> This is no different than any other number of valuable items whose value is hard to calculate. If I have a rare comic book and you steal it, the fact that the cover price is only a nickel is not what matters -- it's whatever the fair market value is for the item. I.e., whatever I can get people to pay is what the item is worth.

Slight tangent: Has anyone ever insured virtual property? I'm naturally thinking MMO items here, but I guess anything virtual would set a precedent. If anyone were willing to do such a thing, how would the item's naturally duplicatable state affect things? Blizzard may say that my Hat of Shouting is unique and none other exists in the universe, but then six months down the line an expansion pack comes out and everyone gets a free hat. Your rare comic book is valuable because it is rare, and can only be ever be copied. There are only so many first editions out there. An in-game rare item can be duplicated in every way at any time; Could anyone be adequately convinced that my hat is genuinely one of a kind?

There are some MMOs which get close to mirroring the world. Second Life is one, and there's that other one I can't remember the name of now in which someone bought an island for thousands of realmonies. In these games you can build your own home, on your own property, and fill it with personal items.

I'm not sure where I'm going with this, but it is becoming increasingly apparent that the online gaming world is growing up and resulting in players being made rich, being arrested, and in some cases killed because of online actions. It's an interesting field, and one to watch.