eBay Removes Virtual Item Auctions

eBay has begun removing auctions for in-game items from its site.

Popular online auction site eBay began removing listings for virtual game items over the past weekend.

Although items for World of Warcraft and EverQuest II were pulled, Second Life items have remained. In an interview with News.com, eBay representative Hani Durzy explained the reasons behind keeping Second Life listed. “If someone participates in Second Life and wants to sell something they own, we are not at this point proactively pulling those listings off the site. We think there is an open question about whether Second Life should be regarded as a game.”

eBay’s policy on digital goods requires that “the seller must be the owner of the underlying intellectual property, or authorized to distribute it by the intellectual property owner.” One could also argue that Second Life players are given full ownership of their property, as opposed to virtual games where players are only authorized to use and sell items within the in-game economies.