Roblox - Exploitation or Opportunity? A Response to Quintin Smith and People Make Games (VL528)

It's our annual (semi-annual?), let's respond to some...interesting claims made on YouTube episode!

In this installment - Is Roblox, one of the most popular gaming platforms in the world, exploiting your child? What you don't know...probably won't change your understanding of the underlying voluntary transactions at play here.

That said, there's much to discuss as Shut Up and Sit Down's Quintin Smith gets *extravagant* on behalf of People Make Games.

Nobody needs to Shut Up, but we should probably have a bit of a Sit Down...in Virtual Legality.

CHECK OUT THE VIDEO AT: https://youtu.be/pE3TjauWcow

#Roblox #Exploitation #Response

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CHAPTERS
00:00 Introduction
03:50 The Underlying Premise
05:46 Overview
06:53 Encouraging Folks to Develop
19:32 Problems of Discoverability
25:07 A Fair Share
36:47 Robux and Suspect Terms
44:57 Understanding Company Scrip
49:59 Bonus Arguments: Children and Activists
57:50 Jumping to Conclusions
1:01:59 My Conclusions (and Emil's)

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Discussed in this episode:

"Been working on this for a while."
Tweet - August 19, 2021 - Quinns
https://twitter.com/Quinns108/status/1428341253603831812

"Investigation: How Roblox Is Exploiting Young Game Developers"
YouTube Video - August 19, 2021 - People Make Games
https://youtu.be/_gXlauRB1EQ

"What is Roblox?"
Roblox Parents Webpage
https://corp.roblox.com/parents/

"An Antitrust Epic"
YouTube Playlist - Hoeg Law
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1zDCgJzZUy-lb7ReoUqL5_dTcM8ngmfV

"Roblox bookings grow 35% to $665.5M for Q2 2021"
VentureBeat - August 16, 2021
https://venturebeat.com/2021/08/16/roblox-bookings-grow-35-to-665-5m-for-q2-2021/

"Infographic: Indie game revenues on Steam"
August 9, 2020
https://vginsights.com/insights/article/infographic-indie-game-revenues-on-steam

Roblox Corporation
FORM S-1 REGISTRATION STATEMENT
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1315098/000119312520298230/d87104ds1.htm

"Roblox Terms of Use"
Updated May 18, 2021
https://en.help.roblox.com/hc/en-us/articles/115004647846-Roblox-Terms-of-Use

"Developer Exchange Terms of Use"
Roblox Help Page - Updated October 4, 2019
https://en.help.roblox.com/hc/en-us/articles/115005718246

"American kids want to be famous on YouTube, and kids in China want to go to space: survey"
Business Insider - July 17, 2019
https://www.businessinsider.com/american-kids-youtube-star-astronauts-survey-2019-7

"Scrip"
Wikipedia Entry
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scrip

"Payment in scrip or similar medium not authorized."
29 CFR 531.34
https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/29/531.34

"Definitions"
29 USC 203
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/29/203

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"Virtual Legality" is a continuing series discussing the law, video games, software, and everything digital, hosted by Richard Hoeg, of the Hoeg Law Business Law Firm (Hoeg Law).

CHECK OUT THE REST OF VIRTUAL LEGALITY HERE:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1zDCgJzZUy9YAU61GoW-00K0TJOGnPCo

DISCUSSION IS PROVIDED FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED AS LEGAL ADVICE. INDIVIDUALS INTERESTED IN THE LEGAL TOPICS DISCUSSED IN THIS VIDEO SHOULD CONSULT WITH THEIR OWN COUNSEL.

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Twitter: @hoeglaw
Web: hoeglaw.com