Dec. 8, 2004 10:05 [PST] From: PlayOnline

Regarding Real Money Trade (Dec. 8)

With respect to game titles operated by the PlayOnline service, including FINAL FANTASY XI, it is specifically prohibited to sell game currency, characters, or any other in-game items for real money or any other consideration for value (known as Real Money Trade "RMT"). This prohibition is expressly referred to in the following two clauses, which are part of the respective agreements which all registered users of the FINAL FANTASY XI and/or PlayOnline services have agreed to abide by: *PlayOnline Member Agreement: Article 4.4 *FINAL FANTASY XI User Agreement: Article 3.1 This prohibition is due to the possibility of fraud during transaction in the real world which may lead to legal sanctions, including possible criminal sanctions, being imposed on those involved in such trade. In addition, Real Money Trade was not initially a part of the design for any of our game titles. We are already investigating this issue and putting into effect appropriate measures for such actions within the game environment, and we will continue to do so in the future. Players found to be participating in Real Money Trade will be deemed to be in breach of the clauses set out above and will be subject to any appropriate legal sanction. We expressly reserve our rights in the event of such a breach, including the right to cancel the PlayOnline account of any user in breach of the clauses above, without any prior notice to such user. Many of you have recently made GM calls or contacted the Information Center to report such Real Money Trades taking place at various online auction sites. Please note, however, that our ability to take appropriate action in such cases is very often dependent on the cooperation of the respective websites, which is not within our control.  While we are grateful for your help, please note that it is not necessary to make a GM call or to contact the Information Center to report such issues. While it is not possible to change our policy regarding Real Money Trades for any current online Square Enix title, it is possible that our policy might change for future titles, although no decision in that respect has yet been made. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.