At long last, online legislators have succeeded in banning online gambling transactions. Online gambling operators are scurrying around for the next best place to put their stocks into, now that gambling shares have plunged.

You're asking, what has this got to do with gaming? Obviously, online gambling and gaming are two different worlds, but they share something in common. MMORPGs, for example, require online transactions, in order to trade valuable items in the virtual worlds. Now, fear has spread among MMO communities, since it's likely that this legislative move by the U.S. Congress might somehow in the future affect our MMO transactions as well.

Using credit cards or online payment systems for Internet betting is now a crime. In the world of online gambling, "real money" is the equivalent of valuable items traded online in MMO games. Now, we won't fall into any political argument against this Congressional ban on online gambling transactions, but we won't feel so complacent, either. For one, MMORPGs make use of online transactions too.

In time, these politicians may jump on to the gamers and developers and threaten the industry that thrives as a form of entertainment. We like what Sony did with its Station Exchange. If all MMO operators are going to follow Sony's example with its secure handling of "real money" online transactions, there would be less reasons for the Congress to spread their claws on these games and force to regulate them. We hope.