 | SL gambling question hits KoreaApril 11th, 2007 |
It wasn’t that long ago that we saw some Second Life players identifying the core characteristics that define, to their minds, what a metaverse title actually is. The list I saw once, but cannot find, included “users retaining ownership of IP” and “ability to cash out.”
But today, JoongAng Daily points out that not only is online gambling banned in Korea, but that all sorts of online businesses are:
In Korea, however, making money for commercial purposes through games is illegal. Revised laws that go into effect on April 20 have stronger restrictions on offline trade of cyber items.
Individual players can sell unwanted items offline, since that can be seen as a part of game-playing, but if they start making money for money’s sake, it becomes illegal,” said Kim Gyu-yeong, an official at the Culture Ministry.
No doubt the case will be made that Second Life and similar metaverses are not games, and that therefore the regulations should not apply, but I don’t know that this will make the Korean government any softer on the issue, given the Sea Story scandal.
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