Facebook ban on avatar names

Many people sign up for online social networks using their Secondlife avatar names and use these networks as a way to keep in touch outside of SL but beware 'Facebook' is cracking down on fake identities.
The Sydney morning herald tells the story of Sydneysider Elmo Keep (real name!) who was banned this month for violating their terms of service only regaining her account when she could provide government issued ID.
So beware if you have signed up with your avatar name especially if that name is in anyway unusual - I think I would be OK but many avatars names are very different - but then so are many real life names too :)
Dana Vanmoer
source: Reuters

Gambling back in Second Life?

On September 11th, last week, the US House of Representatives passed Bill H.R. 6870 amending the UIGEA, the part of the Safe Port Act that forced Linden Lab to ban all gambling in Second Life in July last year. This new Bill states that the ban on internet gambling only attacks sports betting. Furthermore it appoints a commission that will determine further definitions of what constitutes internet gambling.

Last year, on July 25th 2007 to be precise, Linden Lab announced a change to its Terms of Service (ToS), banning all gambling for money in Second Life. Basically, any game of chance that involved L$ transactions were outlawed. As most of the people who are in SL for at least a year remember, this caused a huge uproar and large protests. Not only that, but the economy of SL also got a direct hit (see chart).

Now it seems that the House has un-done this ban, at least for normal casino games like Poker and Roulette and BlackJack and even including the good-old Sploder. As long as it doesn't involve betting on sports results, this bill makes it legal again.

But of course, the fans of gambling in SL can only call this a glimpse of hope, because the Bill hasn't changed into Law just yet. First the US Senate has to pass this Bill, and after that the US president (currently Mr. Bush) has to sign it. And after that, Linden Lab has to feel compelled to revoke their ban through the ToS.

So there are still a few heavy steps to take, but in general it seems that at least some people in the Land of the Free have come to their senses. And of course, with the commission in place, they still have the power to outlaw casino games again, but that is not expected because that is not the intention of this new Bill.

The SL Newspaper will keep an eye on further developments although it will probably take some time before we hear anything else about this. When it's time to start in-world protests to convince the Lindens to change the ToS again, we'll certainly let you know. Or protest AGAINST changing the ToS again of course, if you want to keep SL free of gambling.

New Terms of Service (TOS)

When logging into Second Life today, you might have found that before entering the world, you got a popup to agree with the new Terms of Service (TOS). What about that? What are the changes?

Well, of course you can read it on the official Linden Lab Blog, but we thought that it would be handy to give you a short explanation. In short, it introduces a new system to deal with disputes between you and Linden Lab.

So what is it?
In the past, when you had a dispute with Linden Lab, you had to contact them, write them, and eventually sue them. You would have to go to court over relatively small issues and amounts. Linden Lab is not known for being easily approachable, so a lot of disputes were left alone, just because people weren't in the position to go to court. This could be because they live half way around the world, but also because costs of legal representation could easily rise above the disputed amount.

For these smaller amounts (up to US$ 10,000), Linden Lab now offers to solve any disputes through established arbitration organizations. We're not going to list them all, but in case you do have a dispute, you can find some examples on the Q&A on the LL Blog. Basically you can choose your own mediator/arbitrator, as long as it meets some reasonable prerequisites.

Of course, you will have to go to the LL complaint department first. That is, try to contact Linden Lab by phone or email, wait for a reply, and hope for the best. And if that doesn't work, then you can choose to go foward with arbitration.

So is this an improvement?
In a way, yes. It's a more standardized way of resolving any 'small' disputes, without having to go to court. Most of it can be done through old fashioned snail mail, by phone, and through the internet. You don't have to actually travel to San Francisco and be physically there. And it's binding. So whatever the decision will be, the dispute is always resolved.

And what are the dangers of this new TOS?
Well, Linden Lab has to approve the mediator/arbitrator that you want to use. On the other hand, if you and LL really can't agree on this, there's still the option to go to court, even for those smaller amounts. This new arbitration system doesn't exclude the other.

The costs of such arbitration can vary, but usually are no more than a few hundred US dollars for disputes under US$ 10k. But please mind, the new TOS and the LL blog do not say anything about getting reimbursed for these expenses if you do win your case. So if you do go forward with using this kind of arbitration, make sure you include a claim to get reimbursed in case your claim is acknowledged.

What the TOS is NOT!
The Terms of Service do not deal with new issues like identity verification, although through the TOS, Linden Lab is authorized to set any rules of behaviour they like, and publish additional sets of rules, like the Community Standards. So the changes to this TOS only concern changes to the new arbitration options.

And finally, what IS the new TOS?
In our opinion, the new TOS is what it was before, but the new changes are most probably to prevent small time lawsuits. This is not a bad thing, because it doesn't exclude any legal options for you, it just regulates more options that are available to you. Some say that this was long awaited, others are cynical or sceptical about this TOS, but those people felt the same about the old TOS too.

So if you agreed to the TOS before (which you did when you went in-world at least once), you can safely do it again now.