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Anshe Chung is the avatar of Ailin Graef in the online world Second Life. Referred to as the "Rockefeller of Second Life" by a CNN journalist, she has built an online business that engages in development, brokerage and arbitrage of virtual land, items and currencies, and has been featured in a number of prominent magazines such as Business Week , Fortune and Red Herring.

Background

According to Graef, she originally amassed large amounts of purely virtual currency on other MMORPGs such as Asheron's Call, Star Wars Galaxies and Shadowbane, but never converted to real tender. However, this changed when she entered Second Life, where the in-game currency, "Linden Dollars" (L$), can be officially exchanged for real money. The name "Anshe" was originally coined in Asheron's Call in December 1999.

Graef, as Anshe Chung, earned an initial stake by working as an escort in the virtual world. "I started ... as a private entertainer, somebody people who are bored or lonely could seek out for company." Graef also used to teach a course on "virtual lovemaking" within the world. According to Graef, after she developed her skill set she began selling and creating custom animations and then used this money to buy and develop virtual "land." Graef currently owns several full servers worth of land, most of which are sold to other users as a part of her 'Dreamland' areas. Within Dreamland strict zoning rules are enforced; most other land in Second Life is unzoned, where multiple different types of business or housing are located in adjacent areas. Philip Rosedale, the CEO of Linden Lab - the company that produces Second Life - has referred to Anshe as "the government" when referring to the role she plays on her zoned continent "Dreamland".

In February 2006 Graef legally incorporated "ANSHECHUNG Studios, Ltd." in Hubei, China along with her husband and business partner, Guntram Graef, who goes by the pseudonym "Guni Greenstein" in Second Life.

In November 2006 Graef announced that she had "become the first online personality to achieve a net worth exceeding one million US dollars from profits entirely earned inside a virtual world"

Target of griefing

In December 2006, while conducting an interview for CNET on her economic assets, the virtual studio in which the interview took place was bombarded by flying animated penises and modified images of Graef holding a unrealistically large penis. The griefers managed to disrupt the interview sufficiently that Graef was forced to move to another location and ultimately crashed the simulator entirely. Video and images of the incident were posted to the "Second Life Safari" section of Something Awful, and the incident received notice in a number of places, including blogs like Boing Boing and the Sydney Morning Herald. Since then, Anshe Chung Studios has issued takedown notices under the DMCA, demanding that newspapers and websites remove photos and videos of the incident, claiming that they violate Graef's copyright in her avatar. YouTube removed a video of the incident, but a Linden Labs spokesperson suggested that the taking of videos and photos in Second Life should be governed by the same rules as in real life.

References

1. Sloan, Paul (December 1, 2006). "The Virtual Rockefeller". CNN. Retrieved 2007-01-05. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
2. "My Virtual Life". Business Week. May 1, 2006. Retrieved 2007-01-05. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
3. ^ Parloff, Roger (November 28, 2005). "FROM MEGS TO RICHES". CNN. Retrieved 2007-01-05. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
4. ^ "Press Kit - Anshe Chung". Anshe Chung Studios. November 27, 2006. Retrieved 2007-01-05. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
5. "Economy". Linden Lab. Retrieved 2007-01-05. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
6. "LindeX Market Data". Linden Lab. Retrieved 2007-01-05. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
7. Diaz, Cristiano (aka Cristiano Midnight) (November 28, 2004). "Introducing The Chat History Interview - Anshe Chung". SL Universe. Retrieved 2007-01-05. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
8. "Anshe Chung Becomes First Virtual World Millionaire". Anshe Chung Studios. November 26, 2006. Retrieved 2007-01-05. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
9. Terdiman, Daniel (December 20, 2006). "Virtual magnate shares secrets of success". CNET. Retrieved 2007-01-05. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
10. Reuters, Adam (January 5, 2007). "Anshe Chung Studios cracks down on griefing photos". Reuters. Retrieved 2007-01-06. {{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help); Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)

See also

• Second Life
• Resident (Second Life)
• Linden Lab

External links

• ANSHECHUNG Studios website
• BusinessWeek title story and magazine cover
• CNN: "Anshe Chung - First Virtual Millionaire"
• Second Life Safari - Room 101 v. Anshe Chung Something Awful's coverage of the griefing incident
• The penis attack on Google Video

• Articles lacking sources from January 2007
• Second Life
• Second Life Residents