• Measuring the Value of the 2008 ION Game Conference
• Only One Week Left for Regular Registration
• Join the ION Volunteer Program
• Countdown to ION: Reason #3
• New Speakers: Craig Sherman, Joe Ludwig, Min Kim, Dave Elchoness, James Gwertzman, Sean F. Kane, Dave Weinstein, Charlie Hite, Rick Lambright, Steve Danuser, Steve Augustino
• Meeting of the Minds: Interview with Attorney Sean F. Kane

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Measuring the Value of the 2008 ION Game Conference

This Monday might be a good time to play devil’s advocate and ask the question, “How relevant is the 2008 ION Game Conference as a game industry event?” With a week before the end of the current registration rate, the full agenda set and ready to go, it’s a good question to ask ourselves and others considering attendance. After all, time is money and it’s important to know whether you not only get what you pay for, but what you need.

Looking at recent gaming-related headlines is one meaningful way to determine how current, how helpful, the ION Game Conference’s lectures, roundtables and panels might be to anyone seriously involved in the online games business:

News: EVE Online Source Code Leaked (Escapist Magazine - 4/15/08)

Relevant sessions: Security Snapshots and Security and Games could be helpful to developers looking for answers when closing security loopholes and back doors in their online game’s servers and code.

News: Taxing Virtual Worlds (Forbes.com - 4/16/08)

Relevant Sessions: Virtual Property: Issues in Buying and Selling Virtual Goods  and Virtual Worlds - Real Laws: What Every MMOG Designer Needs to Know to Avoid Jail Time cover the legal, financial and other practical risks that accompany the creation and distribution of virtual goods online.

News: Report: NBC on Verge of $100M Investment in SCi (Gamasutra - 4/18/08)

Relevant Sessions: State of Online Games: Partnership and Investment Opportunities Around the World and Online Worlds and Offline Worldviews - Managing Geocultural Expectations in Game Content address the complex opportunities for game developers in a rapidly changing international business and cultural landscape.

The 2008 ION Game Conference isn't an ivory tower event existing in a vacuum, or just an excuse to bring some friends in the business to swap stories and drink. The tough issues of our time as game developers and everyone else connected to this industry are being confronted head-on at this year’s ION Game Conference. If you have questions for some of the most seasoned veterans within the online game industry, this conference is where you go to get them answered.

We rest our case.

Paul Philleo Editor ION Connection

Only One Week Left for Regular Registration
Save $300 if you register by April 28, 2008

There is only one week left to take advantage of our regular online registration pricing. You must register before midnight March 28, 2008 to save $300 off the late/on-site conference price of $995.

Register online now

Then, join us at the second annual ION Game Conference May 13-15, 2008 in Seattle, Washington, where you'll have access to some of the best minds in the industry, face-to-face, at this exclusive event. ION will host over 100 speakers from leading online game development companies in keynote presentations, technical sessions, panel discussions, and interactive roundtables.

ION sessions deliver the in-depth knowledge you need to take your games to new markets, new platforms, and new levels of profitability. At ION, you'll have quality time with speakers and other industry leaders in an intimate environment, without being surrounded by posers and wannabe's. Check out some of the highlights from this year's session line-up:

• An Analysis of MMOG Subscription Growth
  Bruce Woodcock
• Creating a Global Marketplace for MMOGs: Can East and West Really Play Together?
  Jason Wonacott, John Young, Robert Ferrari, Dr. Lars Buttler, Won Il Suh, Min Kim
• Online Games 2013: A Five Year Glimpse into the Future
  Peter Freese, Erik Bethke, Scott Jennings, Damion Schubert
• Redefining Virtual Worlds For Mass Market Consumption
  Dave Elchoness, Erik Bethke, John K. Bates, Craig Sherman, Rob Lanphier
• Successfully Managing a Community Emergency
  Craig Dalrymple, Victor Wachter, Rich Weil, Alan Crosby, Meghan Rodberg
• Virtual Property: Issues in Buying and Selling Virtual Goods
  Kirk Soderquist, Don McGowan, Neal Black, and Sean F. Kane

For a complete list of sessions, visit http://www.ionconference.com/sessions.php

In additional to great sessions ION features networking activities like no other conference. Join us for our speed networking executive breakfasts, hosted by Jay Moore, where you'll enjoy fine food and conversation with other leaders in the online games industry. But don't delay, space is limited, and we're already selling out quickly.

Presented by Evergreen Events, the 2008 ION Game Conference is the only annual game industry event with a laser-sharp focus on the rapidly evolving business of online game development on all its platforms. ION will bring online game developers and business leaders from around the world together to celebrate and further the online game ecosystem.

Join the ION Volunteer Program

Attend the ION Game Conference by becoming a volunteer! Participation in the Volunteer Program will give you a backstage look into the inner workings of ION while contributing to the success of this event. In your free time, you will have the opportunity to meet and mingle with industry professionals, as well as attend conference sessions and events.

Volunteers get full access to the conference in exchange for part-time volunteer work. We need volunteers to assist with registration, bag-stuffing, room usher, and runner duties. The Volunteer Program is a great way to experience ION on a budget. It's also the only way to get a cool ION Staff shirt!

Volunteers are expected to be available for a total of 10-12 hours of work over the course of the conference. All volunteers, regardless of discipline or area of interest, are encouraged to apply. No prior experience with the games industry is required. We are looking for reliable, hard-working, self-starting, independent, enthusiastic volunteers who are excited about the conference and who want to be among the next generation of industry leaders and professionals.

Take the first step to becoming part of the mechanism that makes the ION Game Conference run. Learn more about the Volunteer Program, and fill out the online application by May 4, 2008.

Countdown to ION
Top Ten Reasons to Attend the 2008 ION Game Conference

As the 2008 ION Game Conference approaches with under a month left before the conference gets underway on May 13th, we’re almost to the end of the list of the ten best reasons why you should attend this event. In fact, we’re down to reason number three.

Top Ten Reasons to attend ION '08

#10. Incredible amenities
#9. Networking opportunities galore
#8. First-class content
#7. Location, location, location
#6. Tight focus on online games
#5. Keynote lunches
#4. International viewpoints and networking

Here’s #3.

Sometimes You Do Get More than What You Pay For

Most times in life you've got to flash a membership card to get into a country club or pay a huge premium (and keep paying it for 72 months) to pick up that new sports car you’d always wanted. That’s just the way life works, right? Not with one of the game industry’s premier conferences, the ION Game Conference.

For $695, you are treated like a VIP when you attend. The conference pass gives you full access to every keynote, lecture, panel, roundtable, snack break, gourmet lunch, evening reception you are willing and able to attend over three days. There is no unpleasant pecking order, where there are attendees who get more if they pay more or less if they pay less.

To experience how much access, how much information, how much value a single conference can make to your business – without having to deny yourself some of the other comforts in life – register for the 2008 ION Game Conference here:

Once you've registered for ION, we definitely recommend booking your stay at the official conference hotel, the Seattle Marriott Waterfront Hotel. Not only are you conveniently located at the center of all the official conference action, you’re staying at one of Seattle’s finest hotels at a specially discounted rate. We've negotiated a special rate of just $209 for ION attendees. But hurry, the ION room block is sold-out, and there is a very limited number of additional rooms available.

New Speakers Announced

We are very pleased to announce we have some amazing new additions to speaker lineup. We will continue announcing speakers over the coming weeks, so stay tuned for the complete list.

See the complete list of speakers

Interview with Attorney Sean F. Kane

Sean F. Kane, an Attorney with Drakeford & Kane LLC will bring his legal expertise related to virtual worlds, to the Virtual Property: Issues in Buying and Selling Virtual Goods panel at the 2008 ION Game Conference. But first, he dissects some of the most burning issues associated with virtual goods in an interview for ION Connection.

PAUL PHILLEO: Sean, we appreciate your time and interest by addressing a few of our questions for our readers. Can you tell us how your work with Drakeford & Kane LLC intersects with virtual world issues?

SEAN F. KANE: As Manager of the firm’s Intellectual Property Practice Group, I counsel clients in the interactive entertainment, video game, virtual world industries about such areas as publishing, licensing and merchandising, sweepstakes and gaming.  My clients are engaged in all aspects of these industries and I am regularly involved in various aspects of their businesses, including drafting EULAs and TOS, negotiation of publishing and distribution agreements and other business agreements.  Additionally, I frequently counsel clients on the management and protection of intellectual property rights, mergers and acquisitions and other matters relating to my clients general business operations.

How has the legal landscape changed within the last few years concerning virtual goods? In general, have laws kept up with the evolution of online communities, transaction models and increasing diversity in the types of intangible property bought, sold and traded online?

Unfortunately, the legal landscape has not really even considered the issues which are arising out of virtual worlds.  The law tends to change at a glacial pace and is often outstripped by the speed of technology.   This is exactly what we are experiencing in the virtual world space.  That being said, we have seen the beginning of US courts dealing with virtual world law suits and the Federal government is becoming more aware of the space and the potential benefits and concerns it brings with it.  As the industry continues to mature so will the legal view of it.  What is worthy of note is that even though the law has not yet changed to address virtual worlds it may not really need to.  There are various existing legal precedents and statutes that are arguably applicable to the virtual world, but just have not been used yet.  This is why lawyers like myself are attempting to educate the courts and government about the new technology and transaction models and how they should be viewed in light of the current state of law.

From an end user’s perspective, how do virtual goods ownership rights vary in general between traditional MMO games and sandbox-type virtual worlds like Second Life?

This is not an easy question to answer.  At this point ownership rights are all based on the EULA of the particular world and not the type of the world.  There are MMOs that were designed to be monetized by the users and there are “sandbox-type” worlds that do not allow this type of action.  Generally, in the first instance we must look to the EULA to see if any ownership rights exist at all.  If the world is an “open” world then there is likely some ownership rights.  If it is a “closed” world then there usually is no sense of ownership.  These two types of worlds can cover MMOs and virtual worlds and really just describe the nature of them.  That being said, the ultimate arbiter of ownership rights may be the courts.  The Marc Bragg v. Linden Lab case began to look at the issue of whether EULA’s will ultimately control the transactions or if player’s rights will prevail.  Since this case settled before deciding this issue we must continue to rely on the terms of a EULA to decide ownership rights.

Do you feel virtual rights conflicts will extend into mobile and console platforms as those platforms become more connected and complex?

Definitely.  Mobile and console platforms are merging with the concept of the virtual world.  Many web based virtual worlds are looking for ways to bring these worlds to mobile devices.  Likewise, console based systems like Xbox Live are creating their own interconnected systems which are evolving into new platforms that are arguably a type of virtual worlds themselves.

What guidelines should an independent developer of user-created content bear in mind, as far as their rights are concerned, before they distribute their creation within an online world?

The main point for any developer is to ascertain where the content being distributed belongs to someone else.  Intellectual Property infringement is a serious issue which can have criminal as well as civil penalties.  I am very quick to inform any clients that they must make sure that they and their employees, contractors, etc. are not reusing someone else’s content.  Just because something can be easily copied from another source in the virtual world or the Internet does not mean that it is legally permissible to do so.

Secondarily, if a developer is creating a world what allows for user created content it must either take steps to ensure that users are not posting any infringing content or, alternatively, comply with the “safe harbor” provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.  If developers do not undertake either one of these options they may be liable for any infringing content posted on their world.

In the next few years, do you expect virtual world and MMO legal issues to become more or less complicated for content creators and their end users?

Both, actually.  I believe that the industry creativity will yield a plethora of business models which will stretch the boundaries of the virtual world.  This will lead to many new and complex legal issues.  However, as the industry grows and matures lawyers, judges and the government will come to understand the issues better.  Decisions will be written and laws will be enacted which will clarify some of the currently murky areas.  Therefore, some of the current problems will be solved while it is likely that new ones will continue to be created.

What unique point of view concerning virtual goods do you expect to contribute to the “Virtual Property: Issues in Buying and Selling Virtual Goods” panel at the ION Game Conference?

I will be able to bring the perspective of a practicing attorney who represents various clients in this space.  Therefore, I am not just an academic who is arbitrarily theorizing about these issues without any grounding in real practice; I am actually in the trenches working with companies to design and implement systems dealing with virtual property.  Moreover, I have researched and spoken about this topic in numerous venues around the world so I can bring a broad perspective to the panel.

Besides contributing to your panel, what else do you hope to accomplish this year at the ION Game Conference?

I hope to meet with other industry professionals that share a passion for virtual worlds.

Discuss on the ION Network

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