Historic Articles about Entropia Universe, etc.:
Entropia Universe in the Press Section at Entropia Planets
2016
Virtual Reality Visionary Vows to Create 300,000 Jobs in Cyberspace
Internet Archive Link
2014
Entropia Universe Couple Gets Married Article:
Internet Archive Link
2013
Jon NEVERDIE Jacobs admits some mistake on RockTropia
Internet Archive Link
2012
New entrepreneurs playing games to make living
2010
Jon “NEVERDIE” Jacobs Opens New “Rocktropia” Planet
Internet Archive Link
Internet estate agent sells virtual nightclub on an asteroid in online game for £400,000
Internet Archive Link
2009:
Life on Treasure Island: an interview with virtual real-estate mogul David Storey
Internet Archive Link
Planet Cyrene: There’s more than money at stake in this intriguing FPS/MMO
Internet Archive Link
2007:
MindArk claims $179,668 spent on trio of Entropia virtual properties
Internet Archive Link
Click to Agree: Where and How Disputes with Virtual World and Game Providers Are Settled
Internet Archive Link
Click to Agree: Virtual Currency and RMT Provisions in Virtual Worlds and MMO Games
Internet Archive Link
Entropia Creates Virtual Property Wills; Sweden Implements Tax Rules for Virtual Property
Regarding wills for transferring virtual property on death:
The company Mindark from Gothenburg will begin to draw up wills for their customers to cover the things they own in their virtual computer world. It’s a natural development, says project manager Carl Uggla.
…
Related Thread(s):
EU will execution
Suggestion:Will/Testament
Entropia Universe – how to prepare for the case of death
MA to implement wills/testaments
***(2008 thread linked article quoted by Ludvig below, but leaving it here in the 2007 section since it’s related to the above 2007 article, so I’m not sure if it original article was from 2007 or 2008?***
Originally Posted by Ludvig|MindArk 
Going for virtual wills.
The company Mindark from Gothenburg is going to start writing wills for their clients, about things they own in a virtual computer world.
– A natural development, Carl Uggla, project leader of the company says.
Mindark is the company that created the online game Project Entropia, a virtual science fiction-world where the player can develop a character. Over 700 000 people plays the game today. But the company has big hopes for a dramatic surge of that number.
– We are currently developing a platform for the chinese market and our partners in China talks about millions of players, says Carl Uggla of Mindark.In Mindarks virtual world you can buy a virtual picture of a product, for example a shirt, from another player or company and then get it sent to your real life home adress. But you also have the choise to trade using virtual products only.
– The development is more and more going for an economy that’s the same in real life as in the virtual world, says Carl Uggla.
The strong development within the genre has also woken some new questions. The american company Blizzard, who is the biggest with their online game World of Warcraft – 10 million users all over the world – has for years been subject to different types of frauds and what the company sees as a break of contract. On auction and selling sitest as Blocket och Ebay people sells their characters and virtual objects that are valueable ingame. A character can cost from a few 100SEK to 1000s of SEK, even though it is not allowed by the company.
– Consument and trademark laws are different in different countires. What is illegal in USA doesn’t have to be illegal in Sweden at all. Selling Characters is breaking the contract, but how it will be punished is different from case to case and no one really knows how right now, says Martina Bertilsson, legal adviser at the lawner firm Setterwalls in Gothenburg who specialices on virtual world law study.
Mindark in Gothenburg has according to Uggla not have had to deal with those problems because they have an open economy. What you buy in the game, you own and can sell, and if you profit you can get it out in real cash.
– You pay for things in the game instead of a monthly fee.
A winning concept. Last year the company profited by 18 million SEK (3M USD) and they are now working to develop the game further. Both american and chinese companies has started cooperations with Mindark, hoping to get to sell things in the virtual world.
The company has also started scetches for virtual wills.
– There are lands in the game worth alot of money, both ingame and in the real world, and if the player were to die, it’s today not clear who would be the owner, says Carl Uggla.
The clearest example is the american Jon Jacobs who 2005 bought an asteroid in the game for one million kronor (SEK). Today players can visit the boulder.
– He makes 15-20k USD a month from his astroid, partially from the nightclub but he also from hunting grounds he has created, Carl Uggla says.
The swedish tax authority has since spring started to take taxes out of the online world. However, there is no bigger control of this.
– It’s rather more like a service and a way for us to be clear. I have gotten questions from several company people who wants to know how to start a company in one of those worlds. People wants to do right (*translators notice*: this sentance isnt translated in a good way so if anyone knows a better translation…?) says Dag Hardyson from the Swedish tax authoritys.
Martina Bertilsson sees the tax authoritys actions as logical.
– It’s a validation of the branch. Much of the online things are still unclear and open for interpretion juridicly, and in taxes you now have the tax authoritys guidelines to follow if you live in sweden, she says.
2006:
Exploring Ideas with the Explorers of Worlds
Marco Behrmann, of Entropia Universe, is planning to set up a private island inside SL to use it as a vehicle of advertising of his own MMORPG. The boundaries are beginning to get thinner and thinner.
2005:
Mindark PE AB offers Bridge Members the Opportunity to Subscribe to the Company
Internet Archive Link
BSA drops lawsuit against MindArkInternet Archive Link
