I don't have an English link, but in Asia, especially South korea and to a lesser extent in Japan, the production and trading of virtual goods is a booming industry. In fact, there are the first kitchen-table outfits that specialize in custom made outfits for various games popular in Asia.
Trade is actually being encouraged and the first virtual world operators are looking at making a buck from taxing it by issuing trader licences in form of access to selected sniplets of source code. For me it looks as if in a few years, 'Virtual Armor Smith(TM)' or 'Online Reality Taylor' could become an acceptable job description on a (virtual) name card. Once big business realizes what is happening, they might be smart enough to find common platforms that will allow 'inhabitants' of one VR world to take their characters and equipment into another. Once that is possible, it is only a matter of time until 'virtual real estate brokers' and others will make an appearance. In the end, online or off, experiences for the brain are a matter of electronic signals and stimuli. As technology improves, it is only a matter of time until the border between reality and perceived reality starts to desintegrate. And with constant improvements in productivity this may very well be a good thing. After all, ever fewer people are producing ever more goods and services, and the masses of jobs that will be irreplaceably lost in the next few decades will mean that large segments of the populace serve only as consumers. For them some sort of occupation needs to be created - and when that occupation is virtual, they won't waste any resources... Cheers, Robert. Which Virtual Reality Can We Host For You Today? budget & privacy website hosting http://www.cyberica.net budget & privacy domain registrations + mail http://www.u2planet.com/cfdomaintrust.html --- You are currently subscribed to e-gold-list as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Use e-gold's Secure Randomized Keyboard (SRK) when accessing your e-gold account(s) via the web and shopping cart interfaces to help thwart keystroke loggers and common viruses.
