Method and apparatus for distributing virtual goods over the internet

A system, comprising:

• a website that a plurality of different users access via the public Internet;
• a virtual world that is accessed via the website, the virtual world allowing the different users to interact with each other via respective avatars;
• a client application residing on a host that one of the users uses to interact with the website on the Internet, the client application automatically monitoring the user's interactions;
• and
• a server in communication with the client application that is remote from the website both physically and with respect to Internet addresses,
• wherein the client application further automatically communicates certain of the monitored user interactions to the server, and
• wherein the server includes a distribution manager that determines whether to automatically distribute one or more virtual collectibles to the one user based on the communicated certain user interaction, and
• wherein the client application uses a multimedia player on the host to render the virtual collectible for perception by the user, and further to render digital content corresponding to a group of other users, and
• wherein the server allows the group of other users to simultaneously perceive the virtual collectible via their respective hosts, and
• wherein the digital content for each of the users includes an image representing a virtual identity.