And the casinos come crashing down....

Exactly, I suppose their other option instead of giving this warning was to just announce point blank, no gambling at all from next week some sound like they would have prefered to let it run till the disconnect in 24 hours courtorder hits the deck, then squeeal about the money they lose overnight. Or perhaps they are still planning regulated gambling, and just want to clear the decks a bit and lay low till it is ready.

Moving the servers to get around regulation, are you guys telling me there is no regulation in UK or European gambling to prevent rigging of machines? Or are people going to campaign to have regulation removed in RL there too?

I suspect for gambling to continue LL will have to submit a detailed proposal showing how it will be regulated and taxation information recorded, and perhaps they could stop fixing the grid and send all their staff to do that or have just decided it's not worth the trouble and put it on the to be phased out list.

Casinos can't advertise in the SL newspapers? These papers are not owned by LL, so what would be the problem. They are banning advertisements on their ad- platforms, is that correct? Hell Casino owners, there is strength in numbers. All of you owners get together and buy your own newspaper and advertise through that. Or you guys can start your own gaming magazine, that way there is a centralized place to find all of the casinos who agree to advertise in it.
My ideas aside, this is an issue and even if you don't like to gamble, you had better pay attention because next it will be something you enjoy. hypathetical situation: SL is being investigated because of the receipts accrued from clothing sales. The USD expenditure reaches over $1 million daily and the IRS expects that clothing sales are responsible for $400,000 of that on a daily basis. That is $2.8 million a week, $11.2 million a month, and $134 million annually. And the IRS feels as though SL should be held accountable for the taxation or allow the IRS to tax its citizens with each purchase. Does that sound pleasing to anyone?
It is our American culture to look the other way when a rule is handed down that does'nt directly effect your life style. And we also love to take pleasure in other peoples grief (casinos) for one reason or the other. My suggestion would be to leave the little kid selfish thinking in your first life(thats where it developed therefore that is where it belongs). All you individuals who complain about lag, campers, and casinos do so because of your selfish need to have it your way. But like little spoiled kids, you can't see what regulations may be waiting down the road for you.
Whether you love or hate casinos, we all better be on the same team(SL residence), in the same boat, rowing in the same direction before the feds and the IRS start giving free colon exams in SL, and they are going to want to tax and regulate every transaction in SL.

casinos may get banned, but LL could never ever enforce a complete ban on gambling. it just wouldnt be possible without ridiculous moderating.

I'm not sure, but I don't think resident transactions would be taxable until you cash out the Lindens. I'm sure Providers dutifully satisfy their tax obligations. Someone somewhere heard something about the FEW people who make profits from here and their ears perked up. I'd put the Doomsday scenario on hold for a bit.

Pleasing? No.

Perhaps a better question is whether it is reasonable that my jurisdiction should be taxing me on money I have earned. I can't honestly see a moral reason why I should not be taxed on my income in SL, should it get large enough to be taxable.

I smell a strawman here.

Good nose. But once the bullies start pushing, they generally wil not stop until someone pushes back.

I think most of us realize the economic numbers are just as inflated as the "residents" numbers.

The $ US dollars spent today is a conversion of how many lindens have been traded back and forth, by people buying things in world, paying rent, tips, etc.

Only a fraction of that is sold on Linden X and has balancing US dollars used to buy it from the seller.

The Actual ammount of USD going to people making money is only a small portion of the total daily economic activity tracked.

Until people see that they are going to continue to have unrealistic expectations about whats happening in Second Life.

I wonder how many accounts even log in in an average day. Probably only a few hundred thousand. And of those the number of human account holders is probably much lower still. I wonder if its even 100,000. And most of those dont spend money daily.

Think people are far too snowed by big numbers - We need people who are a little more analytical and skeptical around here.

Even if gambling poofs completely the only ones hurt will be those in the Casino industry in SL. And most of those probably were barely breaking even.

The gamblers? ending gambling will save them money overall. Id bet 50,000K L on it!

i am a gambler and regulary make profits from gambling (i do lose to but will always be up). Please do not take gambling away LL!!


Anyway buying anything in SL is always a gamble to me, i can never be 100% sure the money transaction will work or that i will get my goods and if i do get my goods that they will never be lost.

This is an empty argument made by many.

This isnt gambling, this is a lag problem.

Why people would shop at times when SL performance is fading is beyond me.

I had about 2 seconds of FRIGHT yesterday when I logged into my empty island. For a WHOLE 2 seconds I saw bare beach and blue water............NOT the way I had left it. And that is when I thought about how protected are we that when we leave things in its place, ((all the buildings, the pictures we so painstakinly hung on the walls, the plants we labored over positioning)) we will come back and find them there?

There is no guarentee.........and that is scary!! We are all gamblers in SL, whether we want to be or not!

Points?

Could they look like casino chips? Could we exchange them as items of interest and amusement for money on eBay or GOM?

No ...

DUH






Points would be redeemable for freebie JUNK. Like the kids games at chuck E Cheese.

Still smiling?

Well, a classified search for "Casino" still brings up a buttload of paid listings.

the place I go is closed now

I bet those are collectible. I have paypal waiting!

The same happens in Vegas and Native American casinos and almost any casino in the WOLRD. The reason the US congress banned online gambling was for TAX purposes. the places that were hosting many of the online gambling sites were mostly offshore, and giving the ALMIGHTY IRS the bird when records were requested in order to prevent tax evasion. Add in the lobbying power of casinos, particularly the Native American tribe owned ones, and you can couch your anti online gambling legislation as a morality issue to kiss up to the handful of conservatives who actually give a darn about gambling issues. No real 'victims' were being saved, only the IRS power.

There is also regulation of the gaming. To keep the games from robbing you unfairly.

Instead they have to rob you fairly. Which takes slightly longer.

Of course this process costs even more taxes, and adds government employees. SO its a win/win for the governement.