US Government probes economic activity in Second Life | OUT-LAW.COM
Not that I have anything against people earning a living, but doesn’t any of these people realize that this a business controlled by Linden Labs, and that they are vulnerable to the whims of Linden Labs. Everyone’s property rights exist by the grace of their Terms of Service agreement, which they reserve the right to change at any time.
Of course, if a competitor were to use a Term of Service with even more generous property rights, then they would be able to lure people away from Second Life. Who would have thought that the Terms of Service maybe a means for purveyors of virtual economies to compete with one another in the future.
The US Government will investigate the amount of trade being carried out in online fantasy games such as Second Life, prompting fears amongst some gamers that it will tax virtual trading.The Joint Economic Committee of the US Congress will investigate the scale of commerce taking place in games such as Eve Online and Second Life. Though the Committee said that it does not intend to start taxing trade it did say that it wants to get an idea of where the line falls between taxable and non-taxable trade.
The fantasy games involve recreations of many normal activities, and trade is a huge part of that life. Currency in some of the worlds is bought for actual money and can be reconverted, which means that in-game trades have quantifiable economic value outside of the game.
In other cases attributes and in-game gold are won through game play and sold for hard cash outside of the games. Reports have emerged of gold farmers in China who play the game for a living.
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