Archive for 'Op/Ed'
Op/Ed: SL- What Went Wrong & How Do We Fix It?
2007 was a difficult year for Second Life. 2008’s not looking much better. by Deltango Vale The establishment of anonymous accounts in June 2006 opened the doors to underage players. This resulted in international legal scrutiny, increased exposure to legal liability and damaging media coverage. Linden Lab responded by intruding into residents’ sexual relationships and [...]
Full StoryOp/Ed: Standing United in the Virtual War On Griefer Terrorism!
Residents way of life, under attack by virtual terrorist acts by Maximilian Proto, concerned resident Good evening. Our fellow residents, our way of life, our very freedom are under attack in a series of deliberate and deadly terrorist acts. The victims are in clubs, or in their houses; dancers, content creators, businessmen and women; family, [...]
Full StoryOp/Ed: Exposed & Shamed, SL Banking Silently Slinks Away
by Victoria Wheeler invest make believe money in make believe hot companies? Without much fanfare, Linden Labs announced on January 8, 2008 that any Second Life banking and investment business which might, “offer interest or any direct return on an investment” in ANY currency, would be prohibited from doing so as of January 22, unless [...]
Full StoryOp/Ed: Privacy Please
by Jessica Holyoke When talking about avatar or human rights, one right that is often ignored is the right to privacy. While this right led to reproductive rights in the US, its erosion in the virtual world needs to be halted. Privacy policies usually revolve around the use and sale of personal information. And Linden [...]
Full StoryOp/Ed: Pumping Up Supply Linden
GOM Part II by Jessica Holyoke Substantial Risks to the SL Economy. That’s the reason Ken D Linden gave when he wrote the blog post banning interest and rate of return investing in SL. But banks and stock exchanges pump money through an economy. By allowing people to invest in these two services, the economy [...]
Full StoryOp/Ed: Financial Myth Busting Edition
by Jessica Holyoke In my time at the Herald, I’ve seen bank failures, aborted mergers, strange actions by the stock exchanges and company failures. I’ve also experienced first-hand what happens when residents believe that we’re in a "virtual economy" or "fictional economy." Residents subscribe to a number of myths that affect how they view everything [...]
Full StoryOp/Ed: Why I’m not looking forward to OpenSim
by Jessica Holyoke I was sitting in Robin’s office hours and looking around. I came to the realization that I am not looking forward to OpenSim. OpenSim is the eventual program where the Grid All Hail the Mighty Grid exists as a centralized land. Instead of everyone coming into Linden Lab’s jurisdiction, residents can host [...]
Full StoryOpen Letter To SL from Morden Winkler
To: Second LifeFrom: An Angry Canadian SL userRe: Age Verification For ALL Canadians, the proposed new age-verification system for Second Life is a complete failure and possibly ILLEGAL under Canadian law. Here’s why: Integrity CANNOT VERIFY YOUR AGE using your Social Insurance Number (SIN) or your passport number, and in fact, it is probably illegal [...]
Full StoryOp/Ed: Babyfurs – Gross Anarchy With Diapers
by Righteous Yaffle, disgusted resident and reformed griefer You can do pretty much anything you want in Second Life – the only limit is your imagination, but it is time someone spoke out about an issue that affects all of us – ageplay – and something far worse: babyfurs. In case you’re new to the [...]
Full StoryOp/Ed: Feted, Fussing, and Fuming
LL shows how not to run a press conference – and co-opt a noisy critic by Jessica Holyoke, post-Prokofy FIC watch bureau On Monday, the Lindens held their first in-world press conference and the Herald, being at the forefront of Metaverse media coverage was there to cover it all. Except we weren’t. The Saga for [...]
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