Davos 2008 biographies
Biographies for the Reuters/Second Life interviewees at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Volkov Catteneo: Rollback exploit plugged by LL
Volkov Catteneo, the Second Life avatar at the center of last year’s SexGen copyright infringement lawsuit, told Reuters in a Second Life interview that the technique used to make copies of virtual objects has been blocked by Linden Lab.
Linden: 150% fraud penalty applies to exchanges, not residents
The 150% penalty for purchasing fraudulent currency is directed primarily at third-party currency exchanges, representatives for Linden Lab told Reuters on Thursday.
Comments enabled on secondlife.reuters.com
After receiving input from residents at office hours, Reuters will be opening its Second Life blog to comments. All comments will go into a hold, and will be moderated for content.
SL entrepreneurs cautiously optimistic for 2008
Second Life merchants sound mostly positive notes at an in-world discussion on the economy.
Kenzo rejects settlement offer in copyright dispute
Thomas Simon (Second Life: Rase Kenzo), the defendant in a virtual goods copyright infringement lawsuit, has taken a pass on a US$7,000 settlement offer, he told Reuters on Tuesday.
AvaStar to expand beyond Second Life
“We’re looking into expanding into other virtual worlds,” said Leider Stepanov, deputy editor of Second Life tabloid The AvaStar. The move would echo a recent rebranding of the now-defunct Second Life Insider into Massively.com, which covers multiple virtual worlds.
Second Life banks hacked in virtual crime wave
Last weekend saw a coordinated series of Second Life bank heists netting hackers L$3.2 million (US$11,500), news first broken by Nobody Fugazi of Your2ndPlace.com. Early reports suggest the banks were all using copies of the same software to manage their deposits.
Study finds sex, gambling not major Second Life draws
If there’s no “goal” to Second Life, no monsters to kill or experience points to collect, why do so many people log on and spend so much time there? Everyone has their theories, but a new academic study suggests cybersex and gambling are less of a lure than is often assumed.
UK to investigate pedophilia in virtual worlds
British cops will be going undercover in Second Life to investigate depictions of adult-child sex and track down pedophiles, according to a report by Channel Five News that is set to air on Tuesday.
Greetings from the Virtual Worlds Forum, Europe
I’m moderating four panels at the Virtual Worlds Forum in London on Wednesday. If you have any questions you’d like me to pose to the panelists, please email adamreuters [at] gmail.com.
Reuters Office Hours - Tuesdays 8AM SLT
Eric Reuters will be holding office hours every Tuesday, 8 AM SLT at the Reuters Auditorium. Share story ideas, give feedback to Reuters on its coverage, and talk about the latest news in the virtual world.
Congress to Second Life: No new taxes?
The senior economist for Congress’ Joint Economic Committee sent a few signals about the its long-awaited report on virtual world taxation in a Second Life appearance on Monday.
“We are not looking to impose taxes,” Miller told a packed house at the Metanomics session. “In my opinon the less government regulation you have on virtual worlds, the more they’ll thrive and develop.”
VAT rule shifts land ownership away from Europeans
Linden Lab CFO John Zdanowski (aka Zee Linden) shared new details on Monday about Value Added Tax (VAT) for Second Life customers residing in the European Union.
Links for October 3
A new ad network from the Electric Sheep Company, a Metaverse Market Index from Cisco, and a proposal for “Second Life Indicator Contracts.”
Second Life ready for primetime at Gingrich event
In a high-profile test of Second Life’s viability as a political forum, Newt Gingrich held a question and answer session on Thursday that went off nearly without a hitch.
Three ways to gauge Second Life’s performance
At the Second Life Community Convention in August, Linden Lab Chief Philip Rosedale kicked off the weekend apologizing for poor performance on the Second Life Grid, pledging the company would make improving the reliability of the virtual world its top priority. Rosedale said Linden’s plan was to publish performance metrics on the Web, and he hoped the new statistics would give the company feedback to gauge its performance.
But figuring out how to measure Second Life’s performance is a tricky question, and in the weeks since Rosedale’s announcement at least three different approaches have emerged.
Virtual Acura RDX: Available now!
We’re pleased to announce a complete, fully-drivable virtual version of the Acura RDX is now available, part of the unique advertising partnership between Reuters and Acura. We’ve distributed more than 50,000 Reuters heads-up and wall and floor displays, and they serve as virtual vending machines for the car, which is also available at Reuters Island.
Remembering 9/11 in Second Life
On the morning of September 11, 2001, Odin Liam Wright was in his apartment three blocks from the World Trade Center. After the second plane hit, he ran for refuge up New York’s West Side Highway, fleeing the smoke and debris. He lost family members and friends of friends.
Now an accomplished Second Life builder, Wright, known in the virtual world as Liam Kanno, constructed the September 11th Memorial in Second Life, a hauntingly beautiful tribute to the 2,974 people who perished in the calamity.
Linden Lab makes US$5 million a year from Lindex sales
Linden Lab Chief Financial Officer John Zdanowski said last week the company makes US$5 million a year printing virtual money and injecting it into the Second Life economy
