Big Media Gets a Second Life

WiredもCNetもロイターもSecond Lifeの中にプレゼンスを作り始めたという話。

「インターネットやってる人とやってない人」でデジタルデバイドができたかのごとく
「SecondLifeをやってる人とやってない人」でデジタルデバイドができるかも（笑）

On a 1-acre lot, you'll find the digitized headquarters of Wired magazine.

CNET Networks (CNET),
on Sept. 26 unveiled its own five-story, glass-and-brick office
structure in Second Life. The building is an exact replica of the
company's headquarters in San Francisco, and it's set amid vast lawns
overlooking Second Life's blue ocean. Look closely at that ocean and
you'll see the island purchased by British news giant Reuters (RTRSY), which made its Second Life debut on Oct. 16.

Virtual economies attract real-world tax attention

Users of online worlds such as Second Life and World of Warcraft
transact millions of dollars worth of virtual goods and services every
day, and these virtual economies are beginning to draw the attention of
real-world authorities.

。。。とは言われ尽くしてきてる。特にSecond Lifeは無視できないレベルまで来ちゃってる。

Second Life, for example, was specifically designed by San
Francisco-based Linden Lab to have a free-flowing market economy. Its
internal currency, the Linden dollar, can be converted into U.S.
dollars through an open currency exchange, making it effectively "real"
money.

Inside Second Life, users can buy and sell virtual objects
from T-shirts to helicopters, develop virtual real estate, or hire out
services ranging from architecture to exotic dancing. Up to $500,000 in
user-to-user transactions take place every day, and the Second Life
economy is growing by 10 to 15 percent a month.

ゲームなんてわからない人が当局に多いので教育しないとと言いつつ実は：

However, there are probably some on Capitol Hill who won't require
much explanation. "I can almost guarantee that there are some members
of Congress spending time in Second Life or World of Warcraft," he said.

Heheそうだろうね。

で、記事の末尾がこれでしめられていたのが面白かった！

(For more coverage of Second Life, where Reuters is opening a virtual news bureau, go to http://secondlife.reuters.com)

アナログなCM見ていて「続きはネットで！」の現代バージョンは

ネットニュース見ていて「続きはSecond Lifeで！」