A blog on sex and virtual worlds by a virtual escort.
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
An Ugly Rumor
I have now heard the rumor from two sources that the Linden's days as convertible to money are numbered. I don't know if it has any truth to it, but it seems logical.
It is right if you have well-founded motives to say that it is ok, but if you really don't know, spreading that kind of rumours only damages the economy, Lillie (premature withdrawals lowering the price of L$).
These are the same sorts of people who warned me about Ginko and about the gambling ban.
It makes sense to me. More than one person has told me about money laundering through the Linden. I also know first hand how much money passed out of Second Life from gambling. For a while 1/3 of all Lindex activity was gambling driven.
And yes there is gambling again in Second Life now.
Well get this, it's 3AM, www.secondlife.com is down, and no one is able to log into the game. No notices just gone. How soon were these sources talking Lillie?
someone may have caught wind of an impending federal investigation into money laundering and gambling that would require a freeze of Linden to Dollar transactions. Or, a threat by an agency to demand such a freeze via court order if the Lab does not comply to some "guidelines".
Clearly *something* is happening in LL to drive changes quickly and with little community socialization.
I doubt if a merger would drive these kinds of changes, but that is another possibility. However, I don't think a freeze on user assets would be a positive step in a merger deal.
I'm just saying that if they're doing this they could shut down SL as well. And I could have told you about the gambling ban about a year ago and about ginko about 2 years ago... Those two things were obvious so that doesn't make your friend who told you about it too much of an insider.
Aren't you supposed to be escorting instead of ... well have a nice one.
"Someone may have caught wind of an impending federal investigation into money laundering and gambling that would require a freeze of Linden to Dollar transactions."
Yeah, right. If I were an agency trying to nail people who do money laundering in SL, the FIRST THING I'd do was umm... shut down SL->RL transactions so umm... I dunno. Why would I wanna do that?
If I wanted to catch those guys I would track their transactions and get them. If transactions would be shut down, there'd be nothing to track.
"I'm just saying that if they're doing this they could shut down SL as well. "
They could do that, but they have no logical reason to do that.
On the other hand, there are many, many, many people, including some well placed business owners in SL, who have openly worried for some time that LL would stop redemptions of the Linden.
If LL is faced with the choice of ending convertability of the LL or shutting the platform down, they will end convertibility of the Linden in an instant.
And there are very good reasons why this might be the case in the not too distant future.
Or has it escaped your attention that financial dealings on SL don't exactly conform to US laws on banking and securities?
"If I wanted to catch those guys I would track their transactions and get them. "
Hmmmmm. I think you need to take a short course in criminal justice rules of evidence as to the number of holes in that theory.
In order to "get them" you have to have someone on the other side you can "get." It's entirely possible to set up an alt that can get verified through paypal, have money transfered to them with deniability, such as through a thefter, and the alt then cashes out and vanishes.
No trail other tha a proxy id, an internet bank account, logged in to with a stolen Social Security number through an open relay.
Please stop being obnoxious, you aren't an expert in this, and have no grounds to be dismissive of information which has been provided to me by people who are in a position to know.
It is right if you have well-founded motives to say that it is ok, but if you really don't know, spreading that kind of rumours only damages the economy, Lillie (premature withdrawals lowering the price of L$).
ReplyDeleteAnd I want my L$ to be healthy :-p
These are the same sorts of people who warned me about Ginko and about the gambling ban.
ReplyDeleteIt makes sense to me. More than one person has told me about money laundering through the Linden. I also know first hand how much money passed out of Second Life from gambling. For a while 1/3 of all Lindex activity was gambling driven.
And yes there is gambling again in Second Life now.
Well get this, it's 3AM, www.secondlife.com is down, and no one is able to log into the game. No notices just gone. How soon were these sources talking Lillie?
ReplyDeleteA friend just logged in after some time of trying. I don't know what is going on with SL other than normal problems.
ReplyDeleteI'll have to get more details. But I was told essentially, "don't carry a liden balance if you can avoid it."
someone may have caught wind of an impending federal investigation into money laundering and gambling that would require a freeze of Linden to Dollar transactions. Or, a threat by an agency to demand such a freeze via court order if the Lab does not comply to some "guidelines".
ReplyDeleteClearly *something* is happening in LL to drive changes quickly and with little community socialization.
I doubt if a merger would drive these kinds of changes, but that is another possibility. However, I don't think a freeze on user assets would be a positive step in a merger deal.
it isn't the kind of thing that will make the Linden hold up in value.
ReplyDeleteIf it seems logical for you that LL wants to shut down the platform, then maybe it is. Says something about you, tho...
ReplyDeleteYour comment makes no sense at all, no one has said "shut down the platform."
ReplyDeleteI'm just saying that if they're doing this they could shut down SL as well. And I could have told you about the gambling ban about a year ago and about ginko about 2 years ago...
ReplyDeleteThose two things were obvious so that doesn't make your friend who told you about it too much of an insider.
Aren't you supposed to be escorting instead of ... well have a nice one.
Oh and one more thing:
ReplyDelete"Someone may have caught wind of an impending federal investigation into money laundering and gambling that would require a freeze of Linden to Dollar transactions."
Yeah, right. If I were an agency trying to nail people who do money laundering in SL, the FIRST THING I'd do was umm... shut down SL->RL transactions so umm... I dunno. Why would I wanna do that?
If I wanted to catch those guys I would track their transactions and get them. If transactions would be shut down, there'd be nothing to track.
Duh!
"I'm just saying that if they're doing this they could shut down SL as well. "
ReplyDeleteThey could do that, but they have no logical reason to do that.
On the other hand, there are many, many, many people, including some well placed business owners in SL, who have openly worried for some time that LL would stop redemptions of the Linden.
If LL is faced with the choice of ending convertability of the LL or shutting the platform down, they will end convertibility of the Linden in an instant.
And there are very good reasons why this might be the case in the not too distant future.
Or has it escaped your attention that financial dealings on SL don't exactly conform to US laws on banking and securities?
"If I wanted to catch those guys I would track their transactions and get them. "
ReplyDeleteHmmmmm. I think you need to take a short course in criminal justice rules of evidence as to the number of holes in that theory.
In order to "get them" you have to have someone on the other side you can "get." It's entirely possible to set up an alt that can get verified through paypal, have money transfered to them with deniability, such as through a thefter, and the alt then cashes out and vanishes.
No trail other tha a proxy id, an internet bank account, logged in to with a stolen Social Security number through an open relay.
Please stop being obnoxious, you aren't an expert in this, and have no grounds to be dismissive of information which has been provided to me by people who are in a position to know.