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Collaborative Virtual Environments (CVEs) are online digital spaces and places where people can interact and communicate for recreational and work purposes, while being geographically separated (Churchill, Snowdon and Munro, 2001). CVEs can be decribed more technically as a 'computer-based, distributed, virtual space or sets of places. In such places, people can meet and interact with others, with agents or with virtual objects. CVEs might vary in their representation richness from 3D graphical spaces, 2.5D and 2D environments, to text-based environments. Access to CVEs is by no means limited to desktop devices, but might well include mobile or wearable devices, public kiosks, etc.' (Churchill, Snowdon and Munro, 2001: 4).
As knowledge and information become more capitalised and commercialised, new media technologies are increasingly at the forefront of the new economy (Hartley, 2001). In particular, CVEs are becoming increasingly significant in the network, or ‘weightless society’ of the new economy, which has seen the increased development and use of new media technologies with a focus on connectivity, whether it is one-to-one, one-to-many or many-to-many (Rifkin, 2001).
The increasing significance of CVEs can be seen as an effect of the new economy, which has seen the emergence of a networked society and the increased development and use of new media technologies since the 1980s (Castells in Flew, 2005).
Manuell Castells proposed that in the new economy, 'networks constitute the new social morphology of our societies' (Castells in Flew, 2005: 54). Furthermore, Castells recognised the facilitation role of new media technologies in the development of the network society, stating that '...the new information technology paradigm provides the material basis for its (the network society's) pervasive expansion throughout the entire social structure' (Castells in Flew 2005: 54). In this way, Castells saw the new economy as networked, informational, and global, and identified the major impact of new media technologies on the new social structure (Castells in Flew, 2005).
At the same time, the Internet emerged as the most prominent network for mainstream use during the 1980s, with Internet use becoming increasingly widespread (Bruns, 2005). This increased networking led to greater online collaboration, which generated online collaborative environments. One of the earliest recognised CVEs is the WELL. Founded in 1985, the WELL is an 'online discussion community known for its literate conversation and widespread interest', which attracts a wide range of people, including artists, programmers, journalists, educators, and activists (Macy, 2005).
With the rapid pace of developing new media technologies, new forms of CVEs and participation continues to increase at a similar rate.
There are numerous forms of collaborative environments, with interaction ranging from synchronous, that is, occurring in real-time, such as through the use of chat rooms or instant messaging, or asynchronous, such as through the use of email or discussion lists (Roberts, 2004). Some of these collaborative environments include weblogs, online games, wireless networks, podcasting, and wiki, with each environment presenting different legal issues.
Legal issues surrounding CVEs, which differ depending on the specific environment, include copyright, libel, privacy, intellectual property, free speech, defamation, security, freedom of information, and fair use.
The collaborative and interactive environment provided by weblogs, better known as blogs, is a growing phenomenon, and one which provides many advantages for the online world and its communities. A blog is an individual’s personal website on which they dictate their views and feelings and provide a written account of their life and interests (Blood, 2000). Whilst blogs are generally personal, more businesses are utilising them for corporate advertising and to provide an interactive setting to involve their consumers. The collaboration of ideas, views and feelings towards different topics on blogs provides a forum for debate and discussion among an unlimited number of bloggers, however, blogs are ultimately controlled by the owner of the blog (Stone, 2002).
Blogging is a form of online journalism, and as such, bloggers are expected to comply with relevant laws and regulations surrounding online communication. Some of these legal issues include copyright, intellectual property, free speech, privacy, freedom of information, defamation, libel, and fair use (Goldsborough, 2005). These are important issues for individual bloggers to consider when creating and maintaining blogs in order to protect their rights and ensure that they abide by these laws. However, it is difficult for regulators to enforce these laws and regulations due to the rapidly increasing size of the blogosphere.
The blogosphere is increasing exponentially, with the Pew Internet study estimating that a new blog is created every 7.4 seconds and 12,000 new blogs are created each day. A website dedicated to tracking blogs, Technorati¸ is currently tracking 20.1 million blogs and 1.6 billion links, which has increased from 14.2 million blogs and 1.3 million links at the end of July 2005 (http://www.technorati.com/about/, 2005; Sifry, 2005). This means that the blogosphere continues to double every 5.5 months (Sifry, 2005).
The regulation of blogs proves a difficult task due to the vast size of the blogosphere and the lack of resources available, with minor violations often overlooked. However, in cases where individuals or corporations are found to be breaking the law, severe punishment applies (Goldsborough, 2005).
A recent legal case highlights the contentious, and as yet, unresolved issue of whether the owner of blogs or individual bloggers are held legally liable for content. This particular case involves Aaron Wall's business blog SEObook, which focuses on search engine optimisation, being sued by competitor Traffic Power over alleged defamatory comments and the publication of trade secrets in comments posted by other bloggers (Kesmodel, 2005). It is thought that there will be an increase in lawsuits similar to this as blogs become more commercial (Shropshire, 2005).
According to Saltzman (2004: 3), online games can be divided into seven different categories: action, strategy, adventure, role-playing, sports, simulations, and classic games. Role-playing games, including Massive Multiplayer Online Games (MMOGs), are perhaps the leading genre in online gaming, with 4 million players subscribing worldwide (Humphrey, 2005; Holevoet, 2005). Some examples of MMOGs are EverQuest and Trainz (Humphrey, 2005; Banks, 2003).
A central aspect of online games is the interaction and collaboration that occurs between gamers. This involves the creation of a social space that includes in-game discussion and collaborative activity and the forming of guilds and groups around specific games. This interaction provides a network of support and assistance to gamers and forms a major part of the appeal of online games (Garlick, 2005).
Online games are considered as audiovisual works from a legal perspective, with elements of online games such as imagery and logos protected by copyright (Australian Copyright Council, 2005; Holevoet, 2005). While ideas generated within online games are not restricted, participants are required to abide by the terms of the game's End User Licence Agreement (EULA), which often involves the handover of copyright ownership and Intellectual Property rights to in-game content (Humphrey, 2005). An exception to this is the participatory design process that Auran adopted for the creation of Trainz, which involved gamers that developed original content being considered as co-creators (Banks, 2005).
There is ongoing debate between players and game owners regarding the issue of ownership, or the extent of ownership of in-game content (Holevoet, 2005). While game owners set boundaries for the development of the game, game production is often continued by players after its release (Humphrey, 2005). Through add-on programs, players often take part in developing in-game characters over a long period of time, which requires a significant investment of time (Humphrey, 2005; Banks, 2002; Meikle, 2002).
Wireless, or wi-fi enabled technology encompasses a wide range of technology based on wireless networks, including laptops, mobile phones, Personal Digital Assistants (PDA), broadband internet access, and bluetooth. Wi-fi is the device that enables users to access wireless networks through radio signals that are transmitted to wireless enabled technology (Hale, 2005: 543).
There has been a rapid adoption rate of this new technology, with ten million people worldwide now accessing wireless services, compared to very few users in the year 2000 (Schiesel, 2005). The provision of free wireless internet access at coffee shops, bookstores, and airports has contributed to increased consumer access to wireless services.
Wireless collaborative communities, in which users share a wireless connection, are now becoming more common in densely populated cities, such as New York and London, with apartment blocks and streets organising a shared wireless connection independent of Internet Service Providers. This involves the transmission of a radio signal from a landline connection to numerous users, with the cost shared by members.
Legal issues surrounding wireless technology centre around privacy and security. Due to wireless connections being based on wide-ranging radio waves, wireless technology presents significant security risks. These risks include the practice of gaining free access to unprotected wireless by scouring urban areas for connections, which has been termed warchalking or ‘wardriving’ (Kern, 2004). In addition to the misuse of a wireless connection, the interception of wireless connections allows systems to be hacked into more easily. In addition, wireless devices, such as camera phones, can be inappropriately used to violate the privacy of individuals.
As this is a relatively new and evolving technology, laws and regulations governing the use of wireless technology are also evolving to meet requirements. Internet Service Providers have introduced regulations that attempt to punish those who attempt to gain unauthorised access to another user’s wireless connection. The issue of liability, in relation to content accessed by users through wireless technology, differs internationally. While Australian regulation holds Internet Service Providers responsible for the content accessed by users, the United States places liability on the user, which has seen a number of hackers prosecuted for using wireless internet to access illegal content, such as child pornograpy and credit card details.
Podcasting is a method of publishing audio content via the Internet, allowing users to download syndicated files onto digital audio devices such as Ipods (LeBlanc, 2005). Podcasting has allowed for the ‘narrowcasting’ of broadcast radio, with users able to listen to audio content specific to their interests without the need for a radio or a computer (Fernando, 2005). Podcasting also allows independent producers to create self-published syndicated 'radio shows' and provides a new distribution method for broadcast radio programs. Apple's latest Ipod range included software for users to create their own podcasts, who were then invited to post their creations on Apple's website, thereby increasing the level of collaboration within podcasting databases (Green, 2005). With the explosion of web-based audio content created by both individuals and mainstream corporations, several major legal issues has arisen from this new media technology (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podcasting, 2005).
While copying music without permission is generally considered to be in breach of copyright, laws related to the copying of digital music are unsettled. This issue was of particular concern for Australian Ipod owners, who until very recently, were unable to purchase digital music for legal downloading onto an Ipod. This problem was resolved when the Apple iTunes digital music store was launched in Australia on October 25, 2005, which offers over 1 million songs (nForcer, 2005).
The issue of copyright also pertains to podcasting, with podcasting copyright laws differing from traditional radio broadcasts as the files are often stored for longer periods of time than broadcast copies (Butler, 2005). According to Butler (2005), the level of interactivity of the broadcast affects the publisher’s ability to gain compulsory licenses to perform the masters, creating legal ambiguity. Podcasting currently requires a license from a regulatory board or publisher, however, several organisations such as BMI are experimenting with licenses for Internet sites or podcasting services (Butler, 2005). Using 'podsafe' recordings is another way to create legal podcasts (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podcasting, 2005).
Podcasting also raises the issue of intellectual property, with the recent Supreme Court ruling that peer-to-peer networks such as Grokster and [htpp://www.morpheus.com/ Morpheus] are liable if users infringe copyright laws while using their programs (Green and Woellert, 2005). The MGM vs Grokster ruling means that podcast producers, in addition to producers of other forms of peer-to-peer networking, will need to vigilantly inform customers of copyright laws (Green and Woellert, 2005). The ongoing development of audio technology has created several other emerging technologies, such as roadcasting, which has sparked debate over the legalities of sharing music amongst vehicles (Gengler, 2005).
The term Wiki relates to the first wiki ever created on March 25, 1995. Ward Cunningham, of Cunningham and Cunningham, created the wiki name and concept and operated the website Wikiwikiweb as a part of the Portland Pattern Repository in Portland, Oregon (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/wiki, 2005). The open-source encyclopedia, Wikipedia, was established in January 2001 (Clyde, 2005: 54).
Wikipedia draws on the experience of its predecessor Nupedia, which was slow to develop because its entries were referenced, edited and fact-checked by an expert. The Wikipedia operates in a collaborative open publishing environment that is seen as a community, with the English version of the Wikipedia being the world's largest (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/wiki, 2005). It can be constantly up-dated and edited by anyone, meaning that visitors to the site can be authors of the page by using the 'edit this page' option at the bottom of each page (Kushal, Viegas and Wattenberg, 2004). Due to this simple editing process and the collaboration of many individuals, incorrect or out-of-date information can be quickly and easily updated.
Since the turn of the century, wikis have been used by the business sector as a form of collaborative software to assist with project communications, intranets and documentation (http://www.wiki.org/wiki/wiki, 2005). Wikis are a useful collaborative tool in that they provide a single repository of data that can be easily referenced.
As society becomes increasingly networked and knowledge becomes more valuable, open publishing engines such as the Wikipedia increase in the volume and value of content. At the same time, the open nature of Wikipedia is vulnerable to malice, mistakes, and ignorance, and has the potential to be exposed to legal issues such as copyright and intellectual property infringement, defamation, and libel (Kushal, Viegas and Wattenberg, 2004).
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