Do you want casinos gone?

FWIW, I got rid of two minor casinos in my region by (1) acquiring strategically placed parcels of land to prevent them from expanding and (2) offering them a reasonable price for their land if they go elsewhere. First they both said "no way" (I just smiled and said "I can wait. It's your tier fee.", but after some weeks, when the places got more and more deserted, they finally gave up.

The ad ban is definitely helping as an argument to get rid of them, if so desired. However, the situation needs to be actively managed to speeds things up.

Yes you have got a good point.

All the time the casinos were effectively penny and dime type operations I did not believe this point would be an issue.

However various events connected with my previous interest in the WSE (Second Life Stock Exchange) have proved to my own satisfaction Linden Labs have an almost zero interest in any type of avatar contract enforcements or monitoring for risk

Under these circumstances the risk that the Linden Dollar economy could be used for money laundering, terrorism, and other illegal first life issues cannot be discounted. With some casinos offering Linden multi million dollar payouts the risk in these circumstances is far too great taking into account unlimited avatar creation and unverified accounts. It is quite easy to take moderately substantial sums of money out of SL without even directly involving Linden Labs

Even if gaming per sec in SL does slip under the FBI net, the only way casinos should be allowed is via Linden Labs designed machines that cannot be tampered with, owned by avatars who have proven real life identity that can be checked by all of us

Why can't there be 'Las Vagas' style sims.... The only reason they exist is because people use them.. after all, they must be as they are paying out for camping chairs!

There are many forms of gambling.. from putting coins into slot machines to running a business. I would prefer a more definative description, as I like running a business and playing the odd game of tringo, slingo etc.

Running a non-casino type business doesnt potentially violate Anti-gambling laws (or those pending passage) in the US.

While being in business may be a "gamble" its not Gambling in a legal sense.

<sighs> I'll try and be as descriptive as I can...

Specifically.. is Tringo, or Slingo classed as gambling? <puts up hand to answer> Yes it is.
How far do the FBI want to extend this ant-gambling Laws? <doesn't put up hand>

I see your point -
But I dont think your going to get an answer.
Think the best answer is "No one knows"


My totally wild speculation is -
Tringo and SLingo will have a lower profile than Black Jack and Slot Machines.

However it sounds liek a lot depends on the Online Gambling law thats not passed yet. Then we will likely see how far the Feds are willing to go.

Would be a difficult time to be in the gambling business in Second Life.

Like Annabelle pointed out pretty well - we might not get a lot of warning, a court order could come down to freeze Second Life while they sorted out everything.

Since $Lindens as everyone loves to point out arent themselves negotiable. And the Land people own is not tangible, A lot of our "virtual assets" that the Lindens dont guarantee might not be there when the court lifts the order.

Our best protection really is the fact the Lindens will provide the Feds with any information on SL happenings the Feds request. If they are seen as transparent and helpful its less likely, you would think, such a situation would occur.

Of course at the start of a lot of those corporate scandals the accounting departments were supposedly cooperating also ..

While the FBI is charged with investigating and prosecuting violations of federal Law, they don't "Extend" law, they follow the law as enacted by the Congress and the President. In this case, the real power behind this Law are the States such as Nevada, New York, New Jersey, and Missouri who have substantial gambling operations that are competiing with off shore internet gambling sites. THEY are the ones behind much of this legislation. I personally feel that while we here should have access to online gambling, it should be from US based sites, that can be regulated and trusted, not a fly by night foreign site that may not be there tomorrow.