That could be possible. Tom would have to create a new external data feed for unique items. Stats such as prestige and bonus could be automated. You wouldn't want to automate ownership. Some people may not want it known that they own a particular item. Interesting contradiction there, though: If no one knows you own it, how do you get the prestige from it?
The problem, though, is that the external data feed is not persistent following the loss/destruction of the object it represents. It would show whatever the feed currently shows. And if the item is lost/destroyed, the feed would then be empty, and the last known stats lost. You can see this with the semantic character and realm templates. As soon as the character/realm is deleted IG, the pages that use them go all wonky.