Prohibition Stalks Second Life and Ends Virtual Wagers

Friday, 27 July 2007

Those who bet that wagering would be prohibited in the virtual world Second Life are about to cash in. Operators Linden Labs have changed policy from non-intervention to prohibition: while much of the activity in Second Life is far from innocent, the

Those who bet that wagering would be prohibited in the virtual world Second Life are about to cash in. Operators Linden Labs have changed policy from non-intervention to prohibition: while much of the activity in Second Life is far from innocent, the Eden days are over.
In April, to avoid any prosecution of Linden Labs, the FBI was invited to begin a consultation process covering the legal conundrums of Second Life casinos following the US ban on internet gambling last October. The UK the Fraud Advisory panel has also expressed its concern about criminal networks operating via networking and community sites. The result of the consultation is Linden Labs’ new policy which has immediate effect and will see the accounts of anyone who continues wagering suspended or terminated.
The exact terms are as follows:
“It is a violation of this policy to wager in games in the Second Life (R) environment operated on Linden Lab servers if such games: (1) (a) rely on chance or random number generation to determine a winner, OR (b) rely on the outcome of real-life organized sporting events, AND (2) provide a payout in (a) Linden Dollars, OR (b) any real-world currency or thing of value.”
This means all casino games as well as Tringo, a kind of Bingo exclusive to the virtual world, and sports betting are all prohibited. ‘Broadly offensive’ (sic) sexual content was banned two months ago.



Tags: Poker News, Prohibition, Stalks, Second, Life, and, Ends, Virtual, Wagers