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The trouble with '[w:fictional currency]' is that it can only exist in a fictional world. Second Life can be called many things, but it most certainly is not fictional. Synthetic? Yes. Virtual? A misused descriptor. There is nothing virtual about virtual worlds; the experience is quite real even in a synthetic environment. Ask Disney.

If the WSE was not buying or selling Linden dollars, fictional currency would stand up. But it does exchange national currencies (note the phrase) for the Linden dollar and vice versa. So if you cut through all the BS and apply common sense - something lots of people have intuitively done - you know it ain't fictional.

Now, to be fair, WSE isn't the only one with the disclaimer of 'fictional currency' - but that is inherited from Linden Lab's own description of the Linden dollar, which in and of itself may be some legal maneuvering but again - common sense is repulsed by the idea.

Its currency. People make a living off of it. They profit, thus the tax folk around the world are looking at it. When it was just Linden Lab spouting 'fictional currency', it didn't cause too much of a problem because they had things kind of under control. But things are out of control, and if they aren't careful...

Second Life Consultant