Citing the complications arising from variations in gambling laws across the globe, Linden Labs has decided to simply ban all gambling on Second Life servers, according to a post on the official Linden Second Life blog.
Justification for the new policy is as follows:
"Linden Lab and Second Life Residents must comply with state and federal laws applicable to regulated online gambling, even when both operators and players of the games reside outside of the US. And, because there are a variety of conflicting gambling regulations around the world we have chosen to restrict gambling in Second Life."
No wagering will be allowed on games that "(a) rely on chance or random number generation to determine a winner, OR (b) rely on the outcome of real-life organized sporting events," and provide a payout in Linden Dollars, real-world dollars, or "anything of value."
This new policy effectively shuts down any and all casinos currently operating within Second Life.
