"WHILE global economies have endured a torrid time of late, business is booming in the virtual economies of Second Life, Facebook and Everquest. As the economic boundaries between virtual and real worlds continue to blur, the supposedly liberated virtual worlds are now running up against some very real-world legal problems.

Financial analyst Piper Jaffray estimates that US citizens will spend $621 million in 2009 in virtual worlds; estimates of the Asian market are even larger. Research firm Plus Eight Star puts spending at $5 billion in the last year.

Over in Second Life, trade remains robust. The value of transactions between residents in the second quarter of this year was $144 million, a year-on-year increase of 94 per cent. With its users swapping virtual goods and services worth around $600 million per year, Second Life has the largest economy of any virtual world - which exceeds the GDP of 19 countries, including Samoa.

Thousands of users make money selling virtual goods from clothing and furniture to art and gazebos, as well as services such as virtual wedding planning, translation or architecture. Several hundred make thousands of dollars from the trade; the most successful have become millionaires." ~ NewScientist

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Virtual World Disputes Heading for Real Courtrooms