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eBay Virtual World Delisting Skips Second Life

Posted by Zonk on from the selective-process dept.

As a follow-up to last week's eBay delisting story, CNET has the word that Second Life content is exempt from this decision. Mr. Durzy, speaking with CNET, specifically cited Second Life content as exempt because of the uncertain role of the virtual world. As the company (and the rest of us) are uncertain whether to label Second Life as a game in the first place, player-created content is still sellable via eBay auction. A perfectly fine explanation, but GigaGamez takes things a step further, pointing out that eBay founder Pierre Omidyar became a major investor in Linden Labs in 2004. It's uncertain if this constitutes a conflict of interest, because confusion about what exactly Second Life is persists pretty much everywhere. Just the same, it's interesting to note. Their article on the subject also has a few words of commentary from Edward Castronova, the well-known commentator on all things RMT.

2 of 42 comments (clear)

  1. Pretty Simple by Bieeanda · · Score: 5, Informative

    Unlike the average MMO, where all assets virtual and physical belong to the company and not the end user, stuff that players create within Second Life is their own intellectual property. It's not a matter of SL being a game or not at all, but rather a function of licence agreements and design philosophy.

  2. RMT?!?! by biovoid · · Score: 5, Insightful

    National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (UK)
    Radiomagnetotelluric (Method, Measurements)
    Random Matrix Theory
    Rasch Measurement Transaction (education)
    Rate My Teachers.com
    Raw Magnetic Tape
    Real Money Transfer (role playing games)
    Real-Money Trading
    Recognition Memory Test
    Records Management Taskforce (Australian Computer Society)
    Reed-Muller Transform
    Registered Massage Therapist
    Registered Music Therapist
    Registre Morphologique des Tumeurs au Grand-Duché de Luxembourg
    Reiki Master Teacher (alternative health)
    Reliability, Maintainability, Testability
    Reliable Multicast Transport (IETF)
    Remedial Military Training
    Remote
    Remote Management Testing (Ciena)
    Required Monthly Test
    Resource Management Team
    Return Material Tag (authorization reference number used when returning goods to the manufacturer)
    Reverse Mold Technology (L.A. Spas)
    Rigid Muffin-Tin
    Ring Management (FDDI, IBM)
    Risk Management Team
    Risk Management Technologies
    Royal Milk Tea

    Ok, so after searching Google for acronyms matching RMT, I worked out that in this context it means "Real Money Transfer" or "Real Money Trading", but seriously... and I normally can't stand posts that bitch about the editors... but seriously... and I'm usually happy to look up any acronym that I SHOULD know about, unless it is really FUCKING obscure... but SERIOUSLY... WOULD IT FUCKING TAKE YOU SLASHDOT EDITORS TWO SECONDS TO EXPLAIN WHAT THE FUCK RMT MEANS?!?!?