Terra Nova has an article up on (as the title would imply) "property rights in virtual worlds" - what they should be and perhaps are. The author is admittedly "new to virtual worlds," but wants to use virtual worlds to study real-world business, and identifies seven "authorities" that should be present in virtual worlds: consumption, production, modification, transportation, information, transfer, and assignment.

As is often the case with Terra Nova, the comments section proves more enlightening than the article itself. It's worth a quick read through if you have time for the discussion below. I'm not sure most people care about their virtual worlds having an array of "real-world business situations," but ostensibly they have applications outside of the butcher, the baker and the candlestick maker. Maggie Greene

Property Rights in Virtual Worlds [Terra Nova]

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