South Korea Rules Virtual Currency is as Good as Cash
South Korea Rules Virtual Currency is as Good as Cash
Posted 01/20/2010 at 7:35am
| by Pulkit Chandna
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The global market for virtual goods is already worth billions of dollars annually. In fact, several small countries around the world have smaller GDPs than the total worth of the virtual economy. But there are very few laws to regulate virtual commerce in its infancy. At this stage, it is only fair to expect the courts and lawmakers to only tackle issues related to virtual trade as and when they appear before them.
One such question came up for consideration before South Korea's apex court during a recent case where two gamers had been accused of illegally profiting by trading in-game currency for real cash, a practice popularly known as gold farming. The court not only acquitted them but also ruled that in-game or virtual currency is to be treated on par with real currency.
Though this is being hailed as a landmark ruling that is going to impact future laws elsewhere, it has only divided the world further on the legality of gold farming. South Korea's supreme court has taken a stance completely opposite to that of the Chinese government, which banned the practice of trading virtual currencies – the ban doesn't cover virtual goods - for real ones last year.
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Taz0
January 20, 2010 at 1:25pm
You are confusing two similar yet separate terms - gold farming and gold selling.
Gold farming is a legitimate practice of playing in a certain way as to maximize the rate of gold earning. Many players gold farm if they want to more gold, and has nothing to do with selling the gold for real money. The extreme of gold farming is using bots to automate the process, which is not allowed and may get you banned.
Gold selling and buying is an illegitimate practice (prohibited in the EULA) of exchanging virtual gold for real money. It is frowned upon because it allows players to have an unfair advantage - unfair because the advantage was not acquired by playing the game. Sites that make profit by selling gold often employ gold framing techniques to maximize the gold collection and thus their profits. Bots are often used.
opulent_rigs
January 20, 2010 at 1:55pm
right but the the term gold farming is like an umbrella term amd may imply both collection and trading.
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