The Pokemon Go craze is setting the reality world on fire, as well as Nintendo’s capital value with a $7 billion overnight increase, but there are some legal issues ahead too, according to a lawyer involved in such matters.
Pokemon Go is an ‘augmented reality’ show that requires players to visit real-world places to discover and capture creatures from the show.
And therein lies the potential problem. As augmented reality game-playing becomes more common, so too will the numbers out there in the real world searching for digital creatures or characters.
As Brian Wassom, a media attorney with Honigan Miller in Michigan says:”The more such games are released, the more crowded our reality is going to get.”
The increased competition for space is likely – or going to – lead to increased problems.
Writing in the Hollywood Reporter, Wassam says the issues include:
competition between players of various games for use of the same physical spaces — conflicts that could disrupt the ability of players and non-players alike to enjoy the venue, and even lead to violence.
Already there is Nintendo’s Ingress, along with Pokemon Go, while Google have Niantic.
Digital reality can have superimposed, multiple ‘action’ occurring in the same physical space, which can lead to potentially thousands competing for it.
This could be worse than the South China Sea for gamers fighting different games in the same space.
t’s also easy to see how the owners of the physical real estate in question could take issue with (or, if they’re savvy, profit from) crowds of players using the space to play invisible games. There are already several businesses, and even churches, on both sides of the fence with Pokemon GO.
But the personal injury attorneys too are likely to have a good look in here with Pokemon Go and its fellow travellers.
Injury among gamers is obvious, but a range of others present themselves, as Wassam points out, ranging from productivity issues to trespass.
games raise myriad other concerns as well, including decreased employee productivity, trespass, playersstumbling across crime scenes, criminals targeting players and risks to minors.
So enjoy your Pokemon – but take along a lawyer’s contact details in case your encounter involves a real world confrontation.
