Stroker Serpentine: Copyright Violator Identified
Alleged copier of SexGen bed reportedly tracked to Texas.
By: Bianca Fox
Posted: 09/05/2007
TAMPA, Fla.
- Kevin Alderman, aka Stroker Serpentine, said Wednesday in an exclusive
interview with AVN Online that he has
acquired enough information to locate a man who has been duplicating his
product.
Alderman said he is beginning
a second round of subpoenas; he said the man will be served within the next two
weeks and ordered to respond to the claims against him.
"This man, who we believe
resides in Texas,
has already given an interview to Reuters where he admitted to selling 50
instances of our objects," Alderman said. "His basis for innocence is that he
was doing it for someone else. Based upon that information and what information
his [Internet-service providers] will give us, he will be ordered to respond to
the claim against him. His ISPs have been subpoenaed. We have gathered enough
information from the man's associates, sites that he frequented and AT&T,
which was formally Southwestern Bell, which
has helped us establish his real-life identity."
The accused man uses the name
Volkov Catteneo in the virtual world. He is accused of unlawfully copying and
selling Alderman's copyrighted SexGen bed.
Alderman, who operates Eros
LLC, created the bed more than two years ago and sells it on Second Life, a 3-D
virtual world on the Web. Alderman learned of Catteneo and his illegal
production of his product and filed the suit "Eros LLC v. John Doe" in the U.S. District Court in Tampa. Alderman first gave subpoenas to
PayPal and Linden Lab, creator of Second Life, demanding that the person's
identity be handed over by July 20.
As Serpentine enters his
second round of subpoenas, he said he is grateful for the support that he has
received from online communities.
"This case will pave the way
for others that involve rights in the virtual world," he said. "It has helped
to delineate the difference between virtual property and real-life property.
The line has become fuzzy, so there has been a lot of interest in the case. We
do have all the information necessary and evidence that will, hopefully, allow
us to prevail."
Alderman said he does not
anticipate a substantial monetary settlement, but said he believes that the
implications of this suit are far-reaching, since it affects all content
providers dealing on the Web - whether their properties are tangible or virtual.
