Second Life Closes Doors on Gambling

With millions of residents, the virtual world, Second Life, has been a welcome refuge for many from the real world. Created in 1999, then launched in 2003 and brought to general mainstream attention in the past year or so, Second Life has become one of the most exciting, popular and profitable Internet businesses. One of its major features - most popular among residents and a central commercial intersections - was gambling.

Well, this is about to change. In an announcement, Second Life creator Linden Lab (Linden Research, Inc.) said gambling will be banned from the virtual world of theirs with immediate effect. In its attempt to define gambling, Linden Lab announced the ban will include any betting on games that "rely on chance or random number generation to determine a winner." They have gone further and included bets that "rely on the outcome of real-life organized sporting events" as well.

These games will include blackjack, Pai Gow, poker, roulette and slot machines, among others. The ban - be it the general decree or as it relates to specific aspects of gaming - will be reviewed with time passing, as industry practices, technology and regulations change, thus affecting Internet gaming in general, the statement said.

The ban is not intended to be of gambling per it being gambling. It was explained as a concern of the company, when allowing the approximately 8.5 million residents who live all around the real world to engage in this activity, thus under differing laws that regulate it. Furthermore, the residents are represented by avatars, thus able to hide such information as their age and whether they are of legal gambling age. Its conclusion was to take the broadest possible measure and ban all games, every where.

What are possible sanctions when it comes to a free-for-all virtual world? Second Life gambling operations will have content deleted, the operators' accounts suspended or even terminated altogether and possibly even reported to the proper real-life authorities. Removing any doubt about its decision, Linden Lab said it will actively enforce the ban. The ban and these measures are sure to ignite a discussion of freedom as opposed to legalization of one's free time and hobbies, a discussion that will not only remain within the virtual world, but surely spill over to our own gambling world.