Linden hands over ‘John Doe’ information

By Eric Reuters

SECOND LIFE, August 6 (Reuters) - Linden Lab has complied with a subpoena requesting an avatar’s real-world identity in a Second Life copyright lawsuit, a lawyer for the plaintiff said on Monday.

Second Life firm Eros, run by Kevin Alderman (Second Life: Stroker Serpentine) sued resident Volkov Catteneo in July, charging he illicitly sold copies of Eros’ “SexGen” bed. As part of the lawsuit, Eros subpoenaed PayPal and Linden Lab in an attempt to discover Catteneo’s real-world identity.

PayPal complied with the subpoena last month.

Catteneo told Reuters that he provided fake information while registering with Linden, and predicted Eros would be unable to find him.

Frank Taney, lawyer for Eros LLC, said he is reviewing the information he received from Linden Lab and PayPal, and would ask judges in U.S. federal court in Tampa to issue additional subpoenas within the next two weeks. Asked if that meant requesting information from Internet service providers, Taney said “Yes, and others.”

Taney said he’s seeking both punitive damages against Catteneo, and an injunction barring the avatar from selling more SexGen beds or helping others make copies.

Amid speculation Catteneo may be outside the jurisdiction of American courts, the avatar told Reuters he’s a citizen of the United States living on American soil. Taney confirmed the information he’s received leads him to believe Catteneo is American.

The subpoena requested Linden provide “the entirety of identifying information” the company has on the avatar, including Catteneo’s Internet protocol addresses and chat histories. Taney wouldn’t divulge the particulars of what Linden Lab provided, but said there was no apparent plan by Linden to fight the subpoena in court.