Comments on: Virtual Financial Markets soon to be real https://blog.p2pfoundation.net/virtual-financial-markets-soon-to-be-real/2007/05/22 Researching, documenting and promoting peer to peer practices Mon, 13 Oct 2014 12:39:49 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.5.15 By: frey https://blog.p2pfoundation.net/virtual-financial-markets-soon-to-be-real/2007/05/22/comment-page-1#comment-73862 Wed, 23 May 2007 12:04:55 +0000 http://blog.p2pfoundation.net/virtual-financial-markets-soon-to-be-real/2007/05/22#comment-73862 , then I think that is not necessarily an interesting ‘progressive’ development by itself. A second aspect is the protocals governing such money. Again, if they simply replicate the scarcity-based paradigm, then they end up just replicating the same social relationships in the virtual sphere. The only, but important benefit, I see is that it is one way to create an economy for creators of immaterial value. ------- And my answer is: I agree, it’s not such a progressive innovation to replicate present monetary systems in virtual worlds, and it’s great to see a virtual economy of immaterial production. My point however is this: the ongoing struggles between virtual and real will certainly yield interesting developments. I could compare this situation to the one of robots and holograms in Star Trek or Matrix: what rights to they have? What legal status can they claim? Can we just turn them off at will or do we give them this ability? Can we clone them? It’s the same thing with virtual economies: can we just turn them off? Are real world regulations applying to virtual economies? Can virtual assets be copied? Here is <a href="http://news.com.com/2100-1043_3-6135699.html" title="a real example of what I’m talking about" rel="nofollow">: virtual demonstrations in Second Life against the use of “copybot”. People got concerned about the ability to replicate objects in SL, their cherished and unique creations could suddenly be replicated at will, making them less valuable and thus threatening the virtual economy itself. In other words the SL community is concerned about a limitation they find important: maintaining scarcity and property. They are now more conscious about such limitation, not as a given feature of the density of the real world, but as a conscious design choice. Of course people at first tend to recreate what they are familiar with, but once people have played enough, what’s to prevent them from trying out other rules? Who is to prevent the creation of a Third Life in which money, as we know it today, does not exist and in which anything can be replicated? Sounds like Star Trek to me: humans will then endeavor in their own betterment through exploration in science, art, and space. Virtual economies may not be so big at present, but when you see virtual currencies being used in place of conventional money, and when you imagine virtual economies spreading to game console, you start to comprehend the possibilities. At first the major creator of virtual economies may be large commercial companies subject to real world regulations, so they may “behave” and avoid confrontation with the powers that be (e.g. they may put limitation to users’ behavior), but what’s to prevent the free culture to take on the fight using P2P technology?]]> In what appears to be Michel Bauwens Says:
May 22nd, 2007 at 11:22 am

Very informative, thanks Francois.

I have 2 very general comments to make.

If such money is created as a result of ‘artificial scarcities’, then I think that is not necessarily an interesting ‘progressive’ development by itself.

A second aspect is the protocals governing such money. Again, if they simply replicate the scarcity-based paradigm, then they end up just replicating the same social relationships in the virtual sphere.

The only, but important benefit, I see is that it is one way to create an economy for creators of immaterial value.

——-

And my answer is:

I agree, it’s not such a progressive innovation to replicate present monetary systems in virtual worlds, and it’s great to see a virtual economy of immaterial production. My point however is this: the ongoing struggles between virtual and real will certainly yield interesting developments. I could compare this situation to the one of robots and holograms in Star Trek or Matrix: what rights to they have? What legal status can they claim? Can we just turn them off at will or do we give them this ability? Can we clone them?
It’s the same thing with virtual economies: can we just turn them off? Are real world regulations applying to virtual economies? Can virtual assets be copied?
Here is : virtual demonstrations in Second Life against the use of “copybot”. People got concerned about the ability to replicate objects in SL, their cherished and unique creations could suddenly be replicated at will, making them less valuable and thus threatening the virtual economy itself. In other words the SL community is concerned about a limitation they find important: maintaining scarcity and property. They are now more conscious about such limitation, not as a given feature of the density of the real world, but as a conscious design choice. Of course people at first tend to recreate what they are familiar with, but once people have played enough, what’s to prevent them from trying out other rules? Who is to prevent the creation of a Third Life in which money, as we know it today, does not exist and in which anything can be replicated? Sounds like Star Trek to me: humans will then endeavor in their own betterment through exploration in science, art, and space.
Virtual economies may not be so big at present, but when you see virtual currencies being used in place of conventional money, and when you imagine virtual economies spreading to game console, you start to comprehend the possibilities. At first the major creator of virtual economies may be large commercial companies subject to real world regulations, so they may “behave” and avoid confrontation with the powers that be (e.g. they may put limitation to users’ behavior), but what’s to prevent the free culture to take on the fight using P2P technology?

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