Japanese/Brazilian fusion hotspot SushiSamba already has locations in Miami, Chicago, Dallas, Tel Aviv and two in Manhattan. Their newest menu will take the spice online.

Tuesday, the restaurant group will open two branches in Second Life, the massively popular online virtual community, and become the first real-life eatery to do so. One will be based on SushiSamba's spot on Seventh Ave. in the West Village, the other on their nightlife-oriented Park Ave. hangout.

The only hitch, of course, is that the electronic alter-egos created by Second Life partcipants - called avatars - can't taste the heat of wasabi or the sweet sting of a mojito. In Second Life, dining out is all about ambiance.

"There's not the actual palate portion of it," says Marketing Manager Jay Rocco, "but look-wise and feel-wise you're getting the same experience you would get if you walked into either location in New York." 

Second Life is potentially a better communications tool than video conferencing, according to Gavin Keeley, General Manager of Solutions at Suncorp Metway.

"I believe the conversations before and after the meeting can be as important as a meeting itself," Keeley said in an interview with SearchCIO.com.au. "In the sterile environment of a conference call you do not get the pre-and-post-call interaction."

"What you find with Second Life meetings is the sidebar conversations happen. People say to themselves: 'George is here, I'll have a chat with him after the meeting,' which doesn't happen on a conference call."

Those secondary conversations, Keeley believes, can be as important as the conference call or videoconference itself, making the more casual and persistent environment of a Second Life meeting more conducive to collaboration.

The allegedly infringing items represent nearly every type of product for sale in Second Life including avatar clothing, skins and shapes, scripted objects, furniture, and more. All of the products allegedly duplicated appear to be covered by plaintiffs’ copyrights and trademarks.

Plaintiffs allege that Thomas Simon, a Flushing, NY resident, used and continues to use the ‘Rase Kenzo’ avatar to duplicate and sell unauthorized copies of the plaintiffs’ products, mainly through scripted in-world JEVN vendors, avatar-to-avatar transactions, and virtual “yard sales.”