Virtual Islands Pricey, Too

It will now cost you more to purchase your own digital island paradise in the limitless Second Life world, raising questions about how a company should apply real life rules in the virtual realm.

For the uninitiated, Second Life is a massive multiplayer online world, akin to Electronic Arts' (ERTS) The Sims. Players explore an endless, sprawling 3-D virtual world in which their Internet avatars live, interact, purchase land, set up shop and even (possibly) make money.

Property is the one resource that is controlled by San Francisco-based Linden Lab, the creator of SL. While businesses are earning revenue by selling fabricated goods or advertising in the virtual world, Linden's main source of income in SL is from the sale of space on their computer servers.

On Oct. 29, Linden Lab wrote in its blog that "due to ongoing investments in developing and maintaining the underlying technology of Second Life, Linden Lab is increasing prices for new private island sales."

Linden Lab said that the one-time purchase cost of a private island would rise to $1,675 from $1,250. In addition, owners would be assessed a monthly land maintenance fee of $295, up from $195.

In other words, new subscribers would face an annual cost, including the one-time island purchase fee, of $5,215. That means new "land" owners will pay $1,625, or 45.2%, more per year than previous subscribers.