SL banking ban: hot comments
I use two different blogs (Transumanar and metaxlr8) respectively for philosophy and metaverse technology-business, but sometimes an issue touches on both, so I am just posting this to both blogs. The fact: On the heels of banking scandals in the virtual world Second Life, its publisher Linden Lab announced Tuesday that it is effectively banning in-world banks.
Linden Lab’s justification: “Some may argue that Residents who deposit L$ with these “banks” must know they’re assuming a big risk – the high interest rates promised aren’t guaranteed, and the banks aren’t overseen by Linden Lab or anyone else. That may be true. But for all of the other reasons we’ve set out above, we can’t let this activity continue”. The comments of readers show mixed reactions, some in favor and some against.
My own reaction is also mixed. I run an IT and VR consulting and development company, and have often realized that many potential clients are scared of the bad press about Second Life and the frequent “scandals”, especially gambling, unregulated banking with Ponzi scams and such, and pornography. These things do not have the clean, crisp, mainstream and businesslike image that most firms and institutions wish to have. For this reason I was not too unhappy when the gambling ban was announced, am not too unhappy now after the announcement of the banking ban, and will not be too unhappy when the sex ban will be announced in a few months (wanna bet?). These bans permit me telling my clients that Second Life has outgrown its juvenile extremes and is on its way to becoming a mature, serious and sedate mainstream business platform in a black suit and a striped tie. These bans will actually help me making more money.
But due to philosophical and political considerations, I am _very_ unhappy with the turn things are taking. When I deposited some money in the BNT Bank run by my good friend IntLibber Brautigan, I was perfectly aware that the bank did not have an applicable license from a governing regulatory authority, that IntLibber & Co. could just run away with my money, and that I could lose my money due to poor business decisions of BNT management. I invested my money in BNT because no, I don’t have to justify it to you or to anyone. I invested my money in BNT because it was MY FUCKING DECISION TO MAKE with MY FUCKING MONEY. Period.
Of course Linden Lab claim that they made this decision to protect their users: “These “banks” have brought unique and substantial risks to Second Life, and we feel it’s our duty to step in. Offering unsustainably high interest rates, they are in most cases doomed to collapse – leaving upset “depositors” with nothing to show for their investments”.
But as a user, and as a citizen, I DO NOT WANT TO LIVE IN A NANNY STATE that protects me from things I don’t want to be protected from. I say ENOUGH, in both First and Second Life. What is next? Sex banned in Second Life because it scares teens? (BS: it would not have scared me when I was a teen, or you). Or sex banned in First Life because it can be a health risk? I am afraid that if this trends continue people will be"allowed" to have sex only in the presence of a qualified nurse. One word: ENOUGH.
Of course the real reason for the banking ban in SL is another: “The legal and regulatory framework of these non-chartered, unregistered banks is unclear… we will not apply this policy to companies who submit a registration statement, charter, or other applicable license from a governing regulatory authority”. Of course, Linden Lab is introducing the banking ban for fear of regulatory pressure from US authorities. And as the harsh logic of the business world goes, it is probably a sound decision, necessary for the survival of the company.
What can we, metaverse users, do to protect ourselves from excessive regulation? We already live under nanny states in RL, and can certainly do without nanny states in the metaverse. The answer is, I think, very simple: open standards, interoperability, technology diversification, platform diversification, and geographic diversification. We need alternative technologies and platforms - the banking ban in SL makes me even more interested in open standard, open source, non proprietary systems like OpenSim, and we need service providers in other, less fundamentalist and overprotective countries. I look forward to a metaverse operated by a network of interconnected and globally distributed service providers, and based on open standards and open code (well, like the Web).
I only wonder what we can do to protect ourselves from excessive regulation and nanny states in real life.
Posted by G.P. on 01/09 at 07:45 AM