Second Life Shuts Down Gambling

Tech.Luver sends us to The Inquirer, which notes the banning of all gambling in Second Life. Here is the Linden Labs blog post about the change in policy, which is, to say the least, not popular. From the article: "[T]he 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. Perhaps more to the point for Linden, the move will cut off the revenues earned from those owning Casino-style islands in the game, the owners of which are some of the top contributors to the Linden coffers through currency fees and land rental."

1 down...

[SatanicPuppy]

That cuts the attractions of SL by 50%...When the "Think of the Children" crowd gets 'em to ban sex, Second Life will become officially pointless.

On the one hand, I get it. Since the Linden actually has a conversion rate with "real" money, the gambling is gambling for "real" money and there are all kinds of laws about that, including last years
Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006, which is directed at the companies that host gambling sites, rather than the players, making it much easier to enforce. I can't see Linden bucking that, though a sneaky gambling "underground" would be awesome, far far cooler than actual legal gambling.

On the other hand, what a bunch of nanny-state crap.

Re:1 down...

[afidel]

what a bunch of nanny-state crap

It's actually a twofer for the senators, they get to throw a bone to their religious right and nanystate voters and they get to support the interests of their entrenched corporate gambling masters.

Re:sow plz

[Constantine XVI]

Since this paticular MMO happens to involve large amounts of real money.

Here's an idea...

[computerman413]

1) Move to country with no Internet gambling laws 2) Start an online game like Second Life, but with gambling allowed 3) Profit! Seriously, I think the only reason the government banned online gambling was because they couldn't effectively tax it.

Totally pointless.

[paladinwannabe2]

Protesting in Second Life about stupid laws passed by Congress is as useful as protesting in Australia about stupid laws passed by Congress. It's possible (if unlikely) that other people will notice you and report it to someone whose opinion matters, but you can't blame Linden Labs for following the law any more than you could blame Australia's Prime Minister for being unable to change U.S. policy.

Friendster all over again

[circletimessquare]

Anyone remember Friendster? It was MySpace before MySpace existed. Then the founder tried to intrusively control how people related to each other. Result?: Friendster died, and MySpace, amongst a host of impersonators, but one that wasn't so intrusive (at least socially, nevermind MySpace's instrusive assault on your sense of web aesthetics) catapulted into popularity. Read all about it in detail [inc.com].

So if I were a betting man (no pun intended), I would abandon Second Life now, and look into the most promising of Second Life's impersonators that doesn't intrude on your freedoms like Second Life.

People do not like unnecessary intrusions on their freedoms, in real life or on the Internet. However, unlike real life, people can vote with their feet a lot more effectively on the Internet, and simply leave and encamp somewhere else, en masse. Carpe Diem, Website investors.

The promise of Second Life, if there is any at all, is that it would allow you to do things you can't do in real life. So what does Second Life do? Make it more just like real life, and kill off what would make Second Life attractive to anyone who would want to go there in the first place, and/ or stay there. (Smacks forehead.)

In Second Life's defense, perhaps they are under political pressure to abandon online gambling, which would make sense owing to being based in the USA and the USA's current retarded attitude towards online gambling [wikipedia.org].

Well then relocate your servers to Antigua [wikipedia.org].

Or make a poor policy choice, piss off your users, and wither and die.

Study the Friendster warning example carefully, dear Second Life executives.

Win Win Lose Lose

[DuBois]

Prohibitions against gambling work just as well as prohibitions against alcohol and other mind-altering substances. i.e. not at all, in either the real world or a virtual one. It's a losing battle, and Linden Labs will eventually lose this one.

I'd suspect that Linden is under some pressure from some government somewhere, and that's the real reason they're doing this.

There will always be people willing to trade their hard-earned Linden dollars for the thrill of possibly winning a lot more from someone else, no matter how long the odds. Those people will now take their money elsewhere, to the detriment of Linden Labs and all the denizens of Second Life.

Re:End Gambling Prohibition

[StToast]

I'm pretty sure it has less to do with 'sin regulation' and more to do with tax evasion and money laundering. Governments have proven time and again that 'sin taxes' are a viable source of income.

Re:1 down...

[Remus Shepherd]

I think you miss the point of sex in Second Life, or anywhere else online. 'Physical touch' has nothing to do with it.

Internet sex is all about the fantasy. The point of it is doing things you would never do, whether that be new partners, positions, or species. It might be as timid as a housewife who would never cheat in RL experiencing a fake affair, or it might be as extreme as snuff/vore/rape play. Either way, it's about experiences one would never and should never pursue in real life. Making it more 'realistic' -- as in better graphics -- would be nice, but making it real would *ruin* the concept.

You don't pay hookers in real life to have sex with you, you pay them to go away afterwards. You don't pay hookers over the internet to have sex with you, you pay them to be imaginary and stay that way.

Re:This is a good thing.

[plague3106]

Sure, because we should limit what people can do in a free society because you don't like how things look. The fact is gambling should not be illegal at all, just like prostitution or "illegal" drugs.

Re:So is sex for money in Second Life prostitution

[the_humeister]

No, because "virtual sex" isn't even close to the real thing whereas "virtual gambling" is actually real gambling.

Re:This is a good thing.

[Rob T Firefly]

SL is not a "free society," it's a simulated world which is operated by an American entity, and which uses virtual currency that is openly exchangable for the real thing. As such, it needs to abide by the law or it puts its entire operation at legal risk.

At any rate, the issue isn't gambling itself, at least for me. I'm no gambler beyond the occasional lotto scratchcard, but I don't mind at all that it exists. Let people have their fun, I just won't be joining in. However, the implementation of same in Second Life had many negative effects on everything in SL that was not gambling-related. This is why I won't miss it.

Linden = Dictatorship

[Maxo-Texas]

It's a benign one, but in the end, you have no rights. They can do anything they want to you without notice at any time and your only option is to stop participating.

Premis is not accurate

[HMKAI]

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.

Re:1 down...

[venicebeach]

Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006, which is directed at the companies that host gambling sites

Actually the law is directed not at companies that host gambling sites, but rather at companies that transfer money to and from gambling sites. Since Linden effectively does both, they would be affected by the law.

Think/read carefully before posting

[paladinwannabe2]

I never said that the PM was subject to U.S. policy, but he's certainly affected by U.S. policy. For instance, gambling operations in the U.K. catering to U.S. customers have been driven out of business by U.S. law, just like the gambling in Second Life has been driven out of business by the very same law. Countries are interconnected through trade, diplomacy and tourism, so policy in one country can have serious effects on another.

Anything for some PR?

[kinglink]

Hey Slashdotters, let's stop applauding Second Life and move on. They arn't the first "real life" simulator, they claim to be the biggest but almost anyone who actually has tried to market a business in Second Life has come to the same conclusion, the numbers that Linden posts (the millions of subscribers) are vastly inflated. The consensus is there's around 40 thousand active users and with this move I'm guessing that might drop to 30 thousand.

This is just a PR move by Second life to get more attention but instead we should just move on to other stuff. We moved from too many WoW stories to too many Second Life stories, and now we just seem to be stagnating, anyone have an idea for the next "big thing"?

Re:do what you won't do

[ZorinLynx]

When you're in a long-distance relationship, having shared fantasies about sex and closeness can make the longing and yearning a lot easier.

You and your partner need to have strong imaginations, though. It's amazing what well written words can do to arouse and stimulate the mind... and other places on the body too.

Yes, it's not as good as real sex. But for folks who are far from those they really love, it can come close in an emotional way.

Re:do what you won't do

[Remus Shepherd]

If you are pretending to do the things you would never do, are you still doing them?

No, you're doing safe, legal alternatives to them. Which is a significant advantage over the real thing.

Me, I'd rather *do* the things I'd never do.

Have you looked at a list of popular internet fetishes lately? They include rape, torture, suicide and worse. Me, I'd rather not *be* a monster, even if pretending to be one every now and then is relaxing.

And that's without touching on fantasies that are physically impossible to do in real life -- vampirism, zero gee, vore, etc, all of which can be found in Second Life. Internet sex is all about the fantastical nature of it. Making it real would make the people who enjoy the fantasy run away screaming. :)