Virtual casinos - meet the virtual government

The obsession of the US government with online gambling has finally reached a "laughing point". As previously reported, FBI was probing the gambling in the game "Second Life" - a virtual world by Linden Lab (read editorial here).

Second Life casinos It was misreported on a few websites that the FBI was after the game, or that they would be charged with something. It must be mentioned that the truth is, FBI probed the virtual gambling in the game following an invitation from Linden Lab and the company is not under any investigation.

That said, the company still decided to take the US government stance on the online gambling and issued a statement that they will be stopping any placement of advertisements which resemble casino ads, both in the game and outside of it.

Features are also being implemented in the game, which would allow players to be identified by location and age, and forced to conform with their local laws. Linden Lab has also stated that they will continue to work with law enforcement agencies where appropriate. How is that for a virtual world.

04/17/2007