You may have seen the name ‘Gisland’ associated with 888 and Dragonfish. I mentioned it on Massively, about a year ago. Apparently, Gisland is a subdivision or subsidiary formed by 888 as a part of their payments processing arrangements for Second Life with Linden Lab.
The word doesn’t seem to mean a whole terrible lot, but you could read it as “G-Island”. If that “G” looks like it might stand for “Gambling”, well … actually that might be a really good guess, as it turns out.
The word is that – from sometime in 2008 – Linden Lab’s board has been considering relaxing the ban on gambling in Second Life, which was originally triggered in response to the then-pending UIGEA (Unlawful Internet Gambling Act). Many companies, including credit-card companies and Linden Lab itself, scrambled to meet compliance with the draft act with the expectation that it would pass into law.
The UIGEA actually, never quite did. One critical part of the legislation that would actually make Internet gambling … well unlawful has now been dead in committee for over a year with no sign of return. Nobody’s really relaxed all that much as that last piece of legislation that makes the Act function could re-emerge suddenly – so it has continued to have what is called a ‘chilling effect’ on Internet gambling operations to and through the USA, as well as any payments processing taking place in the USA that might relate to Internet gambling (or to anything that might be mistaken for it in bad lighting conditions).
With the possible spectre of the UIGEA still floating around, it wouldn’t be wise to just reverse the original ban. However, there are ways – partially or wholly – to evade most of that risk, and a European [Apparently 888 is an Israeli company - I'm not sure where I got the impression that it was European --Tat] Internet gambling business with a strong payments processing division is just the ticket.
Just 24 hours ago, did I believe that Linden Lab might be planning to relent on its gambling bans? No. I absolutely did not. However, I have now been convinced by persons who were involved in the steps towards that.
Multiple sources who were close to the deal with Linden Lab and 888 through the last two years confirmed that:
“Since 2009, the expectation in Linden Lab has been that the board will allow gambling again in 2011. The seeds of that expectation, apparently, began as early as sometime in 2008. When the board makes that decision, assuming a number of preconditions are met, there is the additional expectation that Gisland/888 will be the party to help Linden Lab make that come to pass. A key advantage of working with Gisland is their gambling business, and that was one (among several) key factors that tipped the choice towards them over a number of other competing possibilities. A significant part of the current strategy appears to be to assess how well Gisland/888 performs in other, more conventional areas before moving on towards the gambling area.”
Certainly the expectation that Linden Lab’s board will change its stance on its current gambling strictures seems to be strong among those in the know.
Thus the irony of Linden Lab teaming up with an online gambling firm is clarified. There’s a plan, and it explains the seeming-contradiction.
That’s no guarantee that – when push comes to shove – that Linden Lab will definitely make the choice to relax its strictures on gambling operations in Second Life next year. There are no absolute guarantees in any business – and having plans is not quite the same thing as bringing them successfully to fruition – but this appears to be the trajectory and a goal which the Lab has been aiming for since 2008.
Hang on to your hats, folks. 2011 looks like it’s going to be an interesting time.
Update: Linden Lab has asked me to add a statement from them to this story:
In 2007, we enacted a ban on gambling in Second Life to ensure our platform remained in compliance with applicable US laws. Those laws remain in place, and we will of course continue to follow all applicable state and federal laws.
Of course, nobody doubted that the Lab would comply with all of the applicable laws throughout. Which has nothing to do with whether the Lab intends to relent on the blanket gambling ban, and should not be mistaken for a denial.
The fact that 888 is into internet gambling by itself doesn’t necessarily mean that LL is planning to return to gambling. Just about any company that deals with microtransaction financing will be into online gambling. The state of California has recently decided to allow online gambling and the players are moving in to start reaping the profits.
I suspect the sudden Zyngo rulings might be more in line with LL’s thinking. How will it look that they legalize gambling mere weeks after merging in the Teen Grid?
True, that alone doesn’t mean a lot – but the fact that former insiders tell us reintroducing gambling to Second Life has been a goal for quite some time… well, that carries significantly more weight. I’ve corroborated that story through several different sources.
Not that a lot of the Lab’s recent decisions made much sense to me, but the only way reintroducing gambling could make sense is, again, the hope of selling the business to one of the big gaming companies;
Untill LL post something in refrence to this all I have to say is your full of horse hockey……show me proof on SL blogg website….LINK ITTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT or STFU
Ah, you’re new around here. That’s okay. I’m not going to tell you what to believe.
well show me the actual proof and then ill say hey guys it’s true……but all this hearsay dont get ya nowhere……hey i know lets make a gossip sight saying SL is being bought out by yahoo and they goijng to make it all a webbased game with stick figure chars……
Get real guys
I wonder if snoodle is a spy from LL trying to out the leakers…
Tigro wut dope ya smoken….i want some…..i am in no way shape or form a LL
It’s okay. I got pretty much exactly the same comments when I wrote about Viewer 2, the layoffs, Mark Kingdon leaving the Lab, Philip leaving the Lab, and so on and so on – all before they happened. People spent days or weeks telling me I was full of it. It’s the response I expect.
Also, this info is – I’d consider – pretty far out there. Like I said, I didn’t believe it myself to begin with.
Can you provide a source more detailed than “multiple sources” for your quote in this article? Who are these former insiders? Nickola is right to point out that Dragonfish’s online gambling software business isn’t indicative of any intention by Linden Lab to relax its ban on gambling. I will go further and point out that Dragonfish’s online gambling software is in no way compatible with the SL platform. As a practical matter it cannot be integrated into the SL platform and viewer. With zero synergy between Dragonfish’s online gambling services and Second Life’s virtual reality platform there is no reason to give credence to speculation that Linden Lab’s engagement with Dragonfish is for anything other than what it states it is, i.e. for more efficient and diverse payment processing features.
You should also bear in mind that gambling never left Second Life. Linden Lab has consistently refused to enforce it’s written policy against gambling games by allowing the existence of slot machine variants in the form of Zyngo and its ilk. Those that create and run the games can only point to a non-existent “skills exemption” that runs contrary to the literal, explicit, and irreconcilable text of the wagering policy which prohibits any game where wagering is involved and simulation of random number generation can affect the outcome of the game REGARDLESS OF ANY SKILL ELEMENT. Only games of pure skill were ever exempt, e.g. players wagering on a chess game. It makes the whole effort of Linden Lab to remove autoplay Zyngo laughable, but that attempt shows its comfort zone regarding the bounds of its hypocrisy.
Your gossip sources, however reliable or unreliable they may be, seem to support a long held notion by many that Linden Lab is allowing and facilitating gambling in forms it believes it can keep hidden from the banks and processors like PayPal. Dragonfish’s services may be helpful in case Linden Lab’s subterfuge fails because when the UIGEA initially passed, it was service providers like Dragonfish that enabled and continue to enable US players to get their money in and out of online poker sites even with a ban on payment processing by the banks. It’s possible that part of the reason why Linden Lab has engaged Dragonfish may be to ensure that its payment processing in both directions is not interrupted for any significant period of time if it does become targeted as an unlawful internet gambling site operator by the banks
No, I’ve never given the identity of sources who do not wish their identity disclosed, and I’m hardly going to start now. As usual, I asked. As usual, it was declined. As usual, I have a very high level of confidence that the information is correct, as it has never proven to be wrong in the past – not even once. You don’t have to accept that on my say-so, and I don’t think it would be wise to. Don’t believe everything you read. In a year or two you might feel differently, and that’s fine too.
Oh, and yes. Gambling is still a widespread fixture in Second Life, despite the policy.
Linden Lab cannot allow gambling as long as it is associated with PayPal
PayPal Acceptable Use Policy
Prohibited Activities
You may not use the PayPal service for activities that:
6. involve gambling, gaming and/or any other activity with an entry fee and a prize, including, but not limited to casino games, sports betting, horse or greyhound racing, lottery tickets, other ventures that facilitate gambling, games of skill (whether or not it is legally defined as a lottery) and sweepstakes unless the operator has obtained prior approval from PayPal and the operator and customers are located exclusively in jurisdictions where such activities are permitted by law.
SL as a whole could be seen as fitting in that category; getting rich in SL often involves some initial monetary investiment as well as some more as you go on, and somtimes it involves skill and somtimes luck. Same with the buying of L$ itself, the exchange rate does oscilate a bit, and you can get people to buy it from you, deciding when to buy and when to sell is a gamble.
When this article was written (early december 2010) the skill game industry was under a suprisng crack down on what LL employees refered to as games of skill (zyngo/deal) since shortly after the ban on games of chance. LL practically gave there blessing and these games and suddenly were labeled as games of chance after years of allowed use. These games were definitely on LL unpublished white list of games. LL is all but crippling the skill game industry now which by its series of precidents set by LL shaped the SL industry. There was a recent issue where at least two game makers were directly told they would be given time to address their games (simular to zyngo/deal) then some of their games recently were returned by a LL employee. It could have been a mistake but LL has yet to get back to them. If it wasnt a mistake then an untruth was told by LL. The way things are going in the skill game industry in SL it is NOT a good time for LL to be making mistakes.
Either the situation is being handled way beyond poorly or LL is intentionally disrupting an industry it profited from for years now. If the writer of this article is correct then one must assume LL is disrupting businesses and in some cases lives and lively hood in order to take a more direct grasp on gambling in SL. That is a bit too grassy gnoll for my tastes though.
[...] [14] Tateru Nino, Linden Lab has plans to relent on gambling ban in Second Life in 2011. Access at: http://dwellonit.taterunino.net/2010/12/08/linden-lab-has-plans-to-relent-on-gambling-ban-in-second-…. [...]