Your2ndPlace

On the tails of this interview at Metaverse Journal, I got reports from multiple sources who choose to stay anonymous that the software developer for 'WSE 4.0' is auditing customer accounts - which leads to some interesting questions such as:

• Why are accounts being audited?
• How are accounts being audited?
• Who is the software developer, and what experience do they have for auditing?

And auditing of accounts for 30-45 days does seem a bit of overkill for something that LukeConnell Vandeverre goes out of his way to point out is a fictional currency:

[20:52] LukeConnell Vandeverre: and buying fictional currency isn’t an investment it is purchasing game to participate in the fictional economy which is a feature of a product provided by linden lab..

On that, I believe that the currency is as fictional as LukeConnell Vandeverre and Linden Lab are. It is almost as if Luke is begging to be challenged.

That this was reported by multiple anonymous sources is interesting. I would call them 'fictional' sources, but clearly they are not. And these sources do have credibility. They also told me that LukeConnell openly stated that anyone who speaks ill of WSE will be delisted.

This is a lot of control and power for 'fictional currency' trading. It doesn't add up when you balance the statements with the actions to control the 'fictional currency'. If it's fictional, why close for 30 days for upgrades that include 'customer account audits'?

And it begs, too, for the 'fictional currency' veil to be popped - which is one of the reasons that Linden Lab probably instituted the bank ban.

Even with these sorts of rumors - since I cannot name the sources, I cannot claim that they are verifiable and be objective - things are not adding up. While I do concede the possibility that some people are upset enough about WSE's impromptu closure conveniently before Linden Lab's bank ban, I do not think that multiple sources would collaborate in such a way. That it confirms a lot of suspicions about the WSE, and demonstrates a continued lack of internal criticism healthy to any institution is troublesome.

The WSE has some explaining to do. But if you ask them, they might delist your company - or perhaps even seize your account during an audit.

Ain't 'fictional currency' grand? The WSE may well be a silver bullet - and someone may well shoot themselves in the foot with their own silver bullet. Unfortunately, they may take a world down with them.

Technorati Tags: Banks Business Linden Lab Metaverse Op/Ed SecondLife SL Capital Exchange WSE LukeConnell Vandeverre HCL Hope Capital Limited