Why does LL allow groups to steal our L$?

[BaronGuntharBerntVonVought]

Recently, I had L$ taken from my account and on transaction history it shows as 'Group Liability'. My question is why does LL even allow this feature in SL? Personally, I don't think it's right for a group to steal my L$ without notifying me first that they are going to do this. I checked the knowledge base to discover that there is a pay group liability and receive dividend setting that can be enabled by group owner for the different roles in the group but do not believe LL should allow such a setting for anything other than a group owner. With any transaction in SL I'm asked whether I agree to it before proceeding so why shouldn't taking my L$ to pay for group liability be any different?

[Amethyst Jetaime]

Groups don't steal your Lindens.  It is up to you to check to see if you are responsible for group liabilities when you join.  It is right there and clear to see if you look.

Groups are for more than promoting stores or as social groups.  Some groups own land together and it necessary to spread certain land costs among the groups.  That is actually the reason groups were created to start with.  Using them for promotion and social reasons was never intended or anticipated by LL, as short sighted as that sounds.

So when you join a group, check the group liabilities to see if you are responsible for any.  If you are and don't want to pay, leave the group BEFORE you are charged.  You can also check with the group owner to see if that is what they intended.  Many don't and don't realize they need to uncheck that block.

Of course the flip side of group liabilities is dividends.  If you are responsible for liabilities, you also get a equal share of any money paid to the group.

 

[Rolig Loon]

In addition to Ariel's excellent answer, it's worth noting that most groups have very low expenses indeed.  Typically, they are nothing more than the cost of listing a group's shop oir club or whatever in Search.  That amounts to L$30 per week, or about 12 cents.  Spread over all group members, the average person usually has a liability of a penny or two a week.  It's hardly enough to fret about, and it's your fair share of the advertzing that helps the group's visibility.  And. of course, you can always leave if you really don't have a penny or don't want to support the group.

[Monti Messmer]

@Rolig Ariel=Amethyst

Group liabilities should be named when joining a group, no matter what they are for or why Lindens created groups.

Joining a group is bit like making a contract, so all costs should be mentioned on the "join" button.

Monti

[Muletta]

Amethyst - Yes, but it is not enough to check when he joins the group. He has to check every day then, as the group owners can start charging the members, anytime they like.

Rolig - 30 L$ for search fee, spread all over the members is not much, you are right... But what if the group has 500 members? Do all pay 1 L$ a week, or only 30 of the members? ... Or else it would be a weekly search fee at 500 L$.

 

:matte-motes-wink:

[Lindal Kidd]

All of the responders have some pretty good points.  The "group liabilities" feature is a long-standing weak point (or at least, a point of confusion) in the Second Life system.

But, to address the OP's concern:  The group is not "stealing" your $L.  Yes, there is a group ability called "pay group liabilities and receive group dividends," and this ability can be assigned to any group role.  In fact, it is turned on BY DEFAULT.  An awful lot of group owners don't even know about this, or neglect to change it, because it's way down at the bottom of the group abilities list.

If you don't like paying a share of the group's fees (I don't, myself) bring this to the attention of the group owner.  If they don't correct it, leave the group.  (NOTE:  Be sure your request to the group owner is polite.  Accusing them of "stealing" is apt to get you ejected from the group in a hurry.)

If the group owns land, though, you might not want to have this ability removed.  Because, when the group owner decides to close the club and sell the land, you will get a share of the proceeds.  We have a lot of surprised group owners who come here to ask the question, "I sold my group-owned land.  Where is my money?"  The answer is, it's split up between all the group members who've been paying your expenses.

What goes around, comes around.

[Amethyst Jetaime]

I agree with you Monti. Unfortunately that is not the case so people need to take the responsibility of checking on it to protect themselves if they don't want to pay anything.

 

[Amethyst Jetaime]

The $1 share of the fee is rotated among the members so an individual member may go weeks before they are charged depending on the size of the group.