[geeks] Second Life is not a game?

[Phil Stracchino]

William Kirkland wrote:
> *IF* we assume that "Second Life" is not a game ...
> 
> When you file your taxes, do you claim your income that your avatar  
> received in 'Second Life'?


Congress has been debating that very question for some months now.
INTENSELY.  The general idea is, "If anyone anywhere is making some
money, even if it isn't real, we want our share of it."  The basic idea
seems to be that if any online game world has any kind of virtual
economy where you can build up assets that can hypothetically be
exchanged for real money, with or without the blessing of the game's
creators, then Uncle Sam wants his "fair" share of whatever your virtual
assets are "worth".



-- 
        Phil Stracchino                CDK#2
 Renaissance Man, Unix ronin, Perl hacker, Free Stater
 phil.stracchino at speakeasy.net   alaric at caerllewys.net
 Landline: 603-429-0220           Mobile: 603-320-5438
        It's not the years, it's the mileage.