SLBA Press Release - The Second Life Bar Association (SLBA), an informal professional association for attorneys and legal scholars in the virtual world of Second Life, recently concluded its first-ever elections.
The SLBA’s new President-Elect is U.K. lawyer David Naylor. Naylor participates in Second Life as the avatar ‘Solomon Cortes,’ and is a partner at [...]
Posted in Commentary, Contract Law, Criminal Law, Ginko Financial, Linden Lab, Providers, Second Life, Securities Law, VB Features, VB Series, Virtual Government, Virtual Law, Virtual Worlds & Games on July 31st, 2007 73 Comments »
[Editor's Note, August 5, 2007: VB is providing ongoing coverage of the Ginko collapse in the comments to this article. I probably won't run further standalone articles unless criminal charges are brought, a lawsuit is filed, or Linden Lab takes action.]
One more post on this and I’m punching the clock at the financial desk [...]
Well, here’s the big news:
[20:05] Nicholas Portocarrero: The IPO is part of the process of a deal I have worked out with Allen, in order to acquire AVIX.
Good luck, everyone.
Posted in Contract Law, Criminal Law, Ginko Financial, Interviews, Second Life, Securities Law, VB Features, VB Series, Virtual Law, Virtual Worlds & Games on July 30th, 2007 22 Comments »
I spoke with ‘Nicholas Portocarrero’ tonight at length, on the record. I am going to do something I rarely do and run this transcript exactly as it occurred, without cleaning it up or editing it into something more reader-friendly. I’m not really in top form here, but I feel that this is a very honest [...]
Posted in Commentary, Contract Law, Criminal Law, Ginko Financial, Second Life, Securities Law, VB Features, VB Series, Virtual Law, Virtual Worlds & Games on July 30th, 2007 5 Comments »
VB’s primary coverage of the Ginko Financial bank run can be found in two posts below, but there are a few important facts are worth highlighting today.
Ginko is, amazingly, having an IPO to try to raise cash. There was actually some limited early activity, but I suspect it was just insiders churning to make it [...]
Legal Times (a D.C.-based publication) is running one of the better overview articles I’ve read on law in virtual worlds (free registration required). It doesn’t spend too much time on the D.C. angle, so it’s likely to be interesting to most readers. I am quoted a few times, and the reporter also talked [...]
Posted in Commentary, Contract Law, Criminal Law, Ginko Financial, Second Life, Securities Law, VB Features, VB Series, Virtual Law, Virtual Worlds & Games on July 28th, 2007 41 Comments »
I’ve been capturing data off of Ginko’s website the last two days, and the numbers do not lie. I am convinced that Ginko Financial is a fraud or is negligently managed. The proof is a little complex, but if you are a Ginko investor, reading this is absolutely worth your time.
At 6:00 PM SLT yesterday, [...]
Posted in Commentary, Contract Law, Criminal Law, Ginko Financial, Second Life, Securities Law, VB Features, VB Series, Virtual Law, Virtual Worlds & Games on July 27th, 2007 10 Comments »
One of Second Life’s high-interest, self-styled “banks,” Ginko Financial, suspended withdrawals this morning. Ginko head ‘Nicholas Portocarrero’ (who has not previously made his real identity public, and declined to do so now) said Ginko clients are unable to withdraw funds because Ginko’s “L$ reserve has been depleted.” He continued, “we are working to replenish it, [...]
Second Life commentator ‘Gwyneth Llewelyn’ has a press release up, presumably from the Portuguese Ministry of Justice, which says that the Ministry, “in cooperation with the University of Aveiro and the Faculty of Law of the Lisbon New University, will today launch an ‘e-Justice Centre’, a mediation and arbitration centre,” in Second Life.
By “today” they [...]
Second Life creator Linden Lab posted a policy clarification regarding gambling today, and it’s far more restrictive — and far more clear — than anything we’ve seen before. Though the subject of some debate, most commentators agreed that Linden Lab was flirting with trouble under its earlier policy given existing U.S. law. No [...]
