Stock exchange crash

At the end of August 2007, one of the main online banks, Ginko Financial, went bankrupt. The company offered high returns to its customers, which it could only finance through payments by new customers. As the prohibition on gambling resulted in many residents asking to recover their funds, the bank could not honour its commitments. 190 million Linden dollars (USD 750,000) went up in smoke. Legal proceedings will be held before the American courts. This bankruptcy resounds the Russian bank, MMM, which had a similar pyramid structure in 1997.

"Terrorism" on Second Life ?

At the end of 2006, a libertarian group appeared on Second Life. The “Second Life Liberation Army” (SLLA) criticised Linden Lab’s authoritarianism and is demanding the introduction of an avatar/voice system on Second Life. SLLA mainly makes a name for itself by “bombarding” virtually the Reebok and American Apparel stores. The media is in a rush to announce the onset of “virtual terrorism”, although SLLA’s bombs, which are inoffensive for “residents” and buildings only cause disturbance. A video of the attack on Reebok is shown below.

A new territory for evangelization ?

Probably inspired by the presence of Jewish temples, mosques and other Catholic churches on Second Life, the Italian Jesuits declared Second Life to be a “mission territory” in August 2007. The Vatican stated that it was prepared to “accept enthusiastically the challenge” and affirmed that it was considering creating an official website for the Catholic church on Second Life.

Second strike

"You have often wanted to take part in a picket strike out of solidarity but have always lacked the courage to take the risk? Take advantage of a new opportunity on Second Life”. The RSU (Rappresentanza Unitaria IBM Vimercate) trade union, which represents IBM’s Italian employees, organised the first strike on Second Life at the end of September 2007.

Hacking

In November 2006, hacking software, “copybot”, threatened Second Life’s economy. Creation of a group of “residents”, LibSecondLife, enables the persona of avatars to be cloned as well as their clothing, which is nevertheless supposed to be protected by intellectual property rights. Linden Lab encouraged residents to bring proceedings before the American courts and developed copybot detection software.

Diplomacy

Following the pioneering Sweden and the Maldives, Estonia is due to open its embassy shortly. Their objective is to increase knowledge of their respective countries.

Electoral campaigns

French politicians imitated American presidential candidates by using Second Life during the presidential campaign. Ségolène Royal’s campaign committee, “Désirs d'avenir”, was close to Nicolas Sarkozy’s presidential majority and Francois Bayrou’s centrist party (Modem). The arrival of the National Front in the virtual world caused demonstrations by residents, who demanded the prohibition of Jean-Marie Le Pen’s party from Second Life (see video).

Protection of minors

In June 2007, indignant about the “possibility of imitating sexual relations, including rape, bondage, zoophilia and scatophilia scenes”, the Familles de France association brought legal proceedings against Linden Lab in its capacity as the production company of Second Life. The association’s claims were dismissed.

Second Big Brother ?

n an attempt to reply to concerns regarding minors and improve confidence in sales transactions, Linden Lab has created an identity checking system. It enables the company to compare data provided by residents (passport number, etc.) with governmental data files. The system is optional but is however required to access some restricted zones (mainly erotic material) in the virtual world.