continues over the next few days.

As promised, the stage has been selected, the avatar has been created, the virtual edition of the book has been published, and the time, date, and place have been set:

Date: Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Time: 5:30PM - 7:30PM Pacific Standard/Second Life Time
Place: Borrowdale/41/56 (the Pooley Auditorium)

New World Notes and Philip Linden welcome renowned Stanford Law Professor, Internet age legal theorist and IP rights expert Lawrence Lessig to Second Life.

Interviewed by Philip Linden, Professor Lessig will be here in-world to speak about his latest book, Free Culture, while also seeking feedback from Residents for an upcoming revision of his classic book Code, which includes a section on virtual worlds-- "Borders". He will also be autographing copies of the virtual edition of Free Culture, so be sure to have your copy on hand for his virtual signature.

Information on attending after the break.

Update, 1/16, 1:51AM: Be sure to scroll all the way down to check the updates at the very bottom of this entry.

ATTENDING LIVE
Provided your computer has the techical specs listed here, a free SL account can be created and downloaded here.

RESERVING A SEAT
Seating is limited; reserve a place at the event by joining the Free Culture group: from the Second Life interface, click "Find", then the "Groups" tab, then in the Find slot type in "Free Culture", then "Join Now". **

OBTAINING A VIRTUAL COPY OF FREE CULTURE

Copies will be available at the site soon. To pre-order a free copy, send an Instant Message in-world to Hamlet Linden.

MEDIA/BLOGGERS

Limited seating is also reserved for members of the media and established bloggers-- to get a place in the media section, e-mail [email protected].

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Event listing here.

New World Notes Forum topic here.

Forum Announcement here.

CREDITS

Co-hosted by Philip Linden.

Professor Lessig's avatar is by lilith Pendragon, who also brought us the in-world incarnation of Cory Doctorow, Thomas P.M. Barnett, and Coltrane of MTV.

The virtual edition of Free Culture and autograph technology was created by Falk Bergman, who provided similar expertise for the Doctorow event.

The Pooley Auditorium was built by Adam Zaius, with assistance from Oz Spade.

UPDATE, 1/11, 11:30PM:

Greetings, Lessig fans! If you don't know much about Second Life and are wondering why one of America's leading intellectuals is appearing in what appears to be a videogame, here's some background. In 2003, Professor Lessig advised the management of Linden Lab, the company that runs the user-created online world Second Life (and subsidizes this blog), to let their subscribers retain the IP rights over the objects and programs they created in the world. The result of his advice was this policy announcement, and numerous innovations-- for example, a subscriber-made videogame created within Second Life, which the creator subsequently sold to an outside media company. Or a filmmaker who's using SL to create computer animation for use in a feature-length documentary-- which happens to be about an SL user who makes a real life living designing virtual fashions for other subscribers.

You'll probably also be interested in Cory Doctorow's appearance in SL last year, especially because the novel he came in-world to promote was published in a virtual edition under its Creative Commons license.

If you're more generally interested in the role of law in online worlds, here's a couple other recent stories from this blog: THE NOTARY PUBLIC OF THYRIS and JUDGING US.

** 2ND UPDATE, 1/12, 7:37PM: Reservations have reached full capacity (100+!) and so group membership has been closed. Check this blog for announcements on attending the event remotely-- either via a "repeater" area, where the conversation is re-broadcast, or at selected sites that'll (hopefully) stream an audio stream "play by play" as it happens. All participants will have a chance to ask questions of Lessig and (space permitting) get copies of his book signed. In any case, an edited transcript of the conversation will be blogged here the following week.

3RD UPDATE, 1/13, 12:45AM: Anticipating cancellations and no-shows, I'm taking names for a "Call waiting" list. If you didn't reserve a seat in time but still want to try and get in, IM me (Hamlet Linden) as soon as possible.

4TH UPDATE, 1/13, 2:22PM: Right here.

5TH UPDATE, 1/14, 1:33PM: Over here.

FINAL UPDATE, 1/18, 3:55AM: By going here.