Tuesday's magnitude 7.1 earthquake off the coast of Taiwan damaged several key underwater cables, disrupting telephone and Internet access to key markets in Asia. As a result, Asian financial markets have struggled with telecom and Internet access to support trading activities. Satellite connectivity is being examined as on option for restoring regional connectivity, as local telecom providers say cable repairs could take several weeks.

For background on the debate about real money trading (RMT) in game gold for World of Warcraft, Everquest and other MMORPGS, see our special section on The RMT Debate and our directory of Virtual Marketplaces that trade game assets or provide power-leveling services. In the past year there have been several media stories (particularly 1Up's Wage Slaves article and another in the New York Times) documenting the proliferation of "farming" of gold, plat and other game currencies in China.

News coverage and analysis of the RMT market has improved in recent months due to coverage from blogs like Play No Evil and the Virtual Economy Research Network, as well as continuing discussion at the venerable virtual world blog Terra Nova. Real money trading was the focus of Play Money, a book by Wired correspondent Julian Dibbell, who spent a year trying to support himself trading virtual currency and game accounts in Ultima Online. Services like Gaming Pays have since emerged to offer guides and strategies for players who want to try and make their living in the virtual world.