XstreetSL

Remember Philip Rosedale once touted SL for metporaymincs, and used what turned out to be a Ponzi scheme scammer as the example, and had to lay low on that concept. Gwyn, you do a good job of illustrating why L$ could become a real microtransaction currency. However, you don't touch upon the legal ramifications, or business sensibility. Would governments insist that Linden Lab essentially follow the same regulations as eBay? Would L$ have to be tracked and treated as currency at all times, rather than the "when it's sold for US$ it becomes real" paradigm? I know the dreamers at Linden Lab are still looking to "create a new nation" rather than a solid virtual world platform, but does allowing the L$ to become a real item marketplace further the Linden Lab business model? Let's hypothetically say yes, for the moment. What would make the most sense? Xstreet become both a virtual and real item workshop. Pierre Omidyar gets a little more than a little upset for helping a company that ultimately becomes a competitor to eBay. Governments come in and now hold Linden Lab responsible for aggressively policing their marketplace in the same way that eBay, Amazon, and others do. What's the unique business model? The only thing I can think would be selling virtual world / real world crossover items, something like Webkinz does with their real plush toys and virtual pets. On the other side of this is a simple fact more and more of what we want is virtual. Music and movies are sold digitally, as the two biggest examples that come to my mind. Perhaps Linden Lab could stick to the "digital" side of the marketplace, and avoid the same government eye? What's your thoughts, Gwyn?