Second Life Online Gambling Crackdown
Second Life has decided to crack down on gambling. that the legal and jurisdictional difficulties are such that they have taken the decision to ban "wagering games". Gambling has become a popular activity in Second Life. Because the Linden Dollar can be exchanged for real money, there's actual cash involved in this virtual activity. But anti-gambling legislation in the US has made the legal status of virtual gambling sufficiently ambiguous that Linden has taken the step of closing it down.
Linden Lab’s policy is not intended to identify which gambling activities may be legal where you live, and we cannot provide legal advice to you. Because gambling activities may be controlled by the law where the bettor lives in some places, and in others affect the operators of wagering games, we have decided to take a broader approach by prohibiting all games that meet the criteria in our policy.
The policy prevents Second Lifer's from running games that rely on chance (or the outcome of a real-life sporting event) and provide a payout in Linden Dollars or real-world money or thing of value. Gambling in Second Life has been , though there is no suggestion of any wrong-doing on the part of Linden Labs. Indeed according to Reuters, "federal law enforcement officials have not yet taken an official stance on virtual gambling." Indeed the article makes it clear that Linden had asked officials for guidance on the law in this area
There are a range of reactions in the comments to Lindens blog post making the announcement of a clamp-down many are supportive: "Most of these gambling casinos are nothing but rip off joints. Casinos in SL are unregulated and on any given day, hour, or minute the payout percentages can be arbitrarily and suddenly changed by the casino owner without the residents knowing anything for the worst."
Others point out that just being a virtual world does not exempt Second Life from local laws. But others are concerned that legal rules primarily originating in the US have been applied to the virtual world with participants from all over the globe, Is it not politically incorrect to impose a US law on the international scene? writes one.
That's a view echoed by one casino owner who contacted Pods and Blogs, "I'd a small place too, and was starting to work it's way between regular players, hoping to get a small piece of the casino cash coming and going, and had to close too [...] Many of us don't know what to do, since we can't sell these machines back and recover most or at least some of the investments". The author who says he's from Mexico adds, "should US Laws be applied all over the world by these virtual reality means and still get imposed over global citizens?"
The new rules also angered that segment of the community who enter virtual worlds to engage in behaviour they could not, or would not engage with in real life. Some wondered if the virtual sex industry within Second Life would be targeted next (indeed some hoped that it would be).
Lastly many felt that regulation, and sanitization were against the founding principles of Second Life. "One more strike against 'Your World, Your Imagination' " wrote one commenter on Lindens blog, "I feel misled, I thought second life was another world where real life laws didn’t apply" said another and lastly one commenter pointedly wrote "Welcome to Disneyland."
More Blog Reactions here:
- "It seems to be working. All the gambling machines from the parcel next to one of mine have suddenly been removed."
- "Linden Lab will take a financial hit from the decision as casino owners cancel virtual land ownership agreements"
- "Talk to any Second Lifer and they'll tell you gambling is one of the few fun things to do "in-world".
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