Antonio Hernandez, a World of Warcraft (WOW) player and former assistant manager at an Orlando-based gaming store, is suing Internet Gaming Entertainment (IGE), one of the largest online gaming service companies in the world. Hernandez intends to have IGE banned from selling WOW currency for real money, due to the negative effects real money trading has on the in-game experience and server economies.
What sets this case apart from others is that Hernandez is challenging the issue as a player and not as a representative of a game company. Although real money trading is vigorously opposed by most hardcore players, IGE attorneys argue that players have no ownership within the game and are therefore in no position to sue.
Although games including WOW have legal implications in regard to gold farming and account sales, other popular online games including Ragnarok Online offer items that give significant advantages if the player is willing to pay a bit of extra real money to obtain them. The difference is that these advantages are offered officially through the game provider, so there is no issue of legality, only of morality.
Regardless, the case will likely be watched very closely by MMO players, other real money trading companies and those interested in the budding area of virtual law. Considering that WoW is one of the most popular MMOs in the world, any decisions rendered in this case will undoubtedly have long-lasting effects on real money trading for all online games present and future.
Read [ SunSentinel ]
I commented on this on my blog at: http://www.gamerates.com. (It's a blog tracking virtual game currency markets).