Your2ndPlace

Another one to add to the "SL toy capitalist fraudster" list. Well, admittedly I had already pencilled it in. With a pretty firm pencil.

The waffling about Rails sounds quite comical.

At least they weren't quite blatant enough to call their fake money "WTF", though perhaps "WIC" has some sort of meaning that I am not young enough to be aware of.

I posted my own notes from the broadcast as a reply to an older thread. It hasn't shown up due to the moderation filter, and although Nobody suggested I repost it, he's done a so much better job than me that I wont bother. Instead I'll give you my opinion on the broadcast.

LukeConnell ("He" in future to save typing) used phrases such as "fictional" and "limited licence" about the L$ and WIC and "simulated gaming environment" and "simulated market" about the WSE so many times it make me feel sick. He spent the whole duration of the cast stressing that everything he and the WSE account holders are doing is a game and that that the L$ and WIC isn't real. Sorry LukeConnell, that doesn't hold. People deposited L$ with you with the expectation of being able to get those funds back (if they didn't loose them due to a bad decision of their own). If you think that at some point in the future you can shut up shop and not refund people the value of their L$'s or WIC and get away with it, you have a nasty surprise waiting for you.

He also stated that as soon as you gave someone L$, either through direct transfer or through payment to an object, you forfeit your right to control that L$ and you'd only get that right back if the person you paid felt like giving it to you. To me this simply says, I have your money, don't believe your getting it back unless I feel like it.

I'm also curious as to how he intends to launch a "real life" virtual stock exchange in 12 to 18 months if he doesn't have full time developers. As a 15 year Software Engineer myself, I know how difficult and expensive it is to write complex software to the quality it would be required for a stock exchange and despite his claims, Ruby on Rails won't make that a whole lot easier either. So it concerns me that there (from my understanding of it) a number of developers working on it when they like.

Its worth noting that he claims the delay in the return of the WSE is due to the project starting late. Now while there are a huge list of good reasons as to why a project could be running late, not having started it isn't a good one.

I'm also concerned about his apparently lack of care about testing. He stated that the WSE would deploy 5 days after the developers said it was ready and with sufficient testing (added on as an afterthought). Now, as a developer myself, I know things arn't necessarily right when I'm think their done, Thats why my company has a Testing and QA department.

This also brings the question, why did he shut down to WSE if the project wasn't ready for deployment? He claims he wasn't warned about the banking ban but instead saw increased risk but, personally, I don't believe that for a second.

So, where is LukeConnell going with the WSE. Well, he claims that in 12 to 18 months he's going to launch a new "real life" virtual stock exchange. Of course, taking past performance into account your actually looking at something between 18 and 27 months right now. But the question springs to mind, who's actually going to invest in this exchange? Anyone to takes a few minutes to examine his past is going to see exactly what he's been up to and run for the hills. Theres also this thing in real life called regulation, something WSE has not yet been subject to, though many people argue it should be.

And so now your L$ are WICs. This is interesting in itself as, while doing a google search for "World Internet Currency", the only references I can find relate to the WSE. Who is the enigmatic person or organisation behind this "currency" and what guarantees do we have it wont go poof. I wouldn't at all be surprised to find out that LukeConnell is behind it and he's just succeeded in converting everyone's L$ to a currency that it totally under his control.

Why do I say this? Simply, how else would he be able to have the WIC revalued as he has while converting L$ to them? Previously 1USD was approximately 0.98WIC (after fees). Now you'll get approximately 256 WIC's to the USD (I don't know if thats before or after fees). If LukeConnell has no influence over the WIC except that of a service that supports its use, how did he get that to happen? Either way, he is now insulated against LL declaring the L$ an actual currency.

On that note, he also believes that switching to the WIC will insulate the WSE against LL banning exchanges or dropping the L$. (While some would argue the former a worthwhile thing, I doubt the latter would ever happen). Does he seriously think that LL would allow WSE to stay in SL if exchanges were banned just because they use another currency? They don't let gambling establishments using other currencies stay.

So what else has he accomplished is switching to the WIC? Simply he has made it harder for people to put money into, or take money out of, the WSE. This is obviously not a good thing for current investors, but given that it will make new accounts harder to fund, I believe less newcomers will be persuaded to hand over their hard earned "limit licence to manage" L$ to the WSE. In my mind, that is a good thing.

And now to my challenge to LukeConnell

LukeConnell has repeatedly said that the L$ and the WIC are not really and what the WSE is doing is allow people to learn the how to deal in a stock exchange. That by giving L$ (or now WIC's) to the WSE your not giving them real money at all, simply this "limited licence" so your not really loosing anything.

So, my challenge is this. I have an account under the name Talwyn Mills at the WSE, its current balance is 0.54L$ (yup, no WIC's here yet). If you believe everything you have said LukeConnell, you should have no problem in crediting that account, oh lets say 250,000WIC's (that's about 1000USD "licensing fee" for those keeping count), at no expense to me. After all, your not going to be loosing anything are you, even if I do turn round and sell the "limited license" to use it at the first opportunity? Its not real money after all (you claim).

If you accept my challenge, the amount should be deposited in my account as soon as possible and (important bit) should remain there after the WSE has re-opened (if it ever does) and I should be able to do what I like with it, including selling the "limited license" to use it for Real Life cash.

I'll send a notecard with the URL of this comment to LukeConnell in world as soon as its visible on the blog and I'll keep you all updated as to what, if anything, happens.

I see two possibilities here. First, Luke takes a hit of about 1000USD to save face, I make a bit of money out of this and I'll (figurativly) eat my hat. More likely, absolutely nothing happens thereby confirming that LukeConnell believes the L$/WIC to actually be worth some real world value, which of course makes a lie out of all his previous statements.

Exchanges are next, of course it will be after people have lost their money because they handed it to a stranger. I will not shed a tear.

Arthur Fermi
Fermi Sandbox & University
www.fermidesigns.com

I'm not very comfortable about everything being transferred to a WIC balance. I just have lots of questions about how it will work, how people will be able to access funds and so on. I guess I'll figure it all out in another month.