Anshe Chung

Infobox Person
name = Anshe Chung


image_size = 200px
caption = May 1, 2006 cover of "BusinessWeek" magazine featuring Anshe Chung
birth_date = birth date|2004|3|26|mf=y
birth_place = China
death_date =
death_place =
other_names =
residence = Second Life virtual world
known_for = 1^st 'Virtual Millionaire'
occupation = Virtual Real Estate Broker
salary = 2 million in 30 months
website = [http://www.anshechung.com/ www.anshechung.com]
footnotes =

Anshe Chung is the main avatar (online personality) of Ailin Graef in the online world Second Life. Referred to as the "Rockefeller of Second Life"Cite web
url=http://money.cnn.com/magazines/business2/business2_archive/2005/12/01/8364581/index.htm?cnn=yes
title=The Virtual Rockefeller
author=Sloan, Paul
publisher=CNN
date=December 1, 2005
accessdate=2007-01-05|] 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"Cite web
url=http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_18/b3982001.htm
title=My Virtual Life
publisher=Business Week
date=May 1, 2006
accessdate=2007-01-05|] , "Fortune"Cite web
url=http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2005/11/28/8361953/index.htm
title=FROM MEGS TO RICHES
author=Parloff, Roger
publisher=CNN
date=November 28, 2005
accessdate=2007-01-05|] and "Red Herring". [http://www.redherring.com/Article.aspx?a=19927&hed=Second+Life%25e2%2580%2599s+First+Millionaire]

Ailin Graef originally roleplayed her Second Life character "Anshe Chung" similar to a character in a movie or novel, giving it certain traits and behaviours and not considering it an extension of her own personality. In 2005/2006 this distinction between "in character" and "out of character" became increasingly difficult for her when the roleplaying game evolved into a business with considerable real life impact. In late 2007 Ailin finally began to adopt "Anshe" as an artist name and accepted that people call her "Anshe" in real life.

Background

According to Chung, she already created fortunes in purely virtual currency on other MMORPGs such as Asheron's Call, Star Wars Galaxies and Shadowbane,Cite web
url=http://www.anshechung.com/media/media_info.htm
title=Press Kit - Anshe Chung
publisher=Anshe Chung Studios
date=November 27, 2006
accessdate=2007-01-05|] 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.Cite web
url=http://secondlife.com/whatis/economy.php
title=Economy
publisher=Linden Lab
accessdate=2007-01-05|] Cite web
url=http://secondlife.com/whatis/economy-market.php
title=LindeX Market Data
publisher=Linden Lab
accessdate=2007-01-05|] The name "Anshe" was originally coined in Asheron's Call in December 1999.

In her early Second Life days, prior to founding the business that made her famous, Anshe Chung had a goal of using virtual wealth to support an orphaned boy in a developing country in the real world. With her first Linden dollars she was able to sponsor a boy named Geo from the Philippines through a German church organization. [ [http://www.secondlifeherald.com/slh/2005/01/the_herald_prof.html The Herald Profile: Anshe Chung] Walker Spaight, The Second Life Herald, 2005-01-25. Retrieved 2007-01-17.] She raised funds through event hosting, escorting, erotic services,Cite web
url=http://www.theage.com.au/news/biztech/anshes-kinky-past-revealed/2007/01/17/1168709794333.html
title=Anshe's kinky past revealed
publisher=The Age
accessdate=2007-01-20|] teachingCite web
url=http://www.sluniverse.com/language/2004/11/introducing-chat-history-interview.html
title=Introducing The Chat History Interview - Anshe Chung
author=Diaz, Cristiano (aka Cristiano Midnight)
publisher=SL Universe
date=November 28, 2004
accessdate=2007-01-05|] and fashion design.

It has been reported that Ailin was originally introduced to the Internet in the early 1990s through her friendship with Prof. Wang Yu-Feng, the father of the Chinese Internet. In October 2007 she and her husband were found speaking at an official event commemorating the introduction of the Internet to China, which had been established 20 years ago with German help.

Business

According to Chung, in June 2004 she began selling and creating custom animations and then used this money to buy and develop virtual land. This is also considered the beginning of her business where, for the first time, she kept and reinvested funds instead of giving them away. Chung currently owns hundreds of servers' worth of land, most of which are sold or rented to other users as a part of her 'Dreamland' areas. Within Dreamland various levels of 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. [ [http://blogs.business2.com/futureboy/2006/11/why_anshe_chung.html Why Anshe Chung is a Millionaire] ] 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 managing her regions. [ [http://money.cnn.com/magazines/business2/business2_archive/2005/12/01/8364581/index.htm The Virtual Rockefeller] ]

According to Dr. James Cook of Linden Lab "Anshe adds significant value to Second Life". [ [http://media.www.californiaaggie.com/media/storage/paper981/news/2007/01/19/Features/Virtual.Goods.Real.Income-2654820.shtml?sourcedomain=www.californiaaggie.com&MIIHost=media.collegepublisher.com Virtual goods, real income] ]

In February 2006 Ailin Graef legally incorporated "Anshe Chung Studios, Ltd." in Hubei, China with her husband and business partner, Guntram Graef,Cite web
url=http://www.anshechung.com/include/press/press_release251106.html
title=Anshe Chung Becomes First Virtual World Millionaire
publisher=Anshe Chung Studios
date=November 26, 2006
accessdate=2007-01-05|] who goes by the pseudonym "Guni Greenstein" in Second Life.

In November 2006 Chung 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"

Meanwhile Anshe Chung's business employs more than 80 people full time, most of them programmers and artists. She counts several Fortune 100 companies among her clients as well as high profile organizations such as the government of Baden-Wuerttemberg and Lifechurch.TV, whose Second Life entry her firm developed.

In January 2007 Anshe Chung Studios received venture capital investment from the Samwer brothers who purchased a stake in the Anshe Chung Studios [ [http://secondlife.bligblog.com/2007/02/28/samwer-brothers-of-germany-take-10-stake-in-anshe-chung-studios/ Samwer Brothers Take 10% Stake in Anshe Chung Studios] ] [http://www.faz.net/s/RubC8BA5576CDEE4A05AF8DFEC92E288D64/Doc~E9C422DEC9FB74F18A670192D7E6FDCDD~ATpl~Ecommon~Scontent.html Echtes Geld fuer die Virtuelle Welt] ] .

In September 2007 the Gladwyne Partners, who had previously funded the Electric Sheep Company, also obtained stake in the Anshe Chung Studios.

In May 2007 it was reported that her business has also branched out into other virtual worlds, acquiring one of the world's first virtual banking licenses within Entropia Universe for a sum of $60,000 USD. The two-year exclusive licenses allow the integration of real world banking systems into Entropia Universe, providing secure systems that enable the lending of money to participants and collection of interest. Uniquely the banks have integrated services within the mechanics of Entropia Universe and are not just virtual advertising spots. [ [http://www.marketwire.com/mw/release_html_b1?release_id=249893 Anshe Chung a Winner of the World's First Virtual Banking Licenses] ] .

Since 2006 Ailin and her company have been active in IMVU, a 3D avatar chat. She has since been operating the largest currency exchange and content creation business for that platform with about half of the 100 top selling products in IMVU originating from her company in Wuhan, while a considerable amount of the remaining top sellers are said to be coming from people who were originally trained in her company. During Ailin's involvement with IMVU, that service's userbase has increased 50-fold, outgrowing Second Life in late 2007.

In 2007 Ailin Graef and the Anshe Chung Studios were chosen as a "New Champion of the World Economy" by the World Economic Forum, describing her company as a business with a major technical or economic impact and the potential to become a Fortune 500 company within the next 5 years.

Since 2005 Ailin Graef also owns a 30% share in Virtuatrade, a Pennsylvania based company operating the site SLExchange.com, a virtual goods trading site similar to eBay but specialized in Second Life items.

In July 2008 a new portal site called AnsheX [http://www.anshex.com] has become available, operated by her company in Wuhan. The new site is merging services, communities and currency exchanges of several monetized virtual worlds, attempting to bridge the gap between them.

Since 2007 Ailin has been reportedly involved in several successful real estate transactions in the real world in China and Germany.

Target of griefing

In December 2006, while conducting an interview for CNET with Daniel Terdiman on her economic assets, the virtual studio in which the interview took place was bombarded by flying animated penises and copies of a photo of Graef modified to show her holding a giant penis in her arms. The griefers managed to disrupt the interview sufficiently that Chung was forced to move to another location and ultimately crashed the simulator entirely.Cite web
url=http://news.com.com/Virtual+magnate+shares+secrets+of+success/2008-1043_3-6144967.html
title=Virtual magnate shares secrets of success
author=Terdiman, Daniel
publisher=CNET
date=December 20, 2006
accessdate=2007-01-05|] Video and images of the incident were posted to the "Second Life Safari" section of Something Awful, and the incident received international notice via blogs including Boing Boing and the online edition of the Sydney Morning Herald. Two weeks later, Anshe's husband, Guntram Graef, issued takedown notices under the DMCA, demanding that newspapers and websites remove photos and videos of the incident and claiming that they violated Graef's copyright in her avatar and other virtual creations. YouTube pulled the videos of the incident as a DMCA violation and banned the account of Second Life Safari, bringing objections from legal experts who considered the work "fair use". [http://news.com.com/Behind+the+Anshe+Chung+DMCA+complaint/2008-1023_3-6150457.html Behind the Anshe Chung DMCA complaint] ] 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,Cite web
url=http://secondlife.reuters.com/stories/2007/01/05/anshe-chung-studios-cracks-down-on-griefing-photos/
title=Anshe Chung Studios cracks down on griefing photos
author=Reuters, Adam
publisher=Reuters
date=January 5, 2007
accessdate=2007-01-06|] and an attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation compared it "to Armani attempting to restrict news photos of a car crash where one of the drivers was wearing an Armani suit." [http://news.com.com/2100-1047_3-6147700.html The legal rights to your 'Second Life' avatar] ]

After news of these events and the legal objections spread across a number of sites including Slashdot, YouTube changed its rationale for removing copies of the video to terms of use violation, and in an interview Guntram Graef said that issuing the takedown notices had been a mistake. He referred to the images as 'pornographic material' and said The video and pictures are clearly defaming and constitute a sexual assault. He stated that he had originally tried to have the videos removed as a personal attack and infringement on rights, but later changed to a copyright claim when that didn't produce a response. When he realized the issues of censorship, he dropped the copyright claim.

In 2008 Russian opposition leader Gary Kasparov was attacked at a real public event with a flying penis helicopter and what appeared as a real life adaption of the flying penis attack on Anshe Chung. The Kasparov attack was ended within seconds by a guard who destroyed the flying penis aparatus. In contrast CNet and the company Millions of Us who were responsible for securing the event in Second Life had failed to remove the virtual objects for an extended period of time.

See also

* Second Life
* Resident (Second Life)
* Linden Lab
* Entropia Universe
* There (Internet service)
* IMVU

References

External links

* [http://www.anshechung.com Anshe Chung Studios website]
* [http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_18/b3982001.htm BusinessWeek title story] and [http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_18/b3982002.htm magazine cover]
* [http://money.cnn.com/blogs/legalpad/2006/11/anshe-chung-first-virtual-millionaire.html CNN: "Anshe Chung - First Virtual Millionaire"]
* [http://www.somethingawful.com/index.php?a=4336 Second Life Safari - Room 101 v. Anshe Chung] Something Awful's coverage of the griefing incident
* [http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5387867190768022577&q=Anshe+Chung The video pulled from YouTube, on Google Video]
* [http://secondlife.reuters.com/stories/2007/01/05/second-life-sketches-two-worlds-fame-and-infamy/ Reuters Report on Anshe Chung]
* [http://www.squatmagazine.com/article.php?articleId=136 Squat Magazine interview with Anshe Chung]