A group of gamers is looking for real money from the creator of the virtual world Second Life, charging fraud and false advertising because of changes in how land is held in the game.

In Second Life -- and in online role playing games like World of Warcraft -- players create their own characters called avatars that they use to move about a virtual 3-D space. As Second Life avatars, residents -- as the players are called -- can do anything including run businesses, go to concerts, play sports, create or buy products, and talk and interact with others from around the globe. They can also buy land using Second Life currency bought with real money.

It's the issue of who is the ultimate property owner that's in dispute.
The lawsuit, which seeks class-action status, was filed last month in federal court in Pittsburgh and asks more than $5 million in damages from San Francisco's Linden Research Inc., also known as Linden Lab. The lawsuit says the company and its founder, Philip Rosedale, told players they would own virtual land and the content they created and then later changed the terms of the service agreement that they did not own the land.

"Ours is a case where our claims focus on consumer protection statutes," said attorney Robert A. Bracken, who told Consumer Ally that Linden Lab switched from saying, "you own this virtual property" to saying a resident owns a license to use the property. Players must have premium memberships to be able to buy land.