OpenSource Connections
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This is the question that the FBI is asking of Second Life as they investigate Second Lifes casinos. The three biggest casinos, according to the CNN article, make $1,500/month each. Seems like a small thing for the FBI to be investigating given the other crimes in the country, but is this actually an effort to start to establish some sort of case precedent for potential legal scraps in the future?
Given that more and more businesses are moving into Second Life, without a way to establish and enforce contracts, the denizens of Second Life who enter into transactions must certainly heed the warning caveat emptor. As it currently stands, people who do things in Second Life are only buying, effectively, the right to certain bits and pieces of the Linden Labs server farm. With nothing but the loosest of guidelines to provide cover, Second Life can sometimes bring back the reminiscent feel of the Internet in the early 90s.
Enter the FBI. While the real world crackdown on online gambling by the U.S. Justice Department certainly has the Feds busy, true established case law is very sparse on the subject. I spoke with a former counsel with Party Poker while we were exhibiting at the OReilly Open Source Convention (OSCON) last year, and she told me that because of the lack of established statutes and case law, the courts could come down either way on online gambling activities. Perhaps the Justice Department is looking to get a ruling on a similar set of circumstances in Second Life to help bolster the Internet gambling ban.