That -is- an interesting thought, but seeing as you can't buy gold from Blizzard either, I don't think it's a taxable asset if the courts take the ToS into account because there's no determinable monetary value of the gold itself.
The problem with WoW is that it's against the Terms of Service to sell gold. I'm no lawyer, but I would assume that by violating the ToS, you technically forfeit any ownership of the gold and therefore don't really have a right to anything of value. I guess that's only if you get caught, though.
I didn't RTFA, but since it's against the ToS to sell WoW's gold, I would assume that making WoW gold falls under the category of personal activity. If we were talking about Second Life, however, where the in-game currency has a direct exchange rate into dollars, that falls under the commercial category.
That would be true if it weren't for the fact that recording equipment is getting cheaper and artists have the Internet for distribution. Whereas making games is getting more expensive, making music is getting less so.
Using the "We need this to protect our children from pornography" argument is utter crap. If you want to protect your kids from smut, sit down with them and help with with their homework. Restrict their internet access. If you don't trust your kids enough to stay away from things you don't think they should see, that's your problem, not the rest of the worlds. Step up, parents.
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There's a "skip bagging" button. Don't blame the fact that you don't understand simple technology and shoplifted as a result on the store.
That -is- an interesting thought, but seeing as you can't buy gold from Blizzard either, I don't think it's a taxable asset if the courts take the ToS into account because there's no determinable monetary value of the gold itself.
I would hope that they'd take the ToS into account when they made the ruling, but I see your point.
The problem with WoW is that it's against the Terms of Service to sell gold. I'm no lawyer, but I would assume that by violating the ToS, you technically forfeit any ownership of the gold and therefore don't really have a right to anything of value. I guess that's only if you get caught, though.
I didn't RTFA, but since it's against the ToS to sell WoW's gold, I would assume that making WoW gold falls under the category of personal activity. If we were talking about Second Life, however, where the in-game currency has a direct exchange rate into dollars, that falls under the commercial category.
That would be true if it weren't for the fact that recording equipment is getting cheaper and artists have the Internet for distribution. Whereas making games is getting more expensive, making music is getting less so.
How is this a troll?
Using the "We need this to protect our children from pornography" argument is utter crap. If you want to protect your kids from smut, sit down with them and help with with their homework. Restrict their internet access. If you don't trust your kids enough to stay away from things you don't think they should see, that's your problem, not the rest of the worlds. Step up, parents.