Charlotte Bartlett

there is a closed merchants group on FB discussing the above platform - please feel free to Im me if you want in to the discussion...

I wonder why they haven't released the results? it's been 2+ weeks since the competition closed..... @Grumpity Linden will anybody be updating us / or the winners? Thanks

The reason I asked, is I was musing whether LL are also including in that scope where somebody resells (as they purchased from a third party versus the creator) a pirate version of a gacha item so the incoming funds are flagged if the original asset has been subject to a DMCA 3 sellers down the line. The fact you brought the items from the creators so they were legit rules out my theory so thanks for confirming.

I have to ask - I really wish people would not make up metrics to support a fact - it seems to happen in at least 98% of posts (hah a little joke there) - nobody here knows how many people are male, female, or any other gender they identify with - they may know their little circle of friends or those they work with - so cite sources if you are using them as I have above otherwise it's meaningless data dreamt up by some unknown "source"? We also don't sell direct to our customers, it's all facilitated via their avatar so we can't also create actual consumer trend metrics to test against etc. It's one reason why it's so hard to track the Lindex situation as there are not sufficient metrics published so even with data scraping daily - the best you can see is the larger movements (e.g. 120,000 USD moved two points below the active sells in 24 hours, or the merchant who cashed out 19.6K USD twice in 7 days as it was the largest trade of the day). It's why I can't tell if LL are printing despite monitoring the Lindex real-time and taking data to evaluate. I can tell they are stabilising the rate so it's exactly at the rate within 2 points they want it at.

Thanks I remember reading that. To date I haven't been able to capture the underlying pattern if the money being "printed" is still actually selling to residents as it's real time and LL don't make appropriate metrics available to draw any proper conclusions. I would like to get an updated statement from the more recent CFO on it (esp as they are also CEO of Tilia I believe)..... paging @Ebbe Linden (what are the odds of a response do you think).

For those of you that had it happen with Gacha - did you purchase the item from the creator direct at the event/store or from another third party reseller?

oh great idea - thanks Pam!!!!

LL back in 2006 would gain about a small amount (less than) 10% of their revenue from transactions on the LINDEX (source - John Zdanowski, CFO of Linden Lab back then). They also actively (then at least) managed the flow to stop the L$ appreciating against the dollar when it was the good old days of growth. They did this via Linden stipends, selling L$ directly (so it was not always another user on the other end of that purchase transaction) and finally the "sinks." Now I don't know what their policy is today on their money printing activities perhaps somebody more informed can cite a source who had commented more recently. But as we have seen increased revenue streams coming from the merchants with a reduction in revenue streams coming from Land - perhaps LL have also adjusted over the years the balancing act between printing, sinks and stipends as a result and whether that less than 10% is still the case? There is definitely not a free fall going on, I believe there is still management of the rate happening as there isn't sufficient volatility based on the USD movements externally over the same period. Not sure what LL have said themselves on that front and if that contradicts any statements.

I am not really very experienced or good with Jira. I wondrered if anybody could help me? I put this in the merchants forum as the actual request is relating to Marketplace for Merchants so was hoping some of you may have some experience when you raised requests on Jira. I raised https://jira.secondlife.com/browse/BUG-228041 Dan Linden closed it as he said it was a duplicate of https://jira.secondlife.com/browse/BUG-227977 The scope of mine is significantly deeper and actually different as I wrote it - but they are definitely linked as in they are asking for changes with similar areas of marketplace functionality. I had 92 watchers on the one I wrote, so a few questions 1 - Do the people watching the closed one get updated on the one they kept open and linked to it? Or do they have to go in and watch that one too? Do you have to go in and manually keep an eye on your dashboard or does it fire off an email to you if something changes? 2 - has anybody had any experience with LL's approach to then defining the scope of a change - I am wondering if they ignore the closed request or take into account any of the elements in it that are not included in the other request. 3 - I have no idea how to add a comment to the one ending 977 to ask them to consider the scope that is not duplicated - is that restricted to key people etc? Or is it bad etiquette to do that as it's somebody else's request and the fact LL closed mine means all requirements I wrote in it are out of scope (they differ from the duplicate substantially)? I suspect I went too far into asking for the unachievable ha so the cost/benefit wouldn't stack up for them to do it. Who is to say my idea was any good (It probably wasn't) so the fact they closed it means in reality nothing can be considered from it. Sorry it's made me realise how clueless I am with these things, and now feel a bit silly! Thanks

Money Market Accounts at Financial Institutions should be performing KYC and validating your address. It wouldn't be each year, more likely each 5 years they would refresh their data and it may be they are able to do that via your credit and other reports versus asking for your documentation again.

Out of interest, what type of RL institutions are you talking about?

Not sure if this is helpful but as a bit of background: This is dependent on which country you are in, but let's assume USA. Any bank opening an account for you would require similar ID to the above, and all would require your date of birth, social security number and photo ID. If your photo ID has an address on it (e.g. DL versus Passport) they may be flexible on the second proof of address* but see below on why this is. Tilia are simply complying with regulations like the Patriot Act etc to ensure you are whom you say you are. It may be a bit unusual to provide a photo of the social security card - but I suspect this is due to the fact they are not running a credit check to validate your identity when you cash out, so this is their method to validate it's a correct SSN / *address (utility bill) versus running a check directly. Tilia is registered via FinCen and an "exchange". As a result they are defined as a Money Service Business and had to implement a risk-based know-your-customer (KYC) and anti-money-laundering (AML) program, and also file suspicious activity reports (SARs) where warranted. (Linden Research Inc. was also registered prior to Tilia). The regulation around virtual currency is tightening up, for example this year Americans will see on their tax returns a specific question around any dealings they have had in virtual currency. I suspect we will see a regular requirement to refresh our ID information with Tilia (e.g. once every x amount of years) as they are also required to ensure they revalidate information during the life of your relationship with them.

❤️ I am currently retired as a Mole, so sadly not creating houses for LL right now and focused purely on Scarlet Creative. But who knows what the future brings!! Meanwhile I am stalking this thread for inspiration 😁

And one day I will stop calling it Mindcraft

I can only have sympathies with those types of requests. I have in my picks a little note that says due to time I can't help with customization or modification but each week the odd request slips through. I have my standard copy and paste ready ha and this seems to stop any further follow up bar a thank you. "I am so sorry I can't help on modifications, tutorials, or customization requests. If you are keen to learn though, you can! Please see https://strawberrysingh.com/2017/09/04/become-content-creator-second-life/ to get started and if you have any follow up questions you will need to ask your fellow residents. There is a community on the forums - please see https://community.secondlife.com/forums/forum/220-creation/ you can search for any question you have and if not already asked you can post one yourself. Best of luck!" I paste this about once a week- I used to put it in my picks but as they don't read it hah was pointless.

I think that's a really good point, and I wonder why? Merchants as residents really have quite a challenging environment to operate in, we have from day one. I ask myself why do I still create (it's not for the income after 13 years) and for me my brain still likes the "building". I don't like doing it in Mesh (although I like creating renders for 3d as the workflow is vastly different) and I miss the old SL. However, I continue (as I actually enjoy the challenge of learning the tools) despite all the annoying steps included in SL creation from using the appalling marketplace interface, through to all the surrounding and copious levels of administration with a release in SL. I am one type of user case who falls into "exploration, crafting (and that includes taking pictures/posting of the crafting), avatar customisation". I am keen to know why other merchants here still create? Personal circumstances, love of SL, love of creating, profit etc? From what I understand, there a few commercial entities using SL in content creation who make serious US$. The rest of the merchant community probably falls into a small tier of what 200 odd creators (just going by those I see active in events, or selling etc) who make RL salaries (even if that may be minimum wage at one end), then it slides quickly into hobby money/supportive income and just to purchase things in world so never cashing out. Out of those 200 making the better profits, I suspect a higher percentage create fashion for avatar customisation, then moving into home/decor for scene customisation and so forth from full perm creators to service based merchants like Caspervend, Blogotex etc. I personally wish LL had not gone with Sansar with the hindsight we now have. Instead I wished they had created a Gen 2 world of SL so patching stops, and it gives LL a more viable baseline to operate from that didn't have mesh import as a feature. I would have preferred (selfishly) a SL 2.0 platform that takes inspiration from Unity, Mindcraft, and the SL avatar customization capabilities without mesh import but using a bridge format to have the capabilities inworld without having to develop them directly. Mindcraft from memory had over 90 odd Million monthly users in 2018 as a guide. It has the same spirit of early SL to me. So there is a proven user type out there that people like that type of thing and there is also proven user cases that link. Using those KYR survey's I mentioned would help LL understand if I am just a weirdo, or if there are more of me out there now in SL, and with some targeted research if those instagram "creators" I mention would be potential candidates to become new residents. Steve Jobs is no longer with us, creating something new that people didn't know they wanted until they found it is a rare skill. SL achieved that when it started , that need still exists in my opinion and there is scale to it if it allowed itself to evolve towards it. I may go crazy and just add SL 2.0 to my 2021 wish list 🤣

I have found the stats in this thread really interesting and to see all the perspectives. This thread needs some pie charts ChinRey do you have the number of active users % since 2018 per chance? Wonder if the trend was different since then or the same. From what I have seen in the last 2 years - the key goals have been: (a) Land - stop decline in land (initial goal) and reverse it gradually back to a growth situation (stretch goal) by reducing tier, reducing internal costs with virtual hosting etc; (b) Merchant - hedge (slightly) the above by increasing revenue from the merchant community; and (c) Resident - invest into more premium features to attract/retain more subscribers (d) Legal/Regulatory - be compliant with increasing regulation and serve potential wider markets- e.g. Tilia. (e) Market Position - Sansar product (note I think this is where LL went wrong sorry, the market is not there at the moment but hindsight is a wonderful thing). I do believe Ebbe's overarching goal with SL was to first "stop the bleeding". On the land side thanks to Tyche Shepherd's stats we can track: As of December 2018, private region ownership finally stopped shrinking after 7 years of decline. There was 2.1% growth in private regions from 2017. 16120 private estates & 7691 Linden owned sims. As of June 2019 16099 private estates & 8035 Linden owned. So the small amount of growth stopped but remained stable on the private region side and certainly didn't revert back to shrinkage. Linden increased their owned ones slightly. As of 1 November 2019 16145 private estates & 8371 Linden owned. So the small growth had virtually stopped for private estates but didn't revert to shrinkage. LL sim's however continued to grow perhaps in line with their Resident goals e.g. premium benefits. I hope they now feel it's time to invest into growth - the decline has been held at bay for now 12 months so they stopped the bleeding. I hope they can be somewhat more open on the goals with us. My holiday list is below of what I would wish LL to do in 2020. In essence, give me more residents who stay so I have the opportunity to make them customers. Win/Win. increasing visibility of SL to new users who use other platforms with user cases that appeal to them. (e.g. the instagramer who loves creating decor or fashion scenes, who may enjoy creating virtual scenes - plus influencers are key). Target external connectivity so we push more out from SL to RL versus having to leave SL to share SL (if that makes sense) e.g third party APIs from social media so we can cross populate product listings to social media posts (i.e.2020 is time to really sort out Marketplace as a new gen platform with proper investment - don't keep patching). Perform KYR (know your resident) with surveys to capture in-depth data on how/why/what/when etc residents use SL and other data like their RL hobbies. You can capture all sorts of things like how many hours they spend, are they steam users, do they like crafting, do they influence on social media, do they ever fly in SL, how many people do they talk to, how did they make their first friend in SL, what events do they enjoy, how do they find new friends, how sociable are they etc etc. It can then help define user groups linked to user cases etc. Data can be used to focus the strategy to target similar residents to sign up and stick to the platform also whether enhancements really are on point for the way current users use the platform or future users may want to. No doubt the fees will continue to increase - let's hope growth and investment back into SL now increase so we can see a wider benefit in 2020.

If it's a commercial project particularly breakables, you may want to consider taking it to a RL agreement if you expect there to be revenue/profit involved. Also that you are properly formed as a LLC in RL (or the equivalent in your home country). Some areas you may want to consider: 1 - Review if you need a Legal RL agreement covering who owns the IP rights of any work they submit to you. The agreement could also cover renumeration and that they are a sub contractor and not an employee etc. Also if a dispute occurs how it will be handled. 2 - Non Compete and disclosure clause may be worthwhile if you expose information to them e.g. if you provide them the mesh so they can texture, they cannot create a derivative from that mesh to sell etc. There are people who have worked on Breakables who had some experiences including legal action - so am sure there are more pitfalls to avoid - really depends if you are making hobby item or this is commercial and what your concerns are. You may want to google Ozimals etc.

I am so excited for this. This was requested in a long ago thread about marketplace enhancements then we popped the Jira in. Thank you LL! This is such a great feature.

Counting my 500 dollar notes right now including the whole bank pile. 😂

I think what that writer meant to put was Linden Research Inc. has been defined as a Money Service Business (their registration is 31000118037625) versus that the Linden dollar specifically has been classified as a virtual currency back in 2013. Their classification is 409 as a Money Transmitter. Effectively, that means they transfer funds or provide payment services - not that L$ therefore is a virtual currency as a result of that registration. I am wading through material as I am not sure how that writer confirmed his statement that L$ was specifically defined as a convertible currency as even in the guidance from Fincen I would strongly question how L$ fits that profile except for the "value" part or whether he made that assumption on the basis of the MSB filing alone and mis spoke. So in summary they may have that status simply as they send us USD when we cash out, or they may have it due to the cash out AND the fact they are an Administrator of an exchange. Their classification papers do not differentiate. Either way, it's confusing with the guidance from FinCen over convertible currencies versus the registration aspect that occurred at a different time. I certainly would not be going against my CPA on the basis on a writer's article (even with his credentials) there needs to be a clear communication from @Linden Lab on whether any of their MSB filings or TPSO status have led them to believe the L$ is now considered a virtual currency. Until they do, I am going to stick with their TOS statement as my defense.

Also this isn't a new question - I found a piece back in 2013 from Inara Pey along with Mona Eberhardt and Trinity Dejavu asking the very same question as FinCen definition would tack it as a virtual currency despite the TOS wording which was changed from currency to token historically.... Who knows! I am going to follow my CPAs advice and hope for the best but may put additional funding aside in case it is a virtual currency.

it's what I have always used too. But reading the IRS paper that came out in November 2018, I have to say I think Luna's CPA may be on to the fact that regardless of the TOS. L$ because it is exchanged for USD between players via a TPSO it's has become a virtual currency under IRS treatment. Unless LL give us more guidance, it's us merchants who will end up navigating whether our particular CPA got it right or wrong. The TOS does help I think though as a defense if we have got it wrong along with the CPA I hope!

On the OP - this is not new - LL have been classed as a TPSO (Third Party Settlement Organization) for some time now, and have issued 1099Ks as a result. However the thing that is not settled for me is are L$ a virtual currency or a game token. If the former, the recent IRS guidance does count. If the later, does it? I know a lot of merchants have used the token method for tax purposes so pay taxes on the point they convert into USD as that's now income. However, if virtual currency the treatment from the IRS was refocused (due to Bitcoin etc) which makes it a much broader reporting need. In November 2018 the IRS published more guidance some bits from that below around virtual currencies: (1) Virtual currency you are holding is treated as "property" by the IRS . (2) Virtual currency is not treated as currency that could generate foreign currency gain or loss for U.S. federal tax purposes. (3) A taxpayer who receives virtual currency as payment for goods or services must, in computing gross income, include the fair market value of the virtual currency, measured in U.S. dollars, as of the date that the virtual currency was received. (See Publication 525, Taxable and Nontaxable Income, for more information on miscellaneous income from exchanges involving property or services.). So this seems to apply in your example of selling a sim. But to then confuse us some more: (4) For U.S. tax purposes, transactions using virtual currency must be reported in U.S. dollars. Therefore, taxpayers will be required to determine the fair market value of virtual currency in U.S. dollars as of the date of payment or receipt. If a virtual currency is listed on an exchange and the exchange rate is established by market supply and demand, the fair market value of the virtual currency is determined by converting the virtual currency into U.S. dollars (or into another real currency which in turn can be converted into U.S. dollars) at the exchange rate, in a reasonable manner that is consistently applied. (It doesn't state you have to sell the L$ to realize the fair market value, just simply determine it). Also I noted in recent advice (again assuming L$ is a virtual currency and not a token), if you pay somebody in L$ e.g. you have a contractor, blogger manager etc - they are also required to report that L$ income using the same rules above (and far wider rules ofc) and if you pay them over $600 USD in the year if you are treating them as an independent contractor there is more reporting for you to do. It gets even more tricky if they are a NON US person as there are withholding requirements to navigate. With wider points: let's say you sold that sim for over USD 600 equivalent so for the purchaser and seller: (5) Payment made using virtual currency is subject to information reporting to the same extent as any other payment made in property. For example, a person who in the course of a trade or business makes a payment of fixed and determinable income using virtual currency with a value of $600 or more to a U.S. non-exempt recipient in a taxable year is required to report the payment to the IRS and to the payee. Examples of payments of fixed and determinable income include rent, salaries, wages, premiums, annuities, and compensation. Question is how would you know where your sim purchaser lived, or if you are the purchaser yourself where the seller lived (this would fall on LL I guess who facilitate sim transfers and still technically own the sim - who knows haven't read the TOS in a while?). The million dollar question for me. Is L$ really a virtual currency or a game token..... 🙄 Does LL being a TPSO point to virtual currency or just because they facilitate the exchange and cash out to USD is that why they are classed as one - needs a professional to figure that out. LL's TOS points to a game token. 3.1. "Linden Dollars" are virtual tokens that we license. Each Linden Dollar is a virtual token representing contractual permission from Linden Lab to access features of Second Life. Linden Dollars are available for Purchase or distribution at Linden Lab's discretion, and are not redeemable for monetary value from Linden Lab." and further in "You acknowledge that Linden Dollars are not currency or any type of currency substitute or financial instrument, and are not redeemable for any sum of money from Linden Lab at any time." I spoke to two CPAs and both differed on opinion! So it's tough for any merchant really to get this right I suspect unless LL come out and clarify their TPSO status rationale and whether the L$ is a virtual currency or a token. Also we do need to clarify if a token falls under the IRS definition of Virtual Currency (both CPAS differed on this one thought yes, one thought no) which is in opposite to LL TOS technically but linked still to the TPSO part and the fact whilst LL won't buy them other residents do so they have "value".

I think what you are looking for a lot of other people are too. The trouble is we don’t always know what that is. If you ever want to sketch a layout that would be your dream home and have a Pinterest of images you love, I would be happy to take a look.