Hi guys, It's been a while since I discussed RMT here in my blog.. well it's been a long debate for over a decade now and until now developers are still against it because they are claiming that in-game items are virtually treated as personal property, but are only legally recognized as information goods, the right of ownership of these goods belongs to the developers, and players have a right to use, as conferred by the terms of service. Oh well who will agree if they cannot gain anything from it right?

Well, as I am surfing the net searching for some news about the present situation of the Virtual Community and the long battle against RMT.. one article caught my attention and I really think that every gamer must see it and have a healthy debate about it.. so here it is:

"This article questions the legal status of Real Money Trading (RMT) in MMORPGs. Noting that in-game items are virtually treated as personal property, but are only legally recognized as information goods, the right of ownership of these goods belongs to the developers, and players have a right to use, as conferred by the terms of service.

I argue that the object of RMT is neither the item itself nor the right to use the item, but rather something entirely distinct one - 'play values', and the monetary compensation is a 'gwonri-geum' (goodwill) payment. This analysis makes an analogy between the transfer of goodwill and RMT, where the transfer is not a purchase of an item or the right to use, but rather a payment for the effort the other party has invested in obtaining the item. On this analysis, RMT does not concern the operator any more than sales of goodwill concern the lesser of a business property. READ MORE "

comments are highly appreciated.. lets open our minds about this.