Second Life shuts down in-world gambling

[jetset]

SECOND LIFE SHUTS DOWN VIRTUAL GAMBLING

US-based Linden Labs cites legal constraints

The creator of the popular virtual world 'Second Life', Linden Labs has decided all in-world casinos and virtual gambling enterprises are to be discontinued - apparently due to legal concerns.

The move will not only disappoint Second Life gamblers who wager with Linden Dollars in the venues, but will curtail the revenues earned by Linden from those owning casino-style islands in the game, the owners of which are apparently some of the top contributors to the Linden Lab coffers through currency fees and land rental.

Readers may recall earlier reports that Linden had asked the FBI for guidance on the issue of legality of Second Life wagering, and it appears from the latest policy decision that the feedback from the feds has been negative. Linden's new Terms of Service state the company will comply with all subpoenas from US law enforcement demanding information.

The Second Life blog goes into some detail in explaining the new policy, advising that in addition to no longer accepting any classified ads, place listings, or event listings that appear to relate to simulated casino activity, Linden must comply with state and federal laws applicable to regulated online gambling, even when both operators and players of the games reside outside of the US.

"Because there are a variety of conflicting gambling regulations around the world we have chosen to restrict gambling in Second Life, the blog announcement informs. "Because this is an evolving area of law, we may continue to adjust and clarify this policy as we receive feedback from the community and from legal authorities, or as new regulations, industry practices and technology solutions come into effect.

The blog then goes on to detail the blanket policy 'outlawing' any form of Second Life gambling, specifying games and type of venues affected, and including sports betting.

"Linden Lab will actively enforce this policy. If we discover gambling activities that violate the policy, we will remove all related objects from the inworld environment, may suspend or terminate the accounts of residents involved without refund or payment, and may report any relevant details, including user information, to authorities and financial institutions," the owners warn.

The ban applies immediately, and Linden Labs will not accept responsibility for any monetary losses incurred as a result.

 

[winbig]

What's next, are they going to shut down POGO gambling games as well? There's thousands of people playing blackjack & poker there at any given time.

 

[cynthial]

This is just surreal and no pun intended. Linden dollars are not real currency are they? It is just like Monopoly Money, yes? I can't wrap my head around the stupidity of this whole thing. My nephew plays Pokemon where the winner gets the pick of the losers cards and these darn cards do have value. Do we need to apply for a skill based carve-out for these 8 year olds? It is past absurd now. I want all of the bloated, bureaucratic, bigoted Storm Troopers out of Washington and out of my private life.

 

[SlotsWizard]

it appears ... that the feedback from the feds has been negative

Imagine that.

This is just surreal and no pun intended. Linden dollars are not real currency are they? It is just like Monopoly Money, yes? I can't wrap my head around the stupidity of this whole thing. My nephew plays Pokemon where the winner gets the pick of the losers cards and these darn cards do have value. Do we need to apply for a skill based carve-out for these 8 year olds? It is past absurd now. I want all of the bloated, bureaucratic, bigoted Storm Troopers out of Washington and out of my private life.

You can buy Linden dollars with real money, have your way with them, and then convert them back into real money. It's a microscopic scale though (L$500 = US$1 or something like that).

 

[winbig]

Oh yea, not to mention all of the slots on pogo....they have quite a few.

 

[cynthial]

Thanks for the clarification. If the money has some value it does clear up some of my confusion. So were the virtual players or whatever they are called able to actually make a profit if they hit big on the virtual games and so in reality it was a sneaky way of working around the UIGEA?

 

[SlotsWizard]

Thanks for the clarification. If the money has some value it does clear up some of my confusion. So were the virtual players or whatever they are called able to actually make a profit if they hit big on the virtual games and so in reality it was a sneaky way of working around the UIGEA?

Probably. And I'm not 100% certain but I think the average joe could also set up a virtual casino and collect Linden Dollars whenever people played at it. Maybe not, but this part of jetset's post led me to believe that:

The move will not only disappoint Second Life gamblers who wager with Linden Dollars in the venues, but will curtail the revenues earned by Linden from those owning casino-style islands in the game, the owners of which are apparently some of the top contributors to the Linden Lab coffers through currency fees and land rental.

 

[SlotsWizard]

Oh yea, not to mention all of the slots on pogo....they have quite a few.

I've always wondered how Pogo gets away with it. The truly free games, even those with jackpots - fine. But Club Pogo, a paid subscription, doubles (up to $4999) the jackpots and gets you access to games which people with free accounts cannot access, and most of those games have jackpots.

How is that not gambling?

Granted it's only $40 a year or however much. But how can the usual disclaimer phrase, "A purchase will not increase your odds of winning", apply to the games that people with free accounts can't access? They must be aware of some sort of loophole. Maybe because people can get a free trial of Club Pogo, is that the loophole that makes it legal?

 

[just play]

I've always wondered how Pogo gets away with it. The truly free games, even those with jackpots - fine. But Club Pogo, a paid subscription, doubles (up to $4999) the jackpots and gets you access to games which people with free accounts cannot access, and most of those games have jackpots.

How is that not gambling?

Granted it's only $40 a year or however much. But how can the usual disclaimer phrase, "A purchase will not increase your odds of winning", apply to the games that people with free accounts can't access? They must be aware of some sort of loophole. Maybe because people can get a free trial of Club Pogo, is that the loophole that makes it legal?

I seem to think no one wins at Pogo. I have played there for years and talked to hundreds/thousands of people and no one knows ANYONE who have ever hit a jackpot there.

 

[SlotsWizard]

I seem to think no one wins at Pogo. I have played there for years and talked to hundreds/thousands of people and no one knows ANYONE who have ever hit a jackpot there.

People do win but VERY VERY VERY rarely. My mother won a $2300 jackpot a few years ago on Payday Freecell. It annoyed me because I had been playing there for quite a while before she ever started playing there, in fact I was the one that turned her on to it. And I never won anything, except a couple of screensavers/desktop backgrounds - BFD!

 

[Professor]

This is yet another unnecessary intrusion on personal freedoms.

If this sort of lunacy was prevalent 50 years ago I guess the DOJ would have gone after kids shooting marbles or having baseball card wars.

 

[EasyRhino]

I was kind of wondering when this would happen, the linden's fungibility with real money was just too easy.

 

[winbig]

This is yet another unnecessary intrusion on personal freedoms.

If this sort of lunacy was prevalent 50 years ago I guess the DOJ would have gone after kids shooting marbles or having baseball card wars.

I can see it now. Organizations sued by the DoJ for holding a marble tournament with cash prizes. Organizers in charge of the event are jailed, and their bail is set to $1M.

 

[jetset]

I think the alarming thing about this is that once again what appears to be a DoJ 'opinion' has been acted on by commerce and not tested in the courts.

Linden Labs asked the FBI to check Second Life out because of the prevailing intimidatory legal climate in the US, is my guess - they probably wanted to be on the safe side.

Expecting them to then contest the question before qualified and impartial judges was perhaps expecting too much - this may be expensive in terms of revenue for them, but it's probably the easier route.

 

[winbig]

The irony of the situation is that if they didn't ask for the FBI's opinion, more than likely they could have slipped under the radar.

 

[lukins82]

I was one step to join seond life to advertise my review site , I think I won't do that

 

[babs7262]

When Pogo

had Word Riot, I was an avid player and personally knew several JP winners.

Also On Second Life: People actually pay real money for real estate. For example...if you see a home that someone already owns, you can actually buy it from them. It's crazy

I joined and got a name but uninstalled it because it was a huge pain in the ass. Maybe someday when they are real huge, someone will want to buy my name when they start running out lol