Your2ndPlace

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.

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!

[Hoorenbeek](HBK) is a reputable clothing and accessories company that is publicly listed on SL Capital Exchange (“Capex”). As a fashion enterprise, HBK has performed remarkably well since opening its IPO last October. As a publicly listed company, HBK has become a hotbed of investor concern.

The controversy surrounding HBK follows a February update posted by Limer Fredikkson, an avatar shared by Ansor Hoorenbeek and Pilgrim Nordwind. The update announced that HBK would withhold dividends until its monthly income could sustain a 400,000L$-apiece salary for Hoorenbeek and Nordwind. Though the update concluded by assuring shareholders that Fredikkson would return to field the expected questions and concerns following such an announcement, this never occurred. In the months since HBK's decision, there has been a complete lapse in open shareholder/company communication.

HBK share prices have experienced a downward trend that bottomed out at .18L$ towards the end of May. Whether to blame the withholding of dividends, the lack of communication, some combination therein, or none of the above, is debatable. Rumors have abounded and answers seemed nonexistent. When Fredikkson posted HBK’s May financial statement, the lack of renewed inquiry on the company’s exchange forum seemed a good opportunity for a credible, talented, and well-meaning Y2P writer to jump in and ask a few questions.

Four days ago, LNL Chairman Lindsay Druart announced the bankruptcy of L&L Credit Agency. Following this announcement was a second announcement that LNL Financial Services, parent company of LCA, would be similarly closed and delisted.

Readers may remember that LNL was the first company to delist from the WSE after the latter closed days before the banking ban. Druart received significant intention when she announced her intentions of a real life L&L Credit Union. At the time, Druart stated that the the real life counterpart would actually be a holding of her virtual enterprise. Apparently this has changed, as Druart has assured investors that real life endeavors are continuing despite the virtual delistments.

Delistment of both companies is scheduled to occur no later than May 31st. In response to investor concerns, Druart has alluded to the possibility of a 'liquidation fund' but has offered no concrete details. In fact, if the forums are any indication, the LNL announcement was completely out of the blue, being Druart's first announcements in over a month. With respect to LCA, the announcement of bankruptcy follows a disappearance of LCA CEO Sully O'Kelly. Of course, in SL terms, 'disappearance' means a few weeks to a month.

Investors have been directed to Druart's blog for further developments, of which there are none at the time of this post. Druart was not immediately available for comments.

Update:

Last night, Arbitrage Wise spoke of the situation with SLWallet at SLCapEx's new main area in Treasure Cove. The transcript of the meeting, also available here, can be found below.

What it boils down to is this: The resources necessary to purchase the shares have decreased considerably due to a number of reasons which are, at the least, credible for some. The lack of updates centered around some possible business alliances that have been slow to coalesce, such as working with First Meta. The meeting's news from Arbitrage Wise was generally well received, though at least one person represented what may well be the majority of people who got stuck in SLWallet and who simply wanted to get some money back. Of course, the day traders had been decreasing the price to bulk up on shares, with very little in the way of bullish trades.

So what does the future of SLWallet include? Arbitrage Wise mentioned working with eBay sellers, as well as a few other intriguing ideas. He, and SLCapEx as a whole, are pressing forward - and pushing on SLWallet to build it's businesses which at this point have not coalesced.

Here's what it boils down to:

• Second Life business ventures for SLWallet are still in process.
• Buybacks will not be 'substantial' over the next few months, but will not go away. For clarification on this, see Arbitrage Wise's response to my question on that at 19:21 in the transcript. Further explanation continues at 19:23.

Real life is still happening all around me at a frantic pace, so I haven't been able to do as much as I would want within Second Life. Ciaran Laval notes the unfair marketplace practices, which is true on the Linden Lab side of things - but 2 things, as noted in the title, are quite simply not happening.

First of all, WSE remains closed - now for 4 months despite promises and platitudes. I'm fairly certain that the only people surprised at this point are a minority that LukeConnell Vandeverre has assuaged into staying or threatened with having them lose their work (or something in the middle?). However that works, it quite simply doesn't look too awfully good.

And SLCapEx's SL Wallet is beginning to be doubted severely, with prices dropping despite 2 buybacks in the past. Arbitrage Wise posted that a shareholders meeting is supposed to happen this week, but I strongly suspect more people are wondering about the buyback. Full disclosure: I've got shares there, trying to compensate for my losses when JT Financial became SLWallet. However, I am not day trading - I am being bullish with spare change.

It begins to be a little disturbing when I mention WSE and SLWallet in the same breath, but there it is. There is absolutely no evidence to support SLWallet at this time, and even with promises of a shareholder meeting... things do not look well right now for WSE Live and SLWallet.

While I was away, the SLCapEx site was down - I instant messaged Bogart Beck on it prior to the site coming back up (It is back up). I'd heard of an attempt to crack the site - less technical readers would inaccurately write 'hack' - and Bogart didn't say anything about that. What he did say was that they were plugging some holes to avoid future problems.

The World Stock Exchange (WSE) is still down after the perpetual month of upgrades that has lasted 3 months and 5 days so far. All of LukeConnell Vandeverre's live announcements have not breathed enough hot air into the site to get it up and running again.

Ancapex.net? No clue. Ancapex.com is still up and running, but as we all should know by now - that site has a new owner.

International Stock Exchange seems up and running.