Thursday, October 19, 2006

FED LVL SUBCOMMITTEE WTB CLUE, PST ASAP: According to the BBC, the Congressional Joint Economic Committee is taking the time to study the in-game economics of MMOGs. It seems that, like all noobs, they can't help worrying that maybe they're getting pwnd at the AH.
"There is a concern that the IRS (Internal Revenue Service) might step forward with regulations that start taxing transactions that occur within virtual economies," said Mr Saxton. "This, I believe, would be a mistake."
Or at least silly. It would be like insisting that checkers enthusiasts cough up a nickel every time they cry "king me!" But whatever, no doubt the effort to make things clear to the powers that be will provide a few more amusing moments of grappling between the old and the new. No doubt, as well, that the RL interest of IRS and other well-intentioned, non-comprehending public servants was piqued by the revelation that:
"Studies of game activity suggest the time and effort put into these online worlds has an economic impact equivalent to the GDP of Namibia."
I doubt that's accurate. These are bad studies, or at least incomplete. Italy is probably more like it.

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