Eros asks for default judgment after Leatherwood misses deadline
By Eric Reuters
SECOND LIFE, Nov 15 (Reuters) - Robert Leatherwood, the 19-year-old Texan accused of being Second Life avatar Volkov Catteneo, has ignored a court deadline naming him as the principal defendant in the first Second Life copyright lawsuit, a lawyer for the plaintiff said on Thursday.
Leatherwood had until Wednesday to respond to papers served him last month, said Frank Taney, lawyer for Eros LLC.
Last July, adult-products magnate Kevin Alderman (Second Life: Stroker Serpentine) accused Catteneo of selling illicit copies of Eros’ flagship product, the SexGen bed. In an interview with Reuters, Catteneo admitted to selling 50 copies of the bed, but said he had supplied Linden Lab with false information and predicted Alderman would be unable to find him.
After a four-month hunt employing Internet Protocol address traces and private investigators, Alderman’s legal team identified Robert Leatherwood as Catteneo in October. Evidence showed Catteneo logged into Second Life from Leatherwood’s home Internet account, and from one other location Leatherwood was known to frequent.
Last month Leatherwood denied he was Catteneo, claiming another Second Life user he was fighting with was using the Catteneo account.
Follow-up phone calls to the Leatherwood home weren’t returned.
In a Second Life interview with Reuters on Sunday, the person logged in as Volkov Catteneo said Alderman had the wrong man. “I’m not 19, I’m not Robert Leatherwood,” Catteneo said.
Several details of Catteneo’s account changed from previous interviews. Catteneo earlier said he was 19 years old, like Leatherwood. “LOL, I have told you I was 19 in the past, that was untruthful,” Catteneo said.
Because Leatherwood never responded to court papers linking him to the rogue account, as a matter of law Leatherwood could be held legally responsible for Catteneo’s copying.
“We haven’t heard anything from Mr. Leatherwood,” Taney said. He is petitioning the court for a default verdict, which would automatically register a victory for Alderman.
When the default is entered, Alderman will petition a judge for damages — up to three times his losses, estimated at over two thousand dollars, plus lawyers’ fees. Taney said he’ll also ask for a permanent injunction, where Leatherwood could be held in contempt of court if he copies again.
“We’ll ask Linden Lab that the Volkov Catteneo account be shut off,” Taney said. “It blows my mind that account is still on.”
It’s unclear whether Alderman will ever be able to collect money, although any judgment against Leatherwood would go on his credit report. Leatherwood is an unemployed high-school dropout living with his family, according to a report by the Tampa Tribune.
“We’ll try to collect on any judgment,” Taney said. “If we learn he has any assets, we’ll take those.”
