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Casinos Away

On July 25th, Robin Linden posted our official policy on wagering in Second Life. The policy has come under a lot of scrutiny from those who use Second Life specifically for this purpose.

I thought I'd take a moment to inform everyone here about the policy and how Linden will enforce it. In her post Robin stated: "...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."

This is integral in understanding why this policy is enforced. The Linden-run servers are located in the United States. This means that we must enforce policy based on our local law, which is why we will be actively enforcing gambling policy violations. We encourage everyone on the grid to report gambling violations to us, as our enforcement team in-world will be addressing and removing these objects from the Grid.

Linden is receiving many questions regarding what games specifically are covered by the policy. Our stance is clear in the policy itself: If the game "(a) relies on chance or random number generation to determine a winner, OR (b) rely on the outcome of real-life organized sporting events, AND (2) provides a payout in (a) Linden Dollars, OR (b) any real-world currency or thing of value", then it is a clear violation of the policy, and will be removed from the grid.

We understand that the clarification of this policy came as a shock to many, and we appreciate your understanding in our efforts to keep this grid alive and functioning in a manner that both agrees with local law, and the community at large. We welcome all questions and information in this manner, and look forward to many a happy year of legal businesses on your grid.