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Full-Text Articles in Business

Virtual Worlds In Asia: Business Models And Legal Issues. Paper Presented At Digra, Ian Macinnes Jan 2005

Virtual Worlds In Asia: Business Models And Legal Issues. Paper Presented At Digra, Ian Macinnes

School of Information Studies - Faculty Scholarship

This paper uses two Asian case studies to illustrate the issues that developers of virtual worlds should address as they mature. The Korean case emphasizes the phenomenon of item trading. This involves emergent markets linking real world currency to items existing on company servers. The practice has resulted in controversial and unresolved legal issues. Companies such as ItemBay have grown to take advantage of these opportunities. The Chinese case emphasizes the transformation of business models over time as well as community control. The paper discusses feedback effects between broadband adoption and online games as well as issues such as Waigua, …


The Implications Of Property Rights In Virtual World Business Models, Ian Macinnes Jan 2005

The Implications Of Property Rights In Virtual World Business Models, Ian Macinnes

School of Information Studies - Faculty Scholarship

The financial success of online communities based on multiplayer game environments has been a bright spot among the many failures in electronic commerce initiatives. While this form of business has existed for less than a decade, it is growing rapidly and has become a mainstream form of entertainment in some areas of the world, such as Korea. Game environments are becoming more immersive and compelling and if this rate of improvement continues, such as through growing broadband penetration, they are likely to become as common as other forms of entertainment. This paper analyzes the issues facing developers of game communities …