Hippo Technologies Announces Closure Due to "Infrastructure Failure"

Those whom have been around Second Life for a long time are probably familiar with Hippo Technologies, or at least it's products HippoVend and HippoRent, particulary merchants and renters. But the sight of the HippoRent cubes will soon be a thing of the past. On their blog on February 16, Hippo announced they were closing due to "infrastructure failure" of Rackspace Cloud Servers, which they had been using to hold their data.


On Feb 12th Rackspace Cloud Servers collapsed and took down the legacy Hippo web services which Rackspace supported. Rackspace admits service degradation to cloud orchestration and cloud servers. Surely in due time the long established server technicians at Rackspace will rebuild their cloud infrastructure, but for the time being there appears to be an unsafe amount of dust and smoke around the Rackspace Cloud server collapse to extract the backup databases to migrate to another server host.

For the last several years increasingly abandoned land through Second Life has also led to lack of new customer demand for the legacy web service. It marks a best decision for Hippo Technologies to step away from that legacy web service.

Hippo Technologies will certainly be keeping a keen eye to future trends in virtual worlds.

The statement is somewhat vague, as Hippo doesn't use a clear term like "shutting down." But the talk about "lack of new customer demand" and "will ... be keeping a ...eye to future trends" isn't the kind of words a company uses if they're keeping their product going.

Caspertech, perhaps Hippo's biggest competitor, would post about Hippo's close later that day on their own blog.

Today is a sad day for some, and a frustrating day for many, as Hippo Technologies has finally bit the dust. Hippo's services (including HippoVend, HippoRent and HippoUpdate) were extremely well respected and well established within Second Life for a long time. HippoTech pre-dates CasperTech by a few years, and although their presence in Second Life has slowly been in decline, many users heavily depended on them right up until today.

It's unclear exactly what happened - the blog post alludes to a catastrophic failure at Rackspace Cloud services, but Rackspace's own status page mentions no such failure (I have contacted Rackspace to ask for clarification). What is clear, however, is that it leaves a lot of users in a very unfortunate position - their vendors, rental units and update systems are suddenly non-functioning, leaving their businesses high and dry.

Aside from these two blog entries, there's not really anything to go on. A look at the two Hippo groups I found revealed no recent announcements. Their products are still on sale in Marketplace. When I talked to Casper Warden, the head of Caspertech, he didn't have a greal deal to add, "From my understanding, they were taken offline by a technical fault.  Given that their business was dwindling it was not worth the technical effort to invest into getting it back online." He did want to make it clear, " that it's only my understanding, i don't know anything about it for certain."

In any event, places that once used HippoRent are now having to decide what to replace them with.


Bixyl Shuftan

Church Services

Looking for a church to go to in Second Life this Easter, or the rest of the year? There's two where all are welcome (and presumably others that we haven't found yet). One is the Grace Baptist Church (article April 2014) in Lionhear Pumbaa (39/72/29), which holds Sunday services at 5AM and 5PM SL time. Website: http://gracechurch-sl.org .

Another is the ALM Cyberchurch, in Pieup (16/48/63), which holds its Sunday service at 11AM SL time. Website: http://almcyberchurch.org .

The Third-Party Linden Exchange Services Two Months Later

It's been about two months since the Linden Exchanger Crisis in which Linden Lab briefly closed down the Third-Party Exchange Services. The result from the residents was an uproar, especially from non-US residents as they often had problems buying Lindens directly from Linden Lab. Most exchangers folded when the Lindens demanded they shut down. But one, the Podex Exchange, instead tried to reason with the Lindens. It was ignored and then shut down by force. Eventually, Linden Lab partially relented, allowing the exchangers to apply for approval as Third-Party "Linden Resellers." After a few weeks, Podex was back in business.

There were concerns that the market would be dominated by Linden resellers that were subsidiaries of real estate businesses, thinking they'd be able to offer the best deals. But this has not been the case. Of the top five exchangers on the Linden Dollar Authorized Reseller Program website, only one was known for it's sales of virtual property. AnsheX, the most well known, never even made the top ten.

In terms of Euros per 1000 Lindens, the top three exchangers were The Teledollar Cash Service, The Podex Exchange, and the ELDEXchange. Teledollar made the top of the list at 3.34 Euros needed to buy 1000 Lindens. Podex was second at 3.40 Euros. But, Teledollar only did business with US Dollars and Euros. The Podex Exchange worked with those and more, British Pounds, Japanese Yen, Russian Rubles, and more. Recently, they have began accepting Mexican and Colombian Pesos and Peruvian Nuevo Sols.

Podex also offer many more payment options, from Paypall, to credit card, bank transfer, and more.

So despite it's rough treatment from Linden Lab earlier, Podex is alive and well, and offering it's customers good deals.

Podex is a sponsor of Second Life Newser.

Bixyl Shuftan

List of Authorized Linden Sellers Expanded, Podex Back in Business

By Bixyl Shuftan

Almost a month after Linden Lab sparked a crisis by changing their terms of service to shut down Third-Party Linden exchangers, and over two weeks since an initial five "Linden Resellers" were authorized to do business, the list of companies residents can buy Lindens from has been noticeably extended. It's possible to once again possible to do business with many of those who shut their doors, or in the case of Podex had the doors shut for them despite repeated attempts to negotiate with the Lab. Podex is among the exchangers now back in business as "Authorized Linden Resellers."

"We are very happy to announce that Podex has been given permission to sell Linden dollars as a member of the Authorized Reseller Program" Jacek Shuftan stated on the Podex Website, "All our clients are welcome to buy Linden Dollars again."

Besides getting it's main source of business in Second Life back, the Podex Exchange has also made a deal with the OpenSim world "Virtual Highway." On this world which recently passed the landmark of one thousand registered users, Podex now offers business buying and selling Virtual Highway Dollars (V$) in addition to Visa cards and the "possibility to earn your own profit in our affiliate program."

Not all of the Third-Party Exchangers have been allowed to return to business yet. Some, such as Moneyslex and the Brando Estate's exchange service are still closed. But for the customers of many once-closed exchangers, their bank is back in business.

The Podex Exchange (http://www.podex.info/) is a sponsor of Second Life Newser.


Sources: Second Life Wiki, Hypergrid Business

Bixyl Shuftan

Third-Party Exchanger Update: No Additional Authorized Linden Resellers

It's been about a week since the last of the Third-Party Linden Exchangers were closed. AnsheX, owned by SL tycoon Anshe Chung, quietly ceased trading. Podex, owned and operated by Jacek Shuftan, was shut down when Jacek's account was suspended by Linden Lab. On the same day, the Lab announced it's new terms for "Authorized Linden Resellers." Of the many exchangers that had once been operating, only five had been approved for the new plan. Among them was AnsheX.

A couple days ago, Jacek's suspension was finally lifted. He however had not gotten a response from Linden Lab concerning his application to continue trading Lindens. And now about a week after Linden Lab's last announcement, the list of five allowed resellers remains at five.

It's unclear why no additional new Linden Resellers have been authorized.

Bixyl Shuftan.

Linden Lab to Allow Several Third-Party Exchange Services to Reopen, Podex Still Closed.

In a partial reversal of it's earlier ban, Linden Lab announced earlier today that they will be allowing Third-Party Linden exchange services after all. But so far, only five of the many exchangers have met their approval. Plus, the services now operate under tighter and more limiting terms and conditions.

Now, to give users more options and make it easier to purchase L$, we’re launching a pilot program of Authorized Resellers of L$. These sites are authorized by Linden Lab to purchase L$ on the LindeX and then resell those L$ using a variety of international currencies and payment methods. To be clear: per the Terms of Service, these resellers will not be allowed to purchase L$ outside of the LindeX (i.e. they will not be able to buy L$ back from users and cash people out). The list of Authorized Resellers participating in the pilot program is available here.

So far, only five exchange services, now officially called Linden Resellers,  have been approved by Linden Lab. They are AnsheX, Buildo, vForEx, VirWoX, and ZoHaIslands. As of the writing of this article, only two had operational ATMs, Bulido and ZoHa. ZoHa announced the news on their blog, "We are proud to announce that ZoHa Islands became today an Authorized Reseller of Linden Dollars," followed by a short description of what this means and the conditions.

The Podex Exchange, which was shut down early Friday morning, was not among the approved exchange services. On the Podex site, Jacek announced they had applied to become an official reseller, but were still stopped from doing business. On "Hypergrid Business," he stated, "Undoubtfully, it is a great news for residents who are not able to use Linden Lab payment methods. ... It will lower the profits of independent exchanges but gives a sparkle of hope that we can continue our virtual existence."

The new terms and conditions are more limiting for the exchange services than before. From now on, they can only get their Linden Dollars from the official LindeX Exchange, and nowhere else. They can no longer buy back Lindens from residents for US dollars or any other currency.

These new terms mean Linden Lab now has a more tighter rein on where it's Linden dollars go. It's very likely they were made with the US Treasury Department's FinCEN (Financial Crimes Enforcement Network) new guidelines about virtual currency in mind. Other conditions include resellers taking steps to "take commercially reasonable steps to prevent and deter credit card and similar types of fraud." They're also required to make sure no business is done with or anyone from any country with which the United States has an embargo with, such as Cuba or Iran.

The new terms have one serious weakness. With residents unable to sell Lindens to anyone but the Lab, Second Life business owners dependent on Third-Party exchangers to convert Lindens to real currency are still out of luck. It's possible that there may be changes in the terms and conditions in the near future to allow this.

So why didn't Linden Lab offer something like this earlier? A few residents in forum threads and article comments thought the Lab was genuinely surprised by how many expressed anger at the move and how many were dependent on the Third Party Exchanges. Other posters expressed suspicion that all this was really about FinCEN, feeling profit was their main motive, noting everyone would have to use LindeX, including the resellers, one poster on SL Universe commenting, "This is a brilliant plan to let Anshe stay in business … ACS and the other land barons have all this L$ they get directly they can sell. Everyone else has to buy it on the Lindex, mark it up, and resell it."

Residents are breathing a sigh of relief, but Linden Lab has once again shaken the confidence of Second Life's users.

The Podex Exchange (http://www.podex.info/) is a sponsor of Second Life Newser.

Links:  Official forums, SL Universe forums, Gwyneth Llewelyn,  Hypergrid Business, New World Notes,  Hamlet Au,

Bixyl Shuftan

Most Third-Party Linden Exchange Services Close, Only Podex and AnsheX Remain

By Bixyl Shuftan

In the aftermath of Linden Labs changing it's Terms of Service concerning Third Party exchangers of Linden dollars, just about all have closed their doors. A number gave statements saying they  were wary of the Lab's wrath, such as the DX Exchange, "the TOS gives us a 30 day period … However, we so realize that with blocking our avatars Linden Lab can disable our business within seconds. We also realize that we put our clients at risk to lose their Lindens in case we annoy Linden Lab." CrossWorlds stated that they would complete orders that had already been placed. But most were no longer making new transactions.

Two Third-Party exchange services remain. One is AnsheX, owned by noted Second Life baron Anshe Chung. Their only response from them on the matter was reportedly their support staff saying "nothing has changed" and they were buying and selling Lindens as before. The other is the Podex Exchange, owned and run by Jacek Shuftan. Jacek lives in Poland in real life, but has registered Podex as a business in Delaware USA. In a press statement over the weekend, Podex stated the following:

Despite the dark clouds over independent third party exchanges, Podex Exchange continues its normal work selling and buying L$. The only change is stricter security policy which can cause delays with some transactions. We are sorry for it. We also want to assure our clients that not only their real money and linden dollars are save with us but also their personal data. Our policy of not requiring any registration to use Podex services have always guaranteed maximum security. We just have nothing to be stolen. To remain in total compliance with Linden Lab regulations and The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) guidance our legal office started preparing application process to become officially registered money services business (MSB).

So why did Linden Lab change their terms of service? In his "Modern Payment Systems" blog, Alex Kadochnikov stated as an issuer of virtual currency, Linden Lab had to register with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). The penalties of not registering, were listed as pretty steep.

(a) Whoever knowingly conducts, controls, manages, supervises, directs, or owns all or part of an unlicensed money transmitting business, shall be fined in accordance with this title or imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both.

But would Linden Lab really have gotten in trouble because of unregistered Third-Party exchangers? It seems they're not taking chances. In the comments following his article, Kadochinikov didn't feel all the panic was necessary, "I really do not know why they (won't) just register and spend a few dollars in compliance with regulations." Hamlet Au expressed puzzlement as to why "the company hasn't specified this is the reason for it's policy change." A reader commented that the Lab doesn't normally explain things to the residents these days, "the company has abandoned any pretense at communicating with actual customers, so it may just be their usual stony silence."

Perhaps as time goes on, more Third-Party exchangers will register in compliance with FinCEN. But for now, two exchangers independent of Linden Lab remain open for business as an alternative to LindeX. So residents unable to get Lindens from the Lab still have two alternatives. And those reluctant to deal with Anshe Chung still have Podex.

The Podex Exchange (http://www.podex.info/) is a sponsor of Second Life Newser.

Sources: Google sites, Money Payment Systems,

Bixyl Shuftan

New Terms of Service Could End Third-Party Linden Exchange Services, Leave Many Non-US Residents Without Means To Buy Lindens

By Bixyl Shuftan

On Tuesday, Linden Lab announced in their blog they were updating their Terms of Service. Normally, it's just some small details. But the latest change could mean the biggest change to Second Life's economy since the gambling ban years ago.

To get Linden dollars, one could always get them from Linden Lab, the process done through it's Linden Exchange or LindeX. But they are far from the only means for residents to get Lindens. Other exchange services, or Third-Party exchange services, have sprung up over time, offering residents easier and quicker means to get virtual cash.

In the old Terms of Service, Section 5.3 read as the following:

There are other Linden dollar exchanges that are operated by third parties. Linden dollars are occasionally Bought and Sold on third party exchanges, which are wholly distinct from the LindeX exchange. Unless specified by Linden Lab, these exchanges have no affiliation with Linden Lab. We do not guarantee the legitimacy of the Linden dollar transfers offered on them, and we are not liable for purchases of such Linden dollars. You purchase Linden dollars from such sites at your own risk. If you Buy Linden dollars that are traced to unauthorized credit card activity or other fraudulent activity, we will recoup these Linden dollars from your Account.

In the new Terms of Service. Section 5.3 deals with new rules concerning third-party exchange services.

Third party exchanges are not authorized by Linden Lab and Buying or Selling Linden dollars on third party exchanges are not authorized transactions. Third party exchanges are wholly distinct from both the LindeX exchange and Linden Lab and they have no affiliation with Linden Lab. We do not endorse or otherwise guarantee the legitimacy of the Linden dollar transfers offered on them, and we are not liable for purchases of such Linden dollars. Buying or Selling Linden dollars anywhere other than the LindeX is done so solely at your own risk. If you Buy Linden dollars that are traced to unauthorized credit card activity or other fraudulent activity, we will recoup these Linden dollars from your Account. The only authorized exchange is the LindeX.

There were numerous comments from the articles on New World Notes and Vaki Zenova's Blog, in addition to the SL Universe Forum and the official forums. The response was virtually 100% negative, with many residents expressing anger. Some were confused at first wondering if the Lab was just not accepting further responsibility for Third-Party Exchanges, then word began going around that they would be clearly not allowed. There were two issues of complaint. One was that LindeX didn't give you your Lindens instantly, but could take a week or more to pay up. But the bigger issue was the ability to get Lindens at all. A number of residents outside the United States complained using the LindeX was difficult or just couldn't be done. The end of Third Party Exchangers would mean the end of their buying Lindens. For those with no job on the Grid, no more shopping beyond freebies, and no more paying tier or rent for land.

The reaction by the Third-Party Exchange Services varied. Many of them have shut down trading in Second Life. VirWoX, popular among Europeans, stated the following:

Linden Lab has recently changed their Terms of Service. Under the new rules, we will no longer be able to offer our service to Second Life residents. Linden Lab insists that our in-world terminals (ATMs) have to be removed. This means that we can currently not accept Linden Dollars from Second Life or pay Linden Dollars to Second Life. Other virtual currencies are not affected. We will post updates here as the situation develops. Please refrain from sending us support messages about this issue, at the moment we will not be able to give you more information.

Other Exchanges are still operating. This includes the Podex Exchange, Jacek Shuftan told Hypergrid Business, he intended to continue trading for the thirty days until the new Terms of Service go in effect, "We find it not fair to stop our activity in one day without prior notice to our customers. … Podex Exchange has built trust and reputation for many years, and we are not going to destroy it in one day."


I met up with Jacek, who had more to say on the matter, "Really strange move of LL. … I really do not understand (their) motives. We are all waiting for (the) official statement as (the) ToS does not forbid Ls exchange, but (the) post on (the) blog does." He stated As first the blog post didn't ban them, but it was soon edited so it stated there was a ban.

Jacek felt Linden Lab would lose a *lot* of income over their move, "my clients, mainly from Europe, tell me if they cannot buy from me or other exchanges, they will not be able to buy at all. They use prepaid cards, or just send money to bank accounts, or by SMS." Jacek felt if profit was the main motive of the Lab, they could still have allowed alternative payment methods that weren't competitive with Lindex. He was wondering if another reason, if not the main one, was pressure by the US Department of the Treasury with their issuing of "guidelines" about virtual currency, "We just do not know, and we are all waiting for an explanation, and a way to find a sensible solution."

The following day, Gemma Cleanslate reported that a Podex ATM at a multi-exchange hub wasn't working.  The ones in the Podex main office at Coda worked normally.

More to come on what is clearly a major change to the Second Life economy.

The Podex Exchange (http://www.podex.info/) is a sponsor of Second Life Newser.

Sources and other articles, Inkline Media, Hypergrid Business, SL Universe, New World Notes, Official Linden Forum (LindeX Has No Instant Cashout), Ciaran Laval (ToS) (3rd Party Fallout), Modem World,

Bixyl Shuftan

Eye On The Blog: "Clear Pricing" For Land Services And The New Communications Hub

In the Linden blog, there are two recent entries for April. The first deals with services for private regions.

If you have a private region in Second Life, there are several special services you might occasionally need, like region moves and name changes. The charges for these services depends on the number of private regions you have, and to make it easier for all of our customers to understand the fee structure, we now have laid it out in this chart in the Knowledge Base:

The second blog update deals with the new Communications Hub, or Communications Hub User Interface aka CHUI as the Lab calls it. In an update, it was made part of the main viewer. It rearranges some features, as well as adding a few new ones. Among the changes, "Busy" becomes "Do Not Disturb," and the user is notifed of all IMs made once it's turned off. Local chat could be put on the same window of one's list of IMs.



DrFran Babcock reviewed the CHUI while it was being tested on a beta viewer last month (article March 4). While she liked it, she noted the majority of other testers didn't like it as well as the old interface. Checking the official forums, there were several threads on the subject, the longest one Here. Once again, the complaints outnumber those who like it, one person saying they were switching to the Firestorm viewer because of it. Complaints that yours truly has heard of the most are of bugs that interfere with one's Second Life experience, including crashing just after starting, freezes and crashes when IMing someone,  or just more frequent freezes and crashes altogether. Fortunetly, I have the Cool VL viewer to use, which has been starting up faster than the official one.

Bixyl Shuftan

At a Tail Sale

Grease Coakes wrote about his recent experiences at a Tail Sale at a furry club. What is a tail sale? It could be described as like a bachelor / bachellorette auction, but there's often more to it than companionship. Grease describes just what goes on at this kind of event.

Read Grease's account in Extra.