1. Same happened to me. I am horrified at how they are running their business.

Posted at 11:13PM on Nov 1st 2006 by Szentasha Salome

2. Caliandris, your version of this story is highly tendentious, and spins it in a way that completely neglects the original problem, which isn't "poor communication" but a deliberate, persistent policy to constantly communicate first and best with the Feted Inner Core.

It's been a chronic problem for years; it's one you deny. This story exemplifies it; Lindens told their special friends about an anticipated move -- they wanted them to get a jump on both remaining sims and on planning before the announced it to the public. They deliberately, consciously help their businesses at the expense of others. This is a very good example of how they do it -- it's far from the only one.

I wrote a story about this deliberate communication to only a special few for the Herald which outed it.

Anshe then put out her ads on classifieds and in the Dreamland group. She may have been one of those to get the special inner memo; most likely she is on that list. But she didn't post her request to buy islands until after the Herald scooped the Lindens' own announcement, so that the news was out.

If the Herald hadn't posted the story, who knows how long the Lindens might have waited -- possibly until their special friends got at the 150 islands and got that sold off first.

We saw this before with other things like the Void Sims where a few special insiders got to buy them up and they were not available to the public at large or even the Concierge Group of higher volume customers. And this practice of insider trading was prevelant in Lindean sim dealings with the teen FIC, too.

So it's a bigger problem than just "poor communication," and Anshe is not the one to whack here -- the Lindens are to be reproached, and the inner core that justifies this practice as well.

Re: "This means that just as we were confirming the purchase of the sim, which we hope to sell on to a client, congratulating ourselves on getting one at the old price, Linden Lab were changing the rules"

See, this is what Philip means by "arbitrage". I oppose his views. But you're a perfect example of what he means. Why should you be able to profit, so goes his thinking, by the purchase and flipping of a sim to your client? Let the client pay for it themselves.

Posted at 2:17AM on Nov 2nd 2006 by Prokofy Neva

3. All buyers have a right to know the terms under which they are purchasing land in Second Life, whether they are not-for-profits like Numbakulla, in-world businesses like Anshe, or commercial customers like some of my clients.

I disagree with you -- there's a surprise -- because the contradictory information which indicates that higher tier fees will not be charged on sims bought before November 15; higher tier fees may be charged on transfer; higher tier fees may be charged on existing land, is all on official Linden documents *at the same time*.

If Linden Lab want to charge me three cupcakes and a pair of bloomers in addition to tier fee, because I am a developer, that could be fair enough, given *fair* warning, and given a reasonable justification. What has just happened is neither fair nor justified, they just seem to be making it up as they get comments on their blog.

The whole FIC thing bores me. I think people should be treated fairly and equitably and I am against anything which erodes the egalitarian nature of the world inside SL.

Posted at 3:39AM on Nov 2nd 2006 by Caliandris

4. The main concern here is that people may have sold their islands to someone who had inside knowledge that prices were going up. Had that seller had the same inside knowledge, they might have decided to hold the island, on the likelihood that it would fetch a much higher price in the near future. Even if it doesn't work out that islands can be sold for much more-- for example if the transfer fees jump significantly-- the buyer and seller should have had the same information at the time of the transaction. I think the FIC controversy is overblown, but it may have come into play here, if any islands were bought by someone with knowlege of the impending price increasing. The issue isn't that the buyer had inside knowledge, it is that the seller did not have the same knowledge (if in fact any such transactions did occur).

Posted at 8:30PM on Nov 2nd 2006 by Orlie Omegamu