The Entertainment Software Association is stepping up the breadth and depth of its lobbying activities in Washington, DC. According to the trade group's midyear lobbying disclosure report with the US Senate, the ESA is on track to spend more money getting its message across to federal legislators this year than ever before. It also added a new topic to its slate of lobbying issues from years past.

　　For the first half of 2007, the ESA reported almost $1.43 million spent on lobbying activities, an increase of nearly 24 percent over 2006's midyear total of nearly $1.16 million. The list of topics on which the group lobbied was once again headlined by hot-button issues like constitutional protection for games as free speech and copyright protection/antipiracy concerns. However, joining the list of less obvious issues on the ESA's slate--like trade policy reform and Internet gambling--was virtual-property taxation.

　　Late last year economists predicted that government taxation on in-game property was an inevitability given the huge amount of money changing hands as people seek out high-level equipment in massively multiplayer online role-playing games, or invest in land to sell in Second Life. It's also on the US Congress' radar, as legislators were preparing a report on the issue earlier this year. An ESA representative would not comment on the group's stance toward virtual property taxation.