Sim Owner Code

Hi there,

in the German community several estate owners have worked on a kind of seal of approval (called "SLInfo Sim Owner Kodex" where they have tried to define some guidelines which all of them want to follow.

This also includes frameworks for covenants and putting in place a kind of arbitration board for cases where sim owner and land owner have some issues with each other.

The entire project is bound to a single German forum and one of the major goals is to prohibit sim owners who have not signed this code to publish any kind of advertising for their sims.

I would like to know (and maybe to discuss) if there is any interest outside in the big SL world both on seller and buyer side to work on such a seal of approval. In my opinion it would make sense to extend the focus of this code to more than just one single German forum. Instead this could establish a higher level of confidence for land transactions on privately owned estates.

I am interested in the estate owner opinions in particular.

Or is this all only bullshit and too much regulations?

Let me know your thoughts!

Melina

Hmm, while it's a great idea, it's ultimately just a bunch of words. Unless you can guarantee effective punitive measures for those sim-owners that break the code, then you can't really be sure it will work, as they could easily copy/paste the covenant in then lie/cheat/steal anyway.

Ultimately we still need tools that allow customers to have confidence, without impacting sim-owners too much in what they do with their own land.

One such proposal is:
https://jira.secondlife.com/browse/SVC-950

I'm not aware of any others.

I suppose with this sim-owners code, if you can actively monitor the owners that sign it, and can get a lot of people using your listed of signed sim-owners then you can punish people by removing them from that list. Trouble is that most people use search, and that's what you'd be competing with

Second that.

No matter how many codes people sign, if there is no punishment, they can just as easy break it. Even worse, they sign the code, people have more trust so they buy parcels at that place (they are trustworthy, aren't they). The Sim owner boots all buyers, and starts all over again. The buyers will still have no way to get their money back, so it made it only easier for the fraudulent Sim owner.

Basically, the only way to fight the Estate scams, is LL to take some action.

Hi,

you are absolutely right, the code is nothing like a law, it is just a code, which sim owners would sign to show people that they really want to treat them as what they are ... customers. It would be voluntary.

It is more a kind of reputation. And if somebody breaks the rules of the code he will be thrown out of this code.

If someone used this code to deceive land buyers, this would very likely only happen once with the same person (avatar).

I also agree that we need more technical support. One example is that a sim owner can still sell a sim regardless if land on that sim is sold or not. This is rediculous.

But it is like it is ... a Sim Owner Code would be an approach to establish more confidence and could become an important criterion to stand out from other land dealers and maybe even increase sales.

The value and the strength of this code would of course increase with every single sim owner who would sign it. This is the reason why I doubt that the already existing German code will be successful as long as it does not succeed in attracting more international sim owners.

Most of the sim owners will probably say:" Well, leave me alone with this nonsense. My business is running well, so why should I care?"

It needs some committed and enthusiastic people to start and promote this project. besides this the German group has already done a good job which could be a good basis to build on.

Melina

PS: Btw ... on the other hand I would really love to see a code that prevents sim owners from residents not paying their monthly fee.

I'm not sure how regulation would work in an environment where there isn't anything like hard evidence available to us.

Are decisions going to be made based on chatlogs or screenshots offered by the aggrieved party? The defence?

Even ickier than a property dispute would be some kind of fake court. I wonder if this agreed-to arbitration has ever been used, and what it looked like when it happened.

Often it's not about being right, it's about doing what you can for people. Everyone picks up on that very quickly.

* * * * *

The other issue, I remember the "SL BB" or some such - the last business bureau to make a splash around here about a year and a half ago.

Some of the most odious businesses on the grid bought memberships there, to dress up their image. And even as the Ginko financial scheme turned away customers, holding ungodly amounts of their $L, there wasn't even a warning posted against them. They were, of course, a member company. Bleah.

Melina, you have a longstanding reputation on the grid, I remember visiting Cosy Home years ago before I had my own estate, you have treated my friends well, and I think you have *nothing* to worry about if you don't go in for this regulation thing. Just my opinion.