Maybe the gambling ban won't make any difference?

Thinking about this ban, two things may make it unworkable. First, the sheer size of SL and the impossibility of policing it all. Second, while criminalizing something may stop some gambling operators who like to abide by the law, this is less likely to be the case since offering gambling on SL was always a legally grey area anyway.

What can be done to stop those truly determined to offer gambling? Probably not much. At worst they can be barred from SL and then they log in with an alternate id. I doubt any individuals would be prosecuted.

I think we could end up with a youtube-type situation where SL pretends like it is totally against gambling but facilitates an enviroment where it can't be stopped, thereby allowing it to take no legal responsibility and carry on making money indirectly from it.

BINGO!!!!

Besides those operators who follow the directive themselves, it's going to be a case of Someone sees a Casino, they AR it, the Lindens break down the door and close it up.

That is how exactly Youtube works, or doesn't. You are meant to snitch on your comrades for the good of the party. It doesn't work.

I'm glad that the snitching on comrades system doesn't work. What kind of person snitches on some one who's breaking a law or a rule that doesn't hurt anyone anyway? A person that needs a hobby, I guess...LOL

YouTube is teh suck.

Probably the guy who lives next door to one ^_^

Which I guess means casinos might eventually migrate all to their own "casino isle" sims, where they have no residential neighbors to annoy (and thus motivated to turn them in).

Maybe it solves a couple issues at once, if it actually turns out that way. A lot of people don't mind casinos. They just don't want it next door.

Just like RL, I guess.

Well there are still plenty of Zyngo machines and Sploders operating all over Second Life all of which violate the new policy on gambling. They are easy enough to find too since Linden Labs never enforced its ban on advertising gambling for slingo, zyngo and other forms of gambling which are unique to Second Life. Linden Labs has show itself to be completely inconsistent about enforcing its own policies about gambling across the board. It could be intentional if their real focus is limited to getting counterparts to real life gambling games out of Second Life and if it believes that is all that is necessary to protect itself from getting funds blocked under the UIGEA but that's not a very safe position to take. If its concerns about getting funds blocked are that serious then there is no reason for it to not ban gambling in Second Life in all its forms across the board because unlike the situation with the DMCA and Youtube, the UIGEA offers no safe harbor for being a site operator for funding internet gambling. i.e., the site operator doesn't have to know that some of its funding is going towards internet gambling.

i see single gamlbing machines all over. people are using them, which i had never noticed before. and, they are paying out.

Nice thinking, but the gambling law isn't as lax as the DMCA.

No publicity is bad publicity ^_^ Heck they might have just seen business go UP 50%.

(Maybe we should ban shoes, boats, patio sets and umbrellas next week. And the week after that ...)

if i see gambling machines about, and i supposed to AR the owner? i haven't... jsut wondering what's expected or if i should just mind my own business.....

Nuke 'em, Tonto!

Since LL let the FBI into it's databases to investigate gambling and money laundering operations, you'd be a fool to continue running any gambling outlets.

Who wants an investigation by the FBI, to make a few lindens?