the SL Economy

My interest in SL IS selfish I admit. I want a couple of hours of mindless entertainment a day, that's all. I have plenty of character building social injustices to fight in RL. If the time comes that LL has sucked all the enjoyment out of it, if I haven't grown bored with it and moved on already, I will go quietly into the night, with no regrets.

How about this...

It's not technically currency, but it's very similar.

Can we all just agree on that?

How about "The Linden Dollar is a token to be used, traded, bought and sold in world, and has no value outside of Second Life."

I didn't know chucky cheese would give you USD for your tokens!

What if the term Linden Dollar was changed to Penguin? Any ideas?

Your Ebay analogy really doesn't fit here. Ebay doesn't have a token system. It just facilitates the exchange of items for USD between it's members. Ebay doesn't issue or own any of the items being traded for USD. It's a service and that is the distinction between them. LL would be protected were it a service as well. By virtue of the LindeX, LL is much more than that.

I've read the laws and am stating my opinion based on what they contain and what they apply to. Any other prudent person could do the same and come to the exact conclusion that I did or not. But how would you know if you didn't read them yourself? You are stating your opinion based on what? Your best guestimate?

In spite of any conclusion that I have come to, you are absolutely correct in your assertion that the law is subject to interpretation in the judicial arena. That is why I bring up the qui tam provisions.

It would only take a single individual to file one and it would cost them exactly zero and no effort to either file it or prosecute it. I fully expect that to be done, if not by you then by someone else. The only thing is - would LL and SL survive the investigation or even the intepretation? Would the grid close while LL defended its position in Court? I think the smart move would be to ditch the LindeX. There is no downside to that. The $L was traded for USD quite well prior to the LindeX and it will continue to be traded for USD after its gone.

The ease of which a qui tam action can be brought should be the major concern.
This would certainly bring on a US DOJ investigation and possibly tie up any resources LL might have to defend itself.

Qui tam lawsuits are quite unique. They are basically filed by individuals on behalf of the government. They are also sometimes called "whistleblower" lawsuits.

This type of lawsuit is particularly attractive in our litigious and greedy times because the government is required to do all the work basically and the person filing the suit is entitled to 15-30 percent of the total recovery. Additionally they receive protection from retaliation.

In 2005 alone, a record $3.1 billion was reclaimed from corrupt businesses from qui tam actions. My math sucks, but isn't 15% of 3.1 billion something like 450 million. That's quite an incentive.


"In qui tam provisions the government gives private citizens the right and the financial incentive to retain a private lawyer to file a lawsuit to act in the place of law enforcement."


Lawyers will take these on in a heartbeat without even a consultation fee. It would not surprise me to learn that one has already been filed.

I'll buy that (he he).

Ps. I just called my buddy, and he bought my Fantastic Four # 48 for 2 Million L$ --does that make L$ a valid currency?


EDIT: darnit, I just sold my FF # 48 for PEANUTS!!!

Why would we stop blaming a government that has the whole world economy going down? The US is since they elected Bush the biggest criminal state. World peace has declined to almost zero in a few years. And linden labs listens to such a government? Well you see what is happening. The Bush administration just kills worlds, virtual and real ones!

Stop the US imperialism!

Sorry but no it's not exactly the same.

It's not the same because LL is giving the L$ value by owning an exchange which facilitates the trading of $L for USD. You and I can trade $L for USD with nothing but an obligation to claim it as income and pay any taxes that may be due.

LL cannot do this because they created Lindens as a token to be exchanged in a virtual world. Their TOS is required to state it has no USD value, otherwise it would be a currency.

They cannot facilitate the trading of it for USD and continue to issue it.

Gee and this thread was going so well in relative civilty considering the emotions involved. Now it just headed downhill, in 5th gear.

Please keep your posts on topic. We are not discussing world economy or crooked politicians and although world peace would be nice, we are not discussing it either. The fact is all governments are inherently corrupt be it yours or ours.

LL has no choice (like all of us) to be subject to the laws of the land on which we reside. The topic of discussion is the SL Economy and what LL can do to make it better for us all.

*applies the brakes*

We can also just bomb washington in shock and awe and free the poor US citizens from their dictator. This war would be very short, just a few days, with minor casualties amongst US citizens. I found evidence of the US possessing WMD's.

I have to get some RL work done. Keep fighting for them Gisela even if they haven't figured out you're on thier side yet.

You won't get any thanks in the end but maybe you can plant some seeds, we'll see what grows.

I for one would like to see LL do what is right for once, and I don't think they are capable of doing that w/out some type of preassure.

You're a true trooper Gisela and I know the value of what you're doing.

Thank you. YOU ROCK!

I'm sticking to the discussion! it was mentioned we can't blame the us gov for taking down sl this way. Well i say we can!

I would like to imagine that they have. But people get bad advice all the time unfortunately and sometimes they don't get any at all cause no one thought of it.

$L either has value or it doesn't. LL cannot take both sides.

Not to go with this change of subject, but I thought I've read and heard several times that the US economy is stronger than it's ever been.

Am I wrong?

World peace was doing so well until W messed it all up? HAHA!!! Who needs history when just believing Michael Moore is considered an education?!

It's forum-tastic!

We can blame all we want, but that doesn't get us a solution does it?

LL can change any policy and can choose to ditch the LindeX to solve the problems. Whether they do that or not is their choice. Businesses usually like to make good business decisions within the law, then go about trying to change it if they don't like it.

Our job is to somehow get them to do something to make it all right.

Well maybe you should stop watching FOX tv, because that's what called education in the US.

Ya, if it wasn't for G.W., Hitler would have sold a thousand paintings, and the Nazis would have never existed.

The russians did a great job indeed!

Right on! I only JUST learned what Godwin's Law is, and here it is!! Yay!

Its definitely not as strong as the late 90's in several important segments.

The weak housing market is an indicator.

As is the huge number of people who have lost their jobs in the autmobile and related industries.

However there are people who will spin the economy numbers to get people to believe what you said, yes.


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But our current economic situation (good or bad) is not becuase War in Iraq. Nor is a war in Iraq proof that George Bush is Evil.

Google is a US company that does dare to show it's teeth in the US! I say US because they failed in china