Also, another mistake in the article is that all gambling is banned.
In fact, only specific types of wagering is banned.
From the Blog: 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.
I don't bring this up to split hairs, only to point out that personal contests seem to still be allowed. It seems reasonable, based upon the above, that one could wager on games where the participants compete directly with each other, such as races, tic-tac-toe and so on.
Also, the ban seems to be specific to sporting events, wagers on other events still seem acceptable (elections, the Dow Jones, weather patterns, etc.)
I'm not a lawyer, and stories of Linden Labs capricious application of their rules exist, and I'm not even sure Linden Labs has to actually be accountable to any legal authority about how it administers its TOS, so in the end you have to wager at your own risk.
"The large chunk of users that enjoyed using in-world casinos and betting Linden Dollars on events both inside and outside the game world will now have nothing left to do."
This assumes that those users are ONLY into casinos. There is plenty left to do other than gambling. Yes, obviously some people will pack up and go away, but others will simply find new ways to amuse themselves in-world. After all, lots of these same people have significant emotional investment in their in-world persona's and dumping them at the first obstacle will be unlikely.
Also, I'd bet that underground gambling rings spring up, if they haven't already. God knows prohibition didn't stop drinking, and this won't stop gambling.
MOVE TO ANOTHER PROVIDER TODAY. Yeah, it's a pain in the arsenic, but companies respond to pain. Don't bother to engage in a technical war with the spammers (that's what they are) just move away, and get all your friends to do the same thing.
What kind of morons do we have running this mad house?
Neither in Columbine or Virginia Tech did the perp(s) practice on a video game, nor in any other such attack that I'm aware of. The authorities are stupid to even contemplate this situation. If the kid is actually up to no good these actions won't stop him anyway. Real terrorists wouldn't make their maps known for fear of actions like this.
Also, I haven't seen mentioned here yet, but it's LEGAL to own a hammer, or a gun for that matter. Posession of a weapon is not probable cause of intent to commit a crime.
I'm of half a mind to make maps of my local schools and put them on the net myself now.
We MUST do something about this sort of abuse. It takes our resources off the real threats and wastes them on a wild goose chase. The authorities are becoming the threat, and fast. When someone can do a perfectly legal activity and still have the wrath of the state come down on them, then the system has gone haywire. They better wise up and fast because this sort of behavior on the part of the state WILL produce the next crop of Timothy McVeigh's.
... or we further degrade our world image by telling the UN where to stick it...
I don't think we degrade our image with anyone who matters. Who cares what the anti-American press says? No one important.
For all the whailing an gnashing of teeth our allies will still be our allies, and the others will think "Yeah, that's how a superpower is supposed to act. I wouldn't let a bunch of bullies take my stuff if I could prevent it." Because in the end, that's all this is. A pure power play by people who have no moral justification for their position.
Slashdot Mirror
I've seen many snide comments here, and it's disappointing.
The world needs more educated people of both sex.
I haven't seen the book, but if it helps reach young girls then it will pay a life time of dividends, and maybe even more.
He already has, and SL too.
DHS has many avatars roaming the grid looking for terrorists. You can usually find the DHS agents lurking around camp sites.
Also, another mistake in the article is that all gambling is banned.
In fact, only specific types of wagering is banned.
From the Blog:
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.
I don't bring this up to split hairs, only to point out that personal contests seem to still be allowed. It seems reasonable, based upon the above, that one could wager on games where the participants compete directly with each other, such as races, tic-tac-toe and so on.
Also, the ban seems to be specific to sporting events, wagers on other events still seem acceptable (elections, the Dow Jones, weather patterns, etc.)
I'm not a lawyer, and stories of Linden Labs capricious application of their rules exist, and I'm not even sure Linden Labs has to actually be accountable to any legal authority about how it administers its TOS, so in the end you have to wager at your own risk.
From the article:
"The large chunk of users that enjoyed using in-world casinos and betting Linden Dollars on events both inside and outside the game world will now have nothing left to do."
This assumes that those users are ONLY into casinos. There is plenty left to do other than gambling. Yes, obviously some people will pack up and go away, but others will simply find new ways to amuse themselves in-world. After all, lots of these same people have significant emotional investment in their in-world persona's and dumping them at the first obstacle will be unlikely.
Also, I'd bet that underground gambling rings spring up, if they haven't already. God knows prohibition didn't stop drinking, and this won't stop gambling.
All these ideas are neat, but ultimately losers.
The real solution is economic.
MOVE TO ANOTHER PROVIDER TODAY. Yeah, it's a pain in the arsenic, but companies respond to pain. Don't bother to engage in a technical war with the spammers (that's what they are) just move away, and get all your friends to do the same thing.
Thank you!
What kind of morons do we have running this mad house?
Neither in Columbine or Virginia Tech did the perp(s) practice on a video game, nor in any other such attack that I'm aware of. The authorities are stupid to even contemplate this situation. If the kid is actually up to no good these actions won't stop him anyway. Real terrorists wouldn't make their maps known for fear of actions like this.
Also, I haven't seen mentioned here yet, but it's LEGAL to own a hammer, or a gun for that matter. Posession of a weapon is not probable cause of intent to commit a crime.
I'm of half a mind to make maps of my local schools and put them on the net myself now.
We MUST do something about this sort of abuse. It takes our resources off the real threats and wastes them on a wild goose chase. The authorities are becoming the threat, and fast. When someone can do a perfectly legal activity and still have the wrath of the state come down on them, then the system has gone haywire. They better wise up and fast because this sort of behavior on the part of the state WILL produce the next crop of Timothy McVeigh's.
... or we further degrade our world image by telling the UN where to stick it ...
I don't think we degrade our image with anyone who matters. Who cares what the anti-American press says? No one important.
For all the whailing an gnashing of teeth our allies will still be our allies, and the others will think "Yeah, that's how a superpower is supposed to act. I wouldn't let a bunch of bullies take my stuff if I could prevent it." Because in the end, that's all this is. A pure power play by people who have no moral justification for their position.
Capitulation makes us look worse.