Well, my foray into SL has made for an interesting July. It only took 10 days from the time of my Panel Discussion on Second Life Financial Markets for a major scandal to erupt.
After someone with inside information blew the whistle, I posted some raw details on how someone [allegedly] hacked into the banking account for the World Stock Exchange. After a little more due dilligence, I reported the accusation that WSE attempted to cover up the event. Today, I analyzed the rather timid response of the SL Exchange Commission, a group that is attempting to develop regulations for SL exchanges. The WSE has still yet to reopen, either because software development is behind schedule, the exchange is worried about a run, or because they truly don't have enough cash on hand to handle withdrawals.
So here are my questions to Terra Novans. If, in response to my prior posts on TN, you thought SL markets were a game, are you having fun yet? If you thought they were not a game, what do you think will be or should be the legal outcomes here?
Finally, what do you think of the following proposal? I pull together a group of students here at Cornell from computer science, business/econ, and law, and give them academic credit to design, develop and ultimately operate a regulatory enterprise that would scope out appropriate requirements on the operations of exchanges, required disclosures (from both exchanges and listed companies), and the like.
p.s. There is a fun video on the markets here, completed before the scandal broke. Fortunately, the key message is "caveat emptor." Also, note my argument that the markets seem more like toys, rather than games--they are functional, they simply have less capacity for both help and harm.
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