Stock Exchange

We've seen the bans and the policies changes from Linden Lab, the
widespread financial scandals and all the many issues every stock
market has faced.

Right now, the financial sector is in a situation where every stock
exchange will stand up once every while presenting its achievements and
successes to the general public, a situation where we can still find
businesses willing to go public and launch their IPO, a situation where
some people will give a try at reviving public shells, or giving a
continuity to endangered companies.

We could go on like this for an undefined amount of time; months,
years. By operating in Second Life we're bound to Linden Labs and their
policies changes. At this point one could bring up other synthetic
worlds, but this won't be the main topic of this open letter.

Following up with the many issues we've had to deal with and using
our foresight, the VSTEX has been growing strong as a SRO
(Self-Regulatory Organization), with an extensive set of rules and
policies modeled after "real life" stock market rules, policies and
laws. That was a due answer to issues, but far away from being a
complete solution for the whole SL financial sector. { Read more }

Though I read the announcement on this last night, I held off on writing it for a couple of reasons:

1. I wanted to get a few questions answered.
2. I actually have stuff to do in RL which takes me outside and away from virtual worlds.

That said, I asked Bogart Beck more about the why of this. The truth is that the last time I checked (which was a while ago), Bogart Beck already had a very respectable share of SLCapex related things, so why take it further?

The answers were pretty solid. One reason is that Scott Nestler and Bogart Beck are so invested in SLCapEx that they wanted more control of the platform - and it follows that they want to make sure that SLCapEx maintains a steady keel in the long haul. All good reasons - it really is a vote of faith in SLCapEx, as well as SLWallet which may now have the finance to come to completion.

This is a pretty bold move - which is simply putting it mildly. The good news for investors is that this will also help alleviate SLCapEx debt and therefore share value.

Since I've been out of the loop for a while, I'm not sure what to think of this. On the surface, it looks good and perhaps even overdue. Yet it's the unexpected twists and turns of the metaverse - via policy and lack of it - that makes the virtual world exchanges such an interesting place.

Time always tells, and time moves faster in virtual worlds. Ask anyone who has run into a landbot. ;-)

When I came to write here a few months ago, it was to consider this issue of 'shareholder's rights' as they apply to the SL Stock Exchanges. In truth, everything I had needed to write can be found in my earlier articles. After that point, practically every event I wrote about was merely an example of the individual problems.

Hard to miss that I was conflicted about my continued coverage. I began announcing 'breaks' and felt more and more burdened by the issue.

I didn't quite understand it until a couple of days ago, when my girlfriend and I were watching 'Field of Dreams.' One of the main characters a former author, 'Terence Mann(modeled after J.D. Salinger).' Mann was '60s activist and writer that became the subject of unintentional acclaim which he never really wanted. He became a 'voice' and 'leader' in a cause. Mann eventually withdrew into isolation out of fear that he'd replaced the individual voices . Instead of promoting individual thought, perhaps he'd stifled it? Became the thing he hated most.

I'm no Terence Mann. But I can relate. I continued to write on a problem out of concern that, if I didn't, nobody else would. If I quit, perhaps I'd be letting people down. I stopped writing for ME a long time ago. Whether you think this an admission of a well-meaning kid previously untested in the ways of journalism, or indicative of unseemly vanity, the fact is, I took myself to a place I didn't want to be. Involved myself in ways I didn't care to be involved. Might seen kind of cliche that "a movie made me understand." It's not the movie itself. Just empathy. And uh, I could do a lot worse than Field of Dreams. Imagine: "Everything I learned about life I learned from Gigli." { Read more }

Shortly after writing my last article, virtual exchange habitue Arnaud Villota called me on a statement I had made regarding patterns of behavior amongst those utilizing virtual exchanges. The comment itself opined little effort and a predelection towards rants with little follow-through. When I'm wrong, I'm wrong.

Vitolla directed me to an SLCAPEX thread that announced the creation of a WSE Watch Group complete with a website. While I have my concerns, I have to admit existing information pertaining to the WSE is spread far and wide. Lots of oddly-titled forum threads laced with off-topic rants often overshadow critical information. It's not a remedy, but it has potential. Done right, it may send a very powerful message. And there's no denying this kind of community response is to be applauded.

To further that pursuit, I'd like to request that anyone who has had their WSE account locked come forward and make it known either as a comment here or at the SLCAPEX thread dedicated to discussing the WSE.

This request is inspired by a message WSE CEO LukeConnell Vandeverre sent to an unknown number of individuals:

(Posted with Vittola's permission):

"[16:07] LukeConnell Vandeverre: (Saved Mon Aug 11 00:07:24 2008) Hello. WSE has over 27000 accounts of which less than 10 are locked due to breaches of the WSE Terms of Service by those users. I've noticed that you have been making it your business to you spread false allegations about the WSE and I'd like to know why you are doing this? what do you stand to gain? Your account isn't even locked. Regards, Luke. { Read more }

After Konner posted on the halt of the Exchanges, Ciaran hit the nail on the head about the silence of Linden Lab on the topic. I've been following it with interest, trying to nail down exactly how the exploit occurred, when I found it in my email - I'm withholding the person's name at this point, but I can share that the information has been disseminated to the exchanges.

Basically, how the exploit worked was through fooling the simulator into allowing someone to rez something of the same Object ID - or key. Allegedly, this exploit affects Second Life Server 1.22.4.90499, and a rolling restart will solve it once the server software is updated. It appears that this has already begun. It should be noted that this exploit required a special tool from LibSecondLife, one that was kept quiet but which someone (obviously) leaked. For the more technical folks, a modification to SLProxy made this possible.

In all, Linden Lab probably should have said something but didn't - something that is par for the course when it comes to the virtual world of Second Life. It did not just affect ATMs, it also affected other objects as well. The good news is that even with the exploit, items received through the exploit got the same permissions as the owner dictated - thus, a no copy/no mod/no transfer item would remain a no copy/no mod/no transfer item, with only the person who used the exploit getting a copy. { Read more }

I have tried to stay away from the security issue, not because I don't think it's important but because I didn't want to spread panic when I only have half the facts.

Linden Lab have neither confirmed or denied these rumours, however there's now a thread over at SLUniverse discussing the serious security allegations.

There appears to be an issue. Konner McDonnell had earlier reported the statements from Cocky Dagger which generally caused people to say "He runs an exchange, how can you trust him"? However it seems that this might be bigger and deeper then we'd all like.

However I do wish Linden Lab would at least say something, either "We've got it under control" or "This is a load of old bollocks". The silence is deafening.

Now i've been fed information by a couple of trustworthy sources, we'll call them deep voice and dark throat (As dark voice and deep throat would just sound wrong) as codenames. They both pretty much confirmed this security flaw, especially in terms of ATM's, although I'm reliably informed that SLX is safe. Phew!

General advice seems to be to make your items no copy for the time being, pass it to an alt and pass it back then hopefully you're not going to have your hard labour ripped so easily.

However, now, the conspiracy part, how the bloody hell did anyone find out about this exploit? Allegedly this isn't a staring in your face exploit.

For all of Linden Lab's transparency, there are times when they simply aren't transparent and whereas I can understand their reluctance to talk about this issue, it really is time for a statement.

Being naked is often the best choice! { Read more }

My previous coverage of the proposed CSLL/CSVC merger ended with a fairly mellow update. Given that Oceanlane was taking his company private, it seemed harsh to criticize him further. Even if the terms of the buyback were, as one Y2P reader put it, “a slap in the face,” it seemed only a matter of time before Oceanlane’s volatile disposition led to the downfall of CSLL, so personally, I was glad to see a positive outcome for all parties.

In all honesty, I thought the matter was done with. That is, until this morning, when I came across Skip Oceanlane’s response to Scott Nestler. The accusations within Oceanlane's hateful message reminded me that there was a story left untold. I'll remedy that error now.

What to say about Skip Oceanlane? He claims to be a safety inspector with a GS rating in real life. And I'm inclined to believe that. His management style utilized the sort of “do it my way or I'll close you down forever" state of mind I’d expect from someone wrapped up in their own position of authority, marginal though it may be. But he's not Gordon Ramsay. This isn't Kitchen Nightmares. And beneath his veneer of oozing self-confidence is the ever-present threat of mindless tantrum, vindictiveness, and baseless accusation.

So when Scott Nestler and others asked why they hadn't been compensated for their shares yet, I guess I shouldn't have been surprised to see this included in Oceanlane's response:

You robbed former Sky Hedge Fund investors on SLCapex, and you are working with known scammers, and yet you still deny you have done anything wrong. I don't trust you at all, and it's because of people like you that very few invest in the stock markets anymore. I'm not the reason things have gone downhill. It's because of people like you and your friends on stock exchanges like SLCapex. { Read more }