Casinos - dead and gone w/ new policy?

But is it really cowardly or self-preservation? Better to shut it down before they get shut down.

Wherever there is money involved, the Feds will eventually step in. Sex will be next, and then a federal tax on all transactions will soon follow.

LOL. I already posted above that that is probably coming. Does not mean we'll be shut down, but we will be taxed. So I agree with you on this point.

Will you explain this to my tenants when I have to increase tier fees

"Whoever being engaged in the business of betting or wagering knowingly uses a wire communication facility for the transmission in interstate or foreign commerce of bets or wagers or information assisting in the placing of bets or wagers on any sporting event or contest, or for the transmission of a wire communication which entitles the recipient to receive money or credit as a result of bets or wagers, or for information assisting in the placing of bets or wagers, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than two years, or both."

This is the subsection from the Wire Act.

What is called prostitution in SL is more akin to phone sex. Since no physical contact takes place it isn't prostitution.

This can't be for real - it's not Friday, or a long weekend. Aren't they only allowed to announce major policy or TOS changes right before a weekend?

Seriously, though... I'd really love to see some kind of policy that has them stop the two-faced hipocracy. Either the L$ has value or it doesn't. Either it's "Your world, Your imagination" or it isn't. Either the world is "Created and owned by the residents" or it isn't. Either we own our land, our creations / IP or it's all just worthless bits on their servers. Either we're bound by our own local laws when we log into SL, or we're all visiting the USA when we log into SL.

So 'gambling' with L$ is illegal because it's arguably illegal in the USA to gamble online via credit card, or something like that. But the L$ has no value, they say that over and over in various fine-print. Why does it seem like the L$ only has 'no value' when it comes out of the user's / customer's accounts? When it comes to LL or the US feds suddenly the L$ is worth something.

For what it's worth, I dont' gamble (other than playing the occasional sploder) and don't run any gambling devices. The bottom line is, this upsets me because the next thing they arbitrarily ban might be something I actually do enjoy or participate in.

-Atashi

It's cowardly for two reasons, one for the sudden announcement, which is a very cheap move and two for not looking for alternatives.



Agreed and sex will cause much more of a furore, but those who are here now wishing good riddance to gambling, you're selling out sex too.

I should add here, I don't own a casino, I don't own a brothel.

What tenants? Once sex gets banned here we'll all be moving to "Secret Life" and playing poker while hookers massage our feet.

While I can understand the move to prohibit gambling, I really hope this is not the start of a trend to sterilize SL. I am not much into the SL cyber-sex scene, but I like that one has the freedom to partake in it along with it's many varied flavours.

To answer your question, as far as I know, Nevada is the only state that has not completely outlawed prostitution (it is only outlawed in counties of 250,000 people or more.) I think the one saving grace on this particular subject is that SL prostitution is probably more accurately definied as pornography and not true prostitution, since there is no physical contact.

This would effectively rid SL of 99% of the female population

What's that got to do with SL and gambling laws?

Gambling in SL: Person buys linden dollars 'tokens?' with credit card. Persons places wager on game. Game is executed. Person wins or loses based on result of said game. That's pretty much how it works in a real casino too.

Prostitution OTOH (the act or practice of engaging in sexual intercourse for money) does not occur in Second Life at all. At most you could say two people were indulging in mutual ...activities... (I'm trying not to get banned here) sometimes in exchange for money, but they're not having sex by any stretch of the imagination. The service offered by these "ladies" is more comparable to a premium rate telephone sex service...something which is quite legal in the United States.

"a) rely on chance or random number generation to determine a winner,"

Where does it say there you need to place a wager?

Interesting that you made a moral judgment referring to gambling as a "vice."

If they are going to ban certain virtual industries based on moral positions then everything is in jeopardy.

Also both gambling and sex are (were?) a significant part of the virtual economy. It is extremely short sighted to think that adopting policies effectively banning both or either will not impact on everyone in some way.

That aside I can think of several other situations where other industries would have to worry. What about all the copyright infringement that goes on? LOTS of it going on right now in the virtual economy. SL's current policy is very passive so these businesses grow and prosper but tomorrow......

phew!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This depends upon how you define it, many of those phone sex companies actually operate outside of the country they advertise in, for the very same reason that many online gambling companies operate outside of the US.

Moral judgment had nothing to do with the term. The vice squad covers gambling and prostitution. I agree with what you said otherwise though. Nothing is safe in SL.

That condition is relevant to the previous sentence. Here it is in context:

So it's a violation to wager in games that rely on chance or random number generation to determine a winner. So obviously, lucky chairs are exempt.

WTF?? Grow up, America

'It is a violation of this policy to WAGER in games in the Second Life© environment operated on Linden Lab servers if such games:"


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A quick question here, thanks in advance for any replies:

Therefore, under this new policy, is the act of using a script which involves having other individuals register for a raffle draw, and out of that list of participants, randomly determining a winner, illegal? There is no charge for registering in this raffle draw, and although the policy does state it is illegal to "wager in such games", I would just like to clarify this matter so as to prevent any legal implications...

We were reading different sentences but I'll give you that one for now as when I read further up it did mention the wager, just in a different part of the blog

I'm not a gambler, and (until today) if I lived on the mainland I would worry about a casino going in next door and ruining my enjoyment of my property...

And I detest pedophiles and think that age-players are dangerously akin to them...

But danged if I like the way this is going. One of the best things about SL is (or was) its freedom. If I want squeaky clean, I'll go to Disneyland.

Based on the way the policy is currently written, as long as a wager is not made, this is perfectly legal.

You'll "give you that one for now"? It's very clearly stated in the article on the wagering policy, aptly named "Policy Regarding Wagering in Second Life".


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Did you miss how they handled Ageplay, land bots or the removal of First Land? This is not cowardice. It's their corporate policy: Post something to the blog and run away. Oh, that does sound a bit cowardly now that I think about it...

What constitutes a wager though?