03.08.2011

|

Seminars

Perkins Coie LLP / Seattle, WA

Many online game sites, social media sites, retailers and other businesses use virtual currency and customer loyalty programs to build brand loyalty, retain valuable customers, increase sales volumes, provide low cost alternatives to credit cards for micropayments and offer prepaid solutions appealing to youth and other users without credit cards.  

As a follow-up to our previous roundtable "Virtual Currencies: Real Legal Issues for Interactive Entertainment Companies" we will examine more closely the unclaimed property issues associated with virtual currency systems and customer loyalty programs and also dive into the revenue and liability recognition issues associated with virtual currency systems and customer loyalty programs.

For instance, should all revenue related to a sales transaction that has a customer loyalty points component should be immediately recognized, with the points being treated as an expense or whether only a portion of the revenue related to such transaction should be recognized immediately, with the remaining portion allocated to loyalty points and treated as a liability to be recognized as revenue as the points lapse? Similarly, does GAAP required 100% of the loyalty points to be treated as an expense or liability, or whether some lesser percentage of the points should be treated as a expense or liability based on historical data showing the percentage of points that are never redeemed. 

Representatives from Perkins Coie and Moss Adams will discuss legal, accounting and financial reporting issues related to purchased virtual currency, earned virtual currency and customer loyalty points or credits.


CLE: This program has already been granted 1.0 of general CLE credit by the Washington State Bar Association and the State Bar of California.


Presenters: 

Dax Hansen, Partner, Perkins Coie LLP
Taft Kortus, Partner, Moss Adams LLP
Kirk Soderquist, Partner, Perkins Coie LLP


Who Should Attend: In-house counsel, CFOs, VPs of Finance, game developers, game publishers, and anyone else with an interest in the interactive entertainment industry.

To Register: There is no cost to attend, please send an e-mail to JLKaplan@perkinscoie.com, by Friday, March 4. Space is limited. If you would like to attend by phone, please RSVP and you will be sent the call-in number.