From the Official Linden Blog (emphasys by me):
[...]While 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. And, because there are a variety of conflicting gambling regulations around the world we have chosen to restrict gambling in Second Life as described in a revised policy which is posted in the Knowledge Base under “Policy Regarding Wagering in Second Life”.
Now, I’m not a gambler and sincerely not interested in this specific issue at all, but I always considered virtual spaces like SL interesting just for one tiny little quality: they help us abstract physical constraints and, more specifically, space. Now this means, among other things, making business relationship possible, more profitable (for the parties involved) and sustainable (for the environment itself).
But what we have here is quite the opposite: a transaction that is forced to abide to the federal laws, even if conducted by two individuals who live and operate in countries other than the USofA, and that never “experience” the US at all, being the physical space of the transaction totally wrapped by the virtual world share illusion. This is like having a u.s. made tv set that refuses to display porn to under age public even if in a country with different age limitations (and where thus it could be perfectly legal to display it).
Mi ci perdo, davvero.. non ho alcun feeling con SL e quando ne parli e ne racconti mi ci perdo sul serio.
Dico, e’ gia’ difficile vivere una vita, vuoi mettere con un’altra? =)