Gom

Somebody told something about the GOM, I don't know if it existed in the past, etc.

What is/was GOM?

The Gaming Open Market was an open trading platform that originally traded in all major virtual currencies. You could buy and sell EQ gold, SWG credits, L$, and many more.

It was on the forefront of virtual currency trading until it got hit with more than $3,000 in fraudulent currency charges by users exploiting PayPal's policies to NOT back virtual purchases with any type of selle protection. All you have to do with PayPal and a virtual sale is say you never received it. Since they ONLY accept Fedex, UPS and USPS delivery confirmations as proof of products received, and because there is no "tangible" proof to prove something virtual, like L$ or EQ gold, has changed hands, they will always side with the buyer. This shafted GOM out of thousands, with the people who did it saying they did it to "teach GOM a lesson."

This cause a ruckus and Linden Labs stepped up as the only online world to support GOM and agreeing to help prosecute anyone who did that to them with L$. So, GOM dropped all other currencies but the Linden $.

Then Linden Labs announced they were opening their own currency trading system to compete with GOM. Linden Labs also said they would not develop an API to allow other currency traders to be able to buy/sell currency from within the SL client. That was the exclusive territory of Linden Labs. So, GOM closed shop. They were doing it as a hobby and had to plans to compete with LL because they knew they couldn't win because of LL's monopolistic ability to buy and sell L$ from within the SL client, no third-party registration and seemingly "more securely."

So, whenever Linden Labs takes an idea that was developed by its residences and incorporates it into their own business model, destroying the livelihood of the residents' ideas they steal, it's called being "GOM'd".

Thanks Aaron.