FBI visited Second Life

Representatives of FBI visited virtual casino in the online world Second Life, they were invited by the developers of the project from Linden Lab studio. According to the vice president on business matters of Linden Lab Ginsu Yun, the developers invited FBI agents to the Second Life world several times already in order to obtain recommendations on the founding of virtual gambling industry, but have not yet received the response from the federal authorities. Let`s recall that today Second Life is one of the most popular online game universes. In a world of games subscribers are able to create their own buildings and other objects and pay off each other by virtual currency - lindens. Virtual money, by the way, can be converted into real money, which allows some players and even large companies to lead in the Second Life world very profitable business. Access to the game, the number of users of which now is well over 3 million, is provided by paid subscription. There are in virtual universe thousands of casinos to date. Although the turnover of virtual casinos is not easy to value, it is rumored, that three largest in the Second Life casinos bring their owners up to 1,500 dollars monthly. Many experts believe that the work of these establishments break the laws of the United States which are prohibiting the gaming. However, it`s quite difficult in this case to determine the degree of responsibility of game developers. According to Brent Britton from the law firm Squire, the authorities can call Linden Lab to account in accordance with form of the statute of Illegal Gambling Business Act and the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. The latest bill was passed last year and foresees the responsibility of banks and other financial institutions which realize electronic transfers for online gambling establishment service. Meanwhile, the representatives of FBI and the Office of Public Prosecutor of Northern California are refusing of any comments concerning Second Life, Reuters reports.