This Saturday at The Science Circle

 

 

Saturday May 10

 

    ~*~

 

    At 10 AM PST   

    Department of Anthropology and Geography at Colorado State University

    https://www.sciencecircle.org/event/csu/

    By Meryl McBride/Meryl Johnson

    Location: Auditorium

 

    ~*~

 

    NOTE: Non-members required to register once

    IM Jes Cobalt or Nymf Hathaway

╚══════════════════════════════ The Science Circle (72,129,30) ═╝

Sunweaver Bay Fire Department

Recently the Sunweaver Estates, where the Second Life Newser office makes it's home, had a fire station built. As it turns out, the owner of the location is a fireman in real life, and had been encouraged to make the place in Sunweaver Bay the estate's own Fire Department by our very own Becky "Sha" Shamen. In her story today, Becky describes how she met the man, and how the firehouse came to be.

Read Becky's story in Places.

SOPA Proposal to Declare Unauthorized Streaming a Felony is Back

Some bad news for Second Life radio. About two years since originally being shot down with SOPA, a proposal to make a felony the streaming of copyrighted works without the expressed permission of those holding the copyright is back. According to the Huffington Post, last week the Department of Commerce's Internet Policy Task Force revived the proposal (pdf link). "Such a provision" the Post stated, "if interpreted broadly could apply to people who upload covers of themselves performing songs to YouTube without permission."

The proposal was originally part of the proposed SOPA legislation two years ago, but the bill was soon shelved after much public protest.

Source: Huffington Post

Virtual Cash Makes Real-Life News with Bitcoin Crash

By Bixyl Shuftan


Last month, the US Department of the Treasury issued "guidelines" aimed at virtual currencies. While the Linden dollar will be affected by the Government's interest, another virtual currency with a larger distribution and volume was also targeted: the bitcoin.

Wikipedia defines the Bitcoin, abbreviated to BTC sometimes, as "an online commodity that is based on an open-source, peer-to-peer encryption protocol … creation and transfer is accomplished on an Internet-based network and is not managed by any central authority." Bitcoins are created through "miners" that automatically add new amounts by "adding codes to a decentralized log, which is updated and archived periodically." They're transferred electronically, either via computer, or through handheld devices like smartphones.

Computer geeks are sometimes drawn to it due to it's online nature. But as banks are not necessary in the exchange, and it is not created by governments, some people are attracted to it due to the lack of involvement by larger institutions. It's also gotten some skeptics because of the lack of involvement by larger institutions, and concerns that drug traffickers and other criminals use it as an easy way to sell illegal goods.

Bitcoin went through what some are calling a "bubble" recently when it's value jumped from about $90 in late March to a high of $260 on the morning of Wednesday April 10th. Then the value crashed, plummeting to around $130 in six hours. It regained some of it's lost value the following day, rising to $160. As of the writing of this article, bitcoincharts.com listed the value as $99.00.


The crash was linked to an unknown bitcoin owner who up and gave away $13,000 in bitcoins via the Reddit social website. But there have been other problems. There have been attempts by hackers to break into computers and make it mine bitcoins for the hijacker. News of this did cause a drop in the value of Bitcoins on April 4, but the price surge continued again. There was also an account hacking in which $12,800 worth of Bitcoin was stolen.


The crash has caused some to feel Bitcoins, or any other unregulated currency, is just too risky. But others are still trading them. Even as all this was going on, people in the US Treasury Department had already taken notice. In March, the Department of Treasury's FinCEN issued it's guidelines, defining Bitcoin as a "de-centralized virtual currency" with "no central repository and no single administrator, and … persons may obtain by their own computing or manufacturing effort." Like Linden Labs, Bitcoin miners in the United States will have to file anti-money laundering reports with the Treasury Department, in addition to registering with them. There is a "blurred definition" however between users of Bitcoin and "administrators." Could a miner be considered just a user as long as the Bitcoins created weren't traded for US dollars or other real-life money?

Already having caught the interest of the US Government, with the news of hacking attacks and the market volatility, bitcoin is highly likely to face additional scrutiny from both American and European authorities. It's laissez-faire days of being free from big business and government may soon be coming to a close.

For information on what a bitcion cost, check this April 14th article at techcrunch.com.

Second image from salon.com

Sources: Wikipeda, BBC News, CNN, verge.com, Modern Payment Systems

Bixyl Shuftan

New Guidelines on Virtual Currency by US Government Mean Complications For Linden Lab

By Bixyl Shuftan

Last month, the US Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued an "interpretive guidance" (pdf link) or guidelines for the regulation of virtual currencies. Alex Kadochnikov of the "Modern Payment Systems" blog had a few things to say about the matter and what it means for Linden Lab. For the average Second Life resident, these guidelines don't directly affect him/her. But for Linden Lab, "FinCEN now considers Linden Dollar as a convertible centralized virtual currency," and it means regulations and paperwork.

To begin with, Linden Lab's terms of service doesn't refer to Linden dollars as virtual currency but each being a "virtual token" or a "limited license" that could be traded, "Linden dollars are not real currency or any type of financial instrument …" But these words haven't meant much to residents who've treated it as money within Second Life, the only risk being if they ever lost their connection to the Grid. As Kadochnikov wrote, "FinCEN goes by the approach 'If it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it is a duck.' And Linden Dollar sure does 'quack' like one. Linden dollar is a virtual currency because it has value in real currency (a buck will buy you about 270 linden bucks); and people buy good and services with it."

As "an administrator and an exchanger of virtual currency" they were a "Money Service Business" or MSB under US Treasury guidelines. As a result they, "must register with the Treasury Department and make Anti-Money Laundering and periodic reports." This means more expenses for Linden Lab as, "these reports are not little one page chores a trained monkey can do. There is a reason corporate compliance departments are stacked with lawyers and accountants. As you can imagine both of these items cost a lot of money."

Hamlet Au thought that this would mean Linden Lab will have to hire two or three additional lawyers just to deal with this matter, costing them about a half million dollars a year. The only other option it seems would be to abandon the Linden dollar and deal just with real world currencies. While it would save them these bureaucratic headaches, it would be "like turning off a printing press that prints money. And who in their right mind wants to do that?"

Hamlet Au thought there was one additional complication. If the Lab was thinking of selling Second Life, it just became more difficult as any buyer would have to deal with these regulations and expenses. One result of the Treasury Department's new guidelines may be that Linden Lab can pretty much forget about someone buying the virtual world from them.

Second Life Newser did briefly discuss the matter with Jacek Shuftan, the head of it's sponsor Podex Exchange. He expressed suspicion of the US Government's motives, but "every coin has two sides, if (Linden dollars) were virtual currency, it would be more trustworthy, and (Second Life) will have more investors." So perhaps the move has some benefits.

Sources: New World Notes, Modern Payment Systems

Bixyl Shuftan

Bay City Mole Day 2013

Saturday February 2 might have been Groundhog Day to most, but in Bay City it was Mole Day. The Moles in Second Life are the fixers who help the Mainland with stability, and Bay City set a day aside to honor them. DrFran Babcock was there to check out the event and festivities.

Read DrFran's article in Events.

Burn2 Rite of Passage

Burning Equinox begins this coming Friday at 10:30 AM SL time. Workers are preparing the playa for lots of fun. Kev Sweetwater has the Department of Public Works busy constructing roads, public buildings, The Man, a Temple and more. There is a group creating new porta-potties with all kinds of décor.


There will be activities going on all day Saturday and Sunday. Doctor Gascoigne has stage managers ready to assist the performers at the stages. I found the Myst Dancers on stage preparing for their show. They will enthrall you with their moves. Many well known DJs have signed up for the parties which look like they are going al day and all night. Ladyslipper Constantine and Exorcist Uriza are busy with the Rangers who will be assisting anyone on the playa. This midyear time on the playa is always a great time that you all will enjoy so remember the dates March 25 through March 27.

One thing I am sad to hear is the Yokohama Marching Band will not be able to perform due to the horrific situation in Japan. I know there will be some fun races going on with awesome art cars. The Lamplighters will be processing daily which is always a wonderful sight. Plan some time to spend on the playa.

Keep an eye on this blog for more information: http://www.burn2.org/ You will find the entrance SLurl on that page also for Friday at 10:30 with the Grand opening at 11:00 AM SL time.

Gemma Cleanslate