xeriko's attic

Looking the Second Life metaverse through the eyes of reality

Feudal SL

Am I talking about an RP sim? No. Someone has expressed SL land tenure/ownership and politics are a reflection of feudalism:

A tenant seised of land had sworn homage to the lord from whom he held. In exchange, the lord symbolically delivered the tenant into possession. Thereafter, the tenant owed the lord various services and feudal incidents, and in return the lord was obliged to defend his possession against outsiders to the relationship. Every element of this system maps cleanly onto Second Life. A user swears homage by clicking “I agree” to Linden’s terms and conditions; Linden delivers her into possession by changing an appropriate database entry. She owes tier fees in place of feudal incidents; Linden defends fer possession via software-based access controls.

Keep reading James Grimmelmann (2009, Jan 19). Virtual World Feudalism. The Yale Law Journal, http://yalelawjournal.org/2009/01/19/grimmelmann.html