And the casinos come crashing down....

No but they will have to police it. Which means defining what falls under this ad ban and also means removing listings that are in violation of this add ban.

It in defining things that this could get real sticky.

I expect eventually there will be some sort of automated keyword searcher that checks ads

stuff like Nazi, Lolita, Ageplay, Casino, cambling, blackjack, poker etc will make an ad be auto denied.

Meenwhile ads that slip through the cracks will be Abuse reportable offenses.

The main question is how many subject areas will this grow to include.

LL, get servers and a branch in europe.. you should have a grid over here anyway with over 50% f SL users being form europe. Solves the casino issue as well (parts of it).

I suspect casinos are here to stay. The only change will be how they are advertised. Casino owners will have to divert to third party sites to advertise their wares. It just so happens I have some good domains I was saving just for this purpose....

/113/e4/175428/1.html

This isn't another holocaust.


One voluntarily chooses to be a casino operator.


Other people choose to do things that aren't so blatently likely to be made explicitly illegal by a slow moving government, once it catches up with this "new fangled intarweb-thang."


I would find it hard to believe someone savvy enough to operate a successful casino in SL would be oblivious to this inevitable turn of events.


It was only matter of time, and you knew it, or should have known it, from day one.

ding ding ding! Hello, people, you won't have anything more to bitch about if SL is forced to shut down. Maybe you all want that! LL's legal interest SHOULD come first, or else you need to find another game to play.

I cant help but chuckle about how much the situation reminds me of a kid with their hand caught in the cookie jar.


But I want a cookie!





Sorry but internet gambling is being cracked down on in a lot of places not just SL. Its just a carry over from offline restirctions.

I cant open a casino in my garage either.

I believe the correct inflection is: "BuuuuUUUuuutt... I NeeeEEEeed a coookieeee!!!"

You CAN open a casino in your garage... if you're willing to put up with the risk and consequences.

It's like... dare I say it... gambling!

There is a really simple solution to all of this. We just have to lobby congress to make it legal again.

The ones I feel most sorry for are the creators of these games that the casinos place out for others to enjoy. Those are the ones that are going to be most hurt.

With drama like this, who needs soap operas or even Oprah!

Internet gambling is illegal in the US...period. the SL thing MAY be an exception to that, but who knows? I am a lawyer and I don't know. I am so uninterested in gambling generally, I am not going to spend hours doing legal research on the issue unless (a) it interests me; (b) I an getting paid for it.

Even in states withing the USA where gambling IS legal, such as Nevada and parts of New Jersey, Colorado, to name a few, it is heavily regulated by those state governments.

I understand and am sympatheitic to the outcries of those non US residents who do not wish to be subject to US laws. However, LL IS a corporation doing business in the US and the State of California. Like it or not, they are subject to the laws of those two jurisdictions. Can they get around this by moving offshore, say to the Caymen Islands or someplace? Probably. Is it worth it to them to do that? Probably not.

So far, all LL has done is not accept any new advertisements for gambling activities. I checked a few minutes ago and there are three casino adds in the top page of the classifieds. I ASSUME that they will run their course but no new adds will be accepted. Who knows?

My understanding is, for the time being, casino operators can still operate, they just need to come up with other marketing strategies to get those who want to gamble to walk through the doors.

How will this effect the overall SL economy? Who knows? The casino operators may take a big hit. I wish no one ill will but many [not all] of the casino operators have a large section of the population against them or at least ambivilent. Crowded sims, noise, pollution, anti social behavior and camping chairs are NOT going to win the PR battle over this. Too bad. Too bad.

Prostitution or the "escort" business will not be directly impacted. While prostitution is illegal everywhere in the US except for certain highly regulated rural Nevada counties the prostitution in SL does not include actual physical contact. Its just cybersex which is not illegal, except perhaps when a minor is involved. I am no expert on this as I have the same level of disinterest in the prostitution industry as I do in gambling.

I don't see anyone's SL experience being negatively impacted by this except casino operators [many of whom have ruined the SL experience for countless others] gamblers [who will always find aplace a gamble] and campers. I think everyone else's SL experience will be enhanced. Perhaps lag, TP, noise etc. will be significantly reduced.

Why is this a bad thing? Inquiring minds want to know. You can spare me the slippery slope arguments that they will be coming after me next by eliminating my abilty to buy nice clothes and go dancing.

Hmm but it has been stated before by so many that nobody should be forced to finacially contribute money to LL, as this would require verifying them.

In the interest of saving space I won't quote Susanne's post. I'll just applaud it. And agree with it. Pretty rational, even for a lawyer...

Thank you Brenda! Even a clock that doesn't work is right two times a day. The post was made during one of my rational moments.

But that doesn't stop Linden Labs from talking it up!!! LMAO..

http://secondlife.com/whatis/businesses.php

From the link above:

There are as many opportunities for innovation and profit in Second Life as in the Real World. Open a nightclub, sell jewelry, become a land speculator; the choice is yours to make. Thousands of residents are making part or all of their real life income from their Second Life Businesses.

By way of example, here are just a few in-world business occupations which Residents founded and currently run, and make part or all of their real life living from. Try searching for these categories via the in-world Find menu:

party and wedding planner
pet manufacturer
***** CASINO OPERATOR ******** (Emphasis added)
tattooist
nightclub owner
automotive manufacturer
fashion designer
aerospace engineer
custom avatar designer
jewelry maker
architect
XML coder
freelance scripter
game developer
fine artist
machinima set designer
tour guide
dancer
musician
custom animation creator
lottery operator
theme park developer
real estate speculator
vacation resort owner
advertiser
bodyguard
magazine
publisher
private detective
writer
gamer
landscaper
publicist
special effects designer
gunsmith
hug maker

Sorry for the double post...

So does that mean you have another Pithy Comment remaining for today?

LOL I guess they will need to remove that line item

The Unmitigated Gall of some people.....

No, Brenda. I wasted the other rational moment at work. [slaps forehead with palm of hand]

Stuff that, I want to be a magazine

I was hoping you would take a minute and tell us in your legal opinion if the "Linden" is a currency and if the Lindex exchange allows people to win money in a casino, and then cash it out in violation of the new internet gambling law.

The guy who counsels Linden Labs say's it isnt a currency. *Snicker*

I think LL try to combine parts of a "hands off" approach with a "cover your ass" approach. While not allowing you to place ads in classifieds etc, I don't think they would do anything about rotating ads, profile picks or anything else unless their lawyer tells them to.

Quote: I was hoping you would take a minute and tell us in your legal opinion if the "Linden" is a currency and if the Lindex exchange allows people to win money in a casino, and then cash it out in violation of the new internet gambling law.

The guy who counsels Linden Labs say's it isnt a currency. *Snicker* End of quote

I have no legal opinion on the subject of currency. To give one would require a review of applicable Federal Statutes as well as case law, particularly from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. I haven't the time, interest or motivation to do that research. Its an excellent topic for an enterprising, bright, young law student to write a law review article on however.

I WILL give you a PERSONAL opinion. According to Black's Law Dictionary [1979 Edition, long before internet] Currency is defined as "Coined money and such banknotes or other paper money as are authorized by law and do in fact circulate from hand to hand as a medium of exchange." Based thereon, I would opine that Linden Labs' counsel is entirely correct.

Damm!!!

I use to love going to freeroll poker and i even managed to win once (YAY!!!).

I guess i wont be able to find any anymore though unless i join the poker groups which i dont want to do due to the ammount of messages you recive (been there done that).


The sooner someone builds a "google" specifically for SL the better. I guess it would have to be done outside of america though.