Gambling banned in Second Life

Author: Simon Dexter

The popular online virtual world site Second Life has taken the dramatic step of banning all casino and gambling activity with immediate effect.

The move has rocked the Second Life world and left many virtual casino owners out of pocket and taken away one of the most popular leisure activities from the site, which has over eight million members worldwide.

In April the site banned all forms of online gambling activity, but the move in July has shocked many and has provoked the emergence of pressure groups and protesters.

“While Linden Lab does not offer an online gambling service, Linden Lab and Second Life Residents must comply with state and federal laws applicable to regulated online gambling, even when both operators and players of the games reside outside of the US,” the company states on its blog. “And, because there are a variety of conflicting gambling regulations around the world we have chosen to restrict gambling in Second Life.”

The decision follows an FBI investigation earlier this year into the activities in the virtual world.

The company believes it may have to take on extra staff to enforce its decision. “Our staff will review, investigate and respond to appropriate notices. We may retain additional staff or services to conduct this activity,” said a spokesman.

“When we discover objects or games within Second Life that meet the policy’s definition, we will remove them from Second Life.”

The move has had a mixed reception from around the blogging world. Anthony Smith from Brighton had spent ,800 on virtual equipment to set up his online casino and is understandably upset by the decision. “I do not know if I trust Linden Lab anymore to work with,” he said.

“The way they do business is not good. They change their policy and advise if you don’t comply immediately, you get all your assets frozen, or even worse, dissolved. Any other company in the world who treated their clients like this would not last long.”

However, another blogger Benjamin Duranske praised the decision of the company. “It feels, to me, like Linden Lab grew up a lot here,” he said.

“For the first time in a long while, a potentially controversial policy statement has obviously been at least vetted, and probably written, by the legal department. Frankly, it reads better than a fair number of laws I’ve had to parse. So at the risk of alienating a lot of second lifers, I’m going to say well done.”

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