How much is that gold you just got from that quest?  Now how many in real dollars?  By now everyone should know about the gold farmers (3-PG article) that farm gold or rare items to sell to players for real money.  It's a business that is becoming very lucrative especially in foreign countries such as Korea, China, and Japan.  Apparently some WoW fans have decided to wage an epic battle against the gold farmers in a very distant land called the federal courtroom.

Antonio Hernandez along with his attorney are filing suits to shut down the gold farmers.  They point to the license agreements that users must agree to that state the user won't sell their items or gold for real money. They are pushing for the suit to be filed as a class action lawsuit, which means that every WoW user could technically sign up for punitive damages if they can prove they were wronged. 

"The real significance of this case is, `What are the rights of the (virtual world) community members when they go online?'" said C. Richard Newsome, Hernandez's attorney. 

How much money can you make from gold farming?  At one point you could buy 80,000 gold for $2400.  That is three cents on the gold dollar which is more than you can get for recycling aluminum cans in some states.  This begs the question, why have a real job.  If the lawsuit is successful in becoming a class action, all it would do is drive the gold farmers into an internet black market and since many operations are overseas it seems unrealistic they could actually make much of a dent.  At least it goes to show that some WoW fans have some serious level 12 lawsuit skills.  Watch out for Shadow Word: Objection if it gets ugly.

jon berstein, sun sentinel