Breaking News: Government Formed in SL?

anshechung.com could just make it a condition of leasehold include it on a notecard at the time of rental and then every dreamland resident would have to comply by posting one positive message about the "wonders of dreamland" per week.

And if you don't understand why unregulated monopoly might be bad, you've just seen one possible reason.

obligatory emoticon to show that I really didn't mean anything I said:

Hmmm, to be honest the context was absoutely clear in the original article, so I still don't understand why the big-type, bolded run-for-the-hills first post you made. Apart from drama.

Actually when I cut and pasted the text from the article it copied exactly and messed up the font size. When I tried changing everything to 2 it looks too small so I just set it to 3.

I have no intent of causing drama in the forums. I felt it a legitimate post which has led to other people discussing monopolies and the role of government in SL.

The way you present a post, both in terms of words and in display, often encourages the reader to think in a certain way. You used a large font which comes across as more dramatic, you bolded the comment you took (very much out of context, and I'd be suprised if you didn't know you were doing) to lead the reader's attention towards it, you were all "woah" and "how odd" about the comment. You presented it with a clear bias. You positively encouraged people to be pre-disposed to think about it a certain way.

You took one of the most contentious people in Second Life, mixed in an out of context quote from the guy who runs this world and presented it in the way I highlighted above.

What exactly suprises you when I say that you've done it for drama? Especially when I bet that some respondants (respondant number 1 I'd suspect at the very least) would base their comments on what you've written and not even bother to read the actual article.

I still can't believe that you didn't really know the true context of the statement before you posted, as the article is quite clear on the placement of that comment and what it is in relation to.

Hmmm. At the risk of being accused of hijacking a thread again, how about this?

The interesting part of this story is Philip Rosedale's analysis - Anshe's role is secondary and in any event has been hashed out ad nauseum.

Rosedale's choice of words indicates his/LL's thinking about concepts of government and order in Second Life:

(1) The rule of order will be based on property ownership and the private relationship between the entrepreneur and the tenant-user.

(2) There will be no "virtual social contract" of universal rights and privileges beyond what serves the company's rights of ownership (the ToS and CS).

(3) Land, content, and service "barons" like Anshe can serve the greater community far more efficiently than universal solutions leveraged by LL. (A possible meaning of Rosedale comparing Anshe to a "Rockefeller". Andrew Carnegie built company towns and preached about the responsibility of the wealthy and powerful to give something back to the community - such charities were a replacement, he said, for the duties of universal government.)

(4) In short, Rosedale's view of power, hierarchy, public service, and wealth in Second Life falls under the rubric of nineteenth century American free-market philosophies like laissez faire and Carnegie's Gospel of Wealth. (And a lot of Americans think this way, btw.) A nineteenth century approach to a twenty-first century product is an interesting juxtaposition.

(5) If you think I'm criticizing Rosedale, think again. I'm not convinced one way or the other.

So money talks Philip? What ever happened to your quote that there is no other gov't except for LL? Did the gov't of LL go to the highest bidder just like everything else in SL? How sad and pathetic for SL. I feel as if my future is in the hands of another subscriber. Whats next? She buys my personal information and sends me bs catalogs in my rl mail? I get spammed in world with rl telemarketing? Honestly what the hell is LL thinking making such broad and STUPID remarks such as this. Again LL is being INCONSISTANT sending mixed messages to your subscribers is another sure way to go out of business. Is no one in charge of PR there or is just now a free for all and those with the most money run SL.

Has Anshe not stated that her gov't views are socialistic in the past. If LL believes that the reaches of the Anshe Gov't will only streach as far as the boarders of Dreamland then they are sadly mistaken. Especialy given that she has already begun to buy up content on the mainland via buying other content creators AV's and inventory.

This is a dark day for SL. Although the sky is not falling the landscape is definatly starting to tremble.

It's a damn shame I had such high hopes for SL.

Discusted.

Oh dear lord, here we go again

This IS major news. I've put out a snippet to let the populance know.

http://sleconomyblog.blogspot.com/

Well they put their foot in their mouth. For as long as I can remember the idea of a gov't has been a very swift and firm NO from LL not just to me but to many very big names in SL who have been asking about gov't' since beta. Damn right here we go, but not again.

The Dreamland gov't is not contained with the contient of Dreamland it is contained within every plot that the Dreamland group owns. That is how far that gov't reaches and it is to the mainland.

I just do not understand LL sometimes. Yes, no, yes, no. Depends on who is asking that much is abundantly clear.

OK. The photo of the "Soviet Armored Division" cracked me up.

... or we could bare our hollow fangs and suck the emotional juices out of the drama we alchemize out of this issue....

SL dramampyres are so fucking uninteresting, though. You watch one of them suckers, you've watched them all.

I find this a particularly interesting world view.

You're right! I guess all those people who split up Microsoft for being too big and powerful that they could jack up prices and take over the industry were just VERY jealous too!

To argue against Anshe being the "government" on her land is to argue that you also wish to have no control over what can and can't happen on your own land. The tools and options are the same. The only difference is that Anshe has a lot of land.

So what are you arguing for? A free for all where we have no rights to disable external scripts, stop people from building, let people sell things from your land etc.?

That's exactly what arguing this point implies.

LL said "The only government in SL is LL"

LL has continualy said there will be no gov't allowed in SL.

Now suddenly one is allowed by a certain individual.

I find that to be bullshit.

I have never been fond of government in SL but I do believe in equal rights. Rights that are NOT based on ones bank account.

Those are my points, apparently.

This after, I might add, she bought an account when LL routinely said and wrote in the ToS "accounts are non-transferable, period". Then she does it and suddenly it's "accounts are non-transferable unless you get permission". Whoops LL, looks like you just got collared with el dinero.

Sit boy.

Good boy.

Yes also a vaild concern for everyone.

I question why out of all the ppl who have pushed for gov't did LL suddenly change their own rules to accomidate this one individual when many have asked BEFORE her.

This is bullshit.

You govern your own land - you create your own rules (using the tools provided) on what can and can't be done on that land. So you are your own government over that, in the same way that Anshe is for hers. There are plenty of examples of zoned sims that can only operate by enforcing their own rules, under which you have to live in order to be a part of them. This is absolutely no different, apart from scale.

So you are arguing for the removal of your own current rights to govern your land how you see fit.

But you're not seeing it this way because it's (a) Anshe, (b) another chance for you to have a go at the Lindens and (c) yet another knee-jerk reaction from you.

It you can't actually recognise how you're arguing against yourself having the right to make your own rules for your own land, then I may as well just go and smack my head to a bloody pulp against a brick wall. It'll be more productive and I'll probably get more sense from it.

No, not everyone. You can count me out on that. I could care less if somebody has transferred their avatar to somebody else. It's none of my business and it really doesn't bother me either way.

i thought this thread had calmed down. now i see a tempest in a teapot brewing. cristiano has the correct take on this imho.

anshe has worked her butt off. she has invested a ton of money. anyone who wants to put that much effort into sl could do the same. its truly an open system in that regard.

im too lazy to do it. i dont like some of the things she has done in the past, but i applaud her industrious nature. calling her a government is not correct. she has control over a lot of land. this allows her to set up some rules. however if you dont like her rules you can leave. she does not hold dominion over all of sl. if she does have some economic impact on us all due to her sheer size, then it is in her best interests to move about wisely and not crush anything important.

in rl there are individuals who can impact our real economy. if this issue upsets you here in sl, you would really be upset if you ponder martin greenspan and bill gates or several arab shieks i am to lazy to look up.

Ok lets put it this way; Why did LL single Anshe out?

Money talks.

Exactly how much of SL is owned by Dreamland, I wish to know how large this Government of Dreamland/Chung is.

I think I have a right to know how much land is owned and where so that I do not move into any area which is controlled by some individuals government within the confines of SL.

Oh no! this ISN'T real life!

Considering the fact that Microsoft got sued for the monopoly.

Secondly ,this is a game in which there ARE NO SET RULES for owning/selling/buying land.

You obviously misunderstand the fact that in the RW we do have laws and restrictions agaisnt this sort of thing,but since this is all virtual it doesn't always have to follow the laws.

LL does NOT have rules set forth for limits to lands. If they did do you honestly think she would own alot of the lands in SL?Doubt it.

The problem is not always the person who is being attacked,the problem rests in the hands of LL for their "love of money" .Doubt they would ever want to bite the hands that feed them.

No, success does. Of course LL are going to highlight the real successes as it makes much more interesting reading than talking about Joe Bloggs who owns 512m and sells a couple of t-shirts a week. Don't you understand the basics of promoting a product? That's what LL do in articles such as this. Promote. And when you promote you talk about the big successes. And, like Anshe or not, she most certainly has been successful.

read the tos. you dont have the right to any of this information. this is not some democracy. its a companies gaming platform. you dont own anything of value in sl. LL can terminate your possessions and your account without notice or reason.