Second Life Business Now Worth $1 Million

Unlike the unfortunate Mr. Wang, discussed this past weekend, the million dollars Anshe Chung has minted selling data in Second Life is unlikely to get her in trouble with the law. Terra Nova has an interview with the tag-teamed Avatar, discussing what being the first online world Millionaire means. There's also some fierce debate in the comments about whether it's an accurate count, and what this could mean for other online traders. You may recall Anshe from 'her' BusinessWeek article in May of this year. From the Terra Nova interview: "TN (RR): How long do you think the SL economy can sustain the level of growth that it has achieved thus far? Anshe: I believe the real growth of SL economy will be sustained for very long time. At least until one strong competitor arrives, which I think is not likely soon. However, the 'explosive growth' with 1.5 million accounts is a little bit of a misleading figure. Our own internal estimate of number of active paying users in SL agrees with Raph [Koster]'s estimate of about 100K. It seems the real growth of SL is about 100% every 6 months, which is still amazing. One must understand that people, once they are really immersed in Second Life and join those who are regular users, don't tend to get bored or to drop out, even not after years of use. This is fundamentally different from MMORPGs."

Okay?

[Tadrith]

I feel like the only person in the world who has looked at Second Life and had absolutely zero interest in it.

Re:Regulate it.

[drinkypoo]

You get taxed when you get money out of second life. You have to report it as income same as any other income. You know, if I hand you $5 on the street, you're legally obligated to report that income, right?

Re:Okay?

[brkello]

You would get that impression here, wouldn't you? I really don't understand the constant stream of second life stories that get put up here. Is Zonk getting paid to advertise for them? Is second life somehow involved in a plot to destroy the PS3 launch? There are games vastly more popular (let us use WoW as an example) that don't get nearly the press time (and they get more than enough coverage). Personally, I am sick of Second Life articles which are not news (or even note) worthy. I'd like to make a movement here on Slashdot that refuses to play Second Life until we stop seeing all the useless articles. Of course, none of us would play it anyways...but would just like to see a little sanity in the editing.

Re:Okay?

[Otter]

I really don't understand the constant stream of second life stories that get put up here...There are games vastly more popular (let us use WoW as an example) that don't get nearly the press time (and they get more than enough coverage)

I have zero interest in playing Second Life myself, but the explicit blurring of real-world and virtual economics is fascinating. It certainly strikes me as News For Nerds in a way that whiny demands for gold farming crackdowns are not.

Re:Okay?

[dr.badass]

I feel like the only person in the world who has looked at Second Life and had absolutely zero interest in it.

For something you have zero interest in, it's kind of odd for you to take the time to post a comment on a story about it, don't you think?