Law, contracts, and dispute resolution

Having a voluntary system sounds good, but many fraudsters wouldn't even bother participating in the system. Therefore, there is the question of how to deal with fraud outside that system. Some legitimate sellers would also operate outside the system, in order to save the participation fee and either save it or pass it on to customers.

Also: certain things are straightforward fraud. But many other cases involve a somewhat legitimate dispute betweeen a buyer or seller over what the exact terms of the sale were. For example, if someone buys a scripted product, and complains that it doesn't work right (and may have ended up costing the buyer money if it was a sales system, for example), what exactly is the liability or what are the rights or expectations of the buyer and seller?

There really needs to be a better way to deal with this. One of the benefits of a judicial system is the ability to name names, where both sides can back that up with reasoned argument.

In any case, being able to get the facts straight with this sort of thing is important, which is why better transactional accounting tools are needed.

As for the idea that most transactions on SL aren't litigation-worthy, this is true of most transactions (which are quite low-value), but, for example, since there are some accounts with over 8 million L$ on them, and these numbers are likely to grow as the virtual world grows, there are at least fairly substantial dollar amounts in play. At what dollar amounts does a problematic transaction or business dispute become litigation-worthy?

Well, I think the idea would be that if you were buying from a vendor outside the system, buyer beware. At least with an association of sorts, you'd have some accountability. If people preferred that system, non-joining sellers would be forced to join or face a loss of sales.



Ideally, such a system would have people who are experienced in alternative dispute resolution to issue a binding decision (so basically a binding arbitration). You'd be left up to the decision of the arbitrator or arbitration panel.



I guess it comes down to what's it worth to you to pay someone an hourly rate of anywhere from $150-500/hr to prepare a case over $800 US. At some point, I guess the $US would be enough to warrant the cost of litigation. Quite honestly, a good attorney would really do his best to keep you out of litigation unless absolutely necessary. It keeps the costs low for you while hopefully still achieving a satisfactory result for all parties.

EDIT -- I'd also be interested in helping set something like this up.

Last i checked, the stores in SL were located on servers in Colorodo. And even then, no currency recognized by any governments as legal tender is exchanged for the goods and nothing tangible is purchased with the said funny-money. So i guess only Colorodo residents would really have to pay sales tax, and that's assuming Colorodo even cares about Linden Dollars...

I'll bet the number of Colorodo residents purchasing stuff on SL and paying a sales tax to Colorodo for, over the course of the year, the sales tax would probably amount to about Two Dollars and Fifteen Cents in US currency... Of course i'm pulling that number out of a very dark and secluded place... Though it would be an interesting figure to calculate...

What if, let's say, Major League Baseball buys a membership in SL and sells official Major League Baseball tee shirts and hats inside SL. Interesting questions there. Can Major League Baseball enforce their copyrights within SL and have exclusive rights to team logos and such in-world? (Answer, YES!)

If Major League Baseball is selling things in-world to SL residents, do those residents have to pay sales tax if they live in a state where there is a Major League Baseball team? (I think, eventually, probably yes. What a mess.)

It doesn't matter where the server is for SL transactions that are between members. In fact, it doesn't matter where the servers are at all. It matters where the parties to the transactions are at the time the transactions are entered into, and the nature of the parties presence there. The servers can be in China for all it matters.

Buster

you all are crazy

let the filth of the reality at the door please

Where is RATE?

RATE?

Are you folks active?

The public stocks and the concept of published legal notice for criminal convictions, arrests and other legal action is as old as the Republic.

There is no right to "free speech" in SL, and the real world concept of free speech allows regulation of speech for the time, place and manner of the speech. Content can be regulated in some circumstances such as hate speech, or crying fire in a crowded theatre.

It is valid for LL to regulate how we express posts, such as no name calling etc., since that is the regulation of hate speech, however forbidding members from posting specific details about events is questionable.

The idea of a commercial complaints forum is a great idea, as long as there are specific and predictable guidelines for posting.