TAMPA – Kevin Alderman thinks of himself as “the Hugh Hefner of the digital millennium.”
He’s built a virtual adult entertainment empire, making and selling cyber sex toys in a three-dimensional online world known as “Second Life,” a hugely popular Internet community with 7 million residents. It’s an Internet universe where businesses thrive, universities teach, musicians perform and people fly.
But Alderman wants the real-life courts to settle his grievance with another avatar, or online persona.
On Tuesday, his company, Eros, filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court claiming the avatar known as Volkov Catteneo has violated the trademark on one of his devices called a Sex Gen. Eros claims the avatar has made unauthorized copies of the device and is selling it for a profit.
Alderman’s products may exist only in cyberspace, but they bring real money. Alderman recently sold a virtual representation of Amsterdam he created for $50,000 through E-Bay.
He said he sells about 1,000 Sex Gens a year for the equivalent of about $40 each. As Alderman explained it, a Sex Gen is kind of a machine that manipulates avatars into various positions.
“I don’t just do sexual positions,” Alderman said. “I also do cuddles and kisses and fun things.” But the sex is “what people want,” he added. “I give them what they want. I’m an entrepreneur.”
Alderman said he’s made enough money to sell a plumbing contracting business he used to have in Tampa and to employ 12 people who design, build and sell objects in Second Life.
Although one online site referred to him as an Internet porn mogul, Alderman said he doesn’t do pornography. “I’m a toy maker,” Alderman explained. “I’m an erotic Geppetto.” (more…)
