economics

U.S. inches closer to taxation of virtual goods

I wrote previously about China, Sweden and South Korea's attempts to clarify the tax rules for virtual goods and money. It didn't take too long for the U.S. government to start getting interested the issue.

The big challenge? Figuring out what can/should be taxed and what rules generally apply. The National Taxpayer Advocate suggested this week that the "IRS issue guidance addressing how taxpayers should report economic activities in virtual worlds."

"Economic activities in virtual worlds may present an emerging area of tax noncompliance, in part because the IRS has not provided guidance … Read more

Sony calls out Xbox and Wii as flea market peddlers

Finally, we're seeing a bit of a fight from the Sony PR team in response to the brutal lambasting the PlayStation 3 has been taking for its poor showing against Microsoft's Xbox and Nintendo's Wii, as well as the fact that it costs more to make than it sells for.

Edge Online reports on a Sony press release called "Keeping Gaming and Entertainment Simple," in which the Japanese consumer electronics giant emphasizes out-of-the-box features of the game console:

Blu-ray functionality Built-in Wi-Fi Huge hard drives Free online gaming "Ten years of value with a … Read more

CoTweet - yet another way Twitter could make money

Currently in private beta, CoTweet is designed for companies and teams that need control over their use of Twitter as a brand. One of the big challenges of using Twitter as a team is that you are forced to share one login and you can't track who posted what Tweet.

This is a great idea and one that I am sure many companies would be willing to pay for the service, likely moreso if it had come from Twitter itself, instead of a third-party.

Trying to figure out Twitter's business model is a common parlor game here in … Read more

PS2 crushes Wii, Xbox in gaming minutes

The PlayStation 2 received 30.2 percent of all console-gaming minutes in 2008 (January to October), according to the Nielsen Media Research.

That statistic is a bit surprising, until you consider that Sony has sold more than 140 million PS2s since its launch. With the largest footprint, the PS2 should have the largest usage base.

Top Console Usage (by percent of minutes played) PlayStation 2 (30.2 percent) Xbox 360 (18.3 percent) Wii (13.5 percent) Xbox (9.1 percent) PlayStation 3 (7.7 percent) GameCube (4.4 percent) Other (16.9 percent)

Admittedly, these PS2 numbers are surprising … Read more

Monocle launches Monocle Weekly: Small talk, big issues

Yes, we live (again) in the "age of conversations." There is something reassuring about listening to smart people having cultured conversations. When I was young, I would listen for hours to music-free radio programming that sounded like black-and-white movies.

Today, Monocle Magazine brought some of that magic back by launching Monocle Weekly, a 30-minute audio podcast. Hosted by editor in chief Tyler Brûlé, the short-form show extends the publication's monthly print content by offering fresh angles on stories in current and past issues, discussions, previews, field reports, and interviews. The light conversations on serious … Read more

Open Sources Episode 4: Now with guests!

Matt Asay and I finally broke down and got a guest on our Open Sources podcast series. It wasn't that we didn't want to before, just that we were too stupid to figure out how to make Skype work properly.

In this episode we are joined by Robin Yellow, a British man-of-mystery (misery?) not unlike Austin Powers.

You can get the mp3 directly, or the OGG if you are feeling frisky.

Highlights: * We discuss the furor of stupidity related to Macworld * Matt refuses to answer questions with a simple yes/no * Robin assures us that open source will … Read more

Nortel faces delisting from stock exchange

The news keeps getting worse for telecommunications equipment maker Nortel Networks.

On Thursday the company received notice from the New York Stock Exchange that it faces delisting if it can't get its stock price above the required $1 minimum price tag in the next six months, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Earlier this week, the Journal reported that the company is seeking advice on bankruptcy proceedings.

While Nortel is clearly hurting as most companies these days are from the current economic crisis, the truth is that the company has never fully recovered from the bursting of the telecommunications bubble … Read more

Taiwan eyes memory chip bailout

Taiwan will likely rescue, in some form, failing memory chipmakers, as that country's industry falls behind the rest of the world.

Recent reports depict an industry desperately seeking financial help. The Taiwanese government has responded by offering loans, according to a variety of reports.

(See also: Chip sales dip in October, flash sales dive.)

One report on Thursday said that Taiwan's economic affairs ministry has approved a rescue package. No specifics have been revealed, however.

At stake is Taiwan's dynamic random access memory (DRAM) industry. DRAM is the main memory used in personal computers.

Avi Cohen, managing … Read more

Korea to invest $200 million in game industry

The South Korean government announced that it will invest 350 billion won ($236 million) in the computer game industry through 2012.

Culture, Sports and Tourism Minster Yu In-chon said the emerging game industry had proved to be a future growth engine by accomplishing its initial billion-dollar export goal for the year 2010 two years early.

Sixty projects are slated to help grow the industry, including a $200 million game fund with an end goal of becoming one of the top three countries in gaming, along with the United States and Japan.