If Second Life had a mascot, other than a pile of soiled sex toys, it might just be Ozimals. These are adorable little bunnies that can be bred to produce all kinds of rare and interesting patterns and could interact with AI scripts. There’s apparently been a thriving industry and subculture raging around these fluffy hareballs that’s involved marketplaces and real-world money.
Well all of that activity — and many of the Ozimals themselves — is coming to a sad end today. Earlier this week, the operator of Ozimals received a cease-and-desist letter ordering the market to be shut down. It turns out that the bunnies were cobbled together using intellectual property from different owners, leaving the critters vulnerable to such legal maneuvering.
According to the now-defunct Ozimals blog, all bunnies that were “everlasting” (not requiring any food to function) will stick around, but all of the other ones won’t be able to eat and will slip into eternal hibernation today. In addition, Pufflings (another virtual pet) have been unceremoniously wiped out of the game.
The party that issued the cease-and-desist posted an eight-page response to the community that outlined a multi-year legal battle over the Ozimals intellectual property. When lots of money is being made and IP ownership is murky and mixed, bad things are bound to happen.
