WSE's CEO Rumored To Have Stated Delisting For Speaking Ill of WSE, Presently Auditing 'Customer Accounts'
January 11, 2008 by Nobody Fugazi
On the tails of this interview at Metaverse Journal, I got reports from multiple sources who choose to stay anonymous that the software developer for 'WSE 4.0' is auditing customer accounts - which leads to some interesting questions such as:
- Why are accounts being audited?
- How are accounts being audited?
- Who is the software developer, and what experience do they have for auditing?
And auditing of accounts for 30-45 days does seem a bit of overkill for something that LukeConnell Vandeverre goes out of his way to point out is a fictional currency:
[20:52] LukeConnell Vandeverre: and buying fictional currency isn’t an investment it is purchasing game to participate in the fictional economy which is a feature of a product provided by linden lab..
On that, I believe that the currency is as fictional as LukeConnell Vandeverre and Linden Lab are. It is almost as if Luke is begging to be challenged.
That this was reported by multiple anonymous sources is interesting. I would call them 'fictional' sources, but clearly they are not. And these sources do have credibility. They also told me that LukeConnell openly stated that anyone who speaks ill of WSE will be delisted.
This is a lot of control and power for 'fictional currency' trading. It doesn't add up when you balance the statements with the actions to control the 'fictional currency'. If it's fictional, why close for 30 days for upgrades that include 'customer account audits'?
And it begs, too, for the 'fictional currency' veil to be popped - which is one of the reasons that Linden Lab probably instituted the bank ban.
Even with these sorts of rumors - since I cannot name the sources, I cannot claim that they are verifiable and be objective - things are not adding up. While I do concede the possibility that some people are upset enough about WSE's impromptu closure conveniently before Linden Lab's bank ban, I do not think that multiple sources would collaborate in such a way. That it confirms a lot of suspicions about the WSE, and demonstrates a continued lack of internal criticism healthy to any institution is troublesome.
The WSE has some explaining to do. But if you ask them, they might delist your company - or perhaps even seize your account during an audit.
Ain't 'fictional currency' grand? The WSE may well be a silver bullet - and someone may well shoot themselves in the foot with their own silver bullet. Unfortunately, they may take a world down with them.
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Let's test and see...
Well, let's test the theory and see. I am one of the CEO's on the WSE. Just last week, I speculated on the effects of the new banking policy on WSE, on my own blog, and made an announcement on the WSE linking to it. The WSE post was removed by WSE staff almost immediately - they considered it to be "anti-WSE". Personally I thought it was quite moderate... (http://deliciousdemar.blogspot.com/2008/01/reflections-on-second-lifes-n...)
First off, let me be clear - I hope that the WSE succeeds and is allowed to continue under the new policy. I also in many ways respect and admire LukeConnell for what he has done there. Being a company on the WSE has been overall an extrememely positive experience for me, and for the people who have invested in my company. I have used their capital to expand a lot and provide excellent value to the people that bought in.
Do I think that WSE knew in advance that LL was releasing a banking policy? No. I REALLY doubt it -and the closure had been planned for some time before that.
However, let's see if speaking ill of the WSE gets me delisted... I have already shared my thoughts directly with Luke, and if he read this, would doubtless be pissed as hell that I am saying them in a public forum. I know he wants us all to tow the company line - but me not so good at that...
The closure and upgrade have been handled atrociously. The WSE has a long history of springing things like this on us with no notice, poor and scant information, and communications that seem scripted and stiff. As many people have pointed out - any company worth its salt creates a development environment to get a new release ready and is able to convert very quickly - 24 hours would often be considered too long. But, since Luke hasn't answered any of the questions you have asked, we don't really know the specifics of the changes that are being made.
And yes, Luke has in the past made some decisions about closing accounts and delisting companies that are suspect. But I can guarantee that there was more going on than simply speaking out against the WSE.
And, as a named source (but definitely not an official one), I can confirm that accounts are being audited - but there is nothing nefarious in this. The current version of WSE has some bugs which have resulted in incorrect balances of Lindens and of shares on some accounts. The audit is a simple transaction review - it is not a financial audit in the accounting sense.
I have also speculated that after the WSE opens again (and I think it will - for how long nobody knows. and not THIS Nobody - hehe), there is going to be a run on the market, and lots of people will cash out for what they can get.
Personally, I am stuck. I HAVE to root for the WSE - and so I do. But I am constantly calling on Luke, privately and publically, to open up and become more transparent, put in place some checks and balances so that one person cannot be in a position to make decisions alone, etc. etc. In the meantime, I will continue to do whatever I can to make the WSE a more viable and successful venture. What else can I do?
Del
Thanks, Del
I think that's a very reasonable response, and balances out some of what I have been hearing. As always, I appreciate your input.
But then, with all of the surprises and questions surrounding the WSE... I can't reasonably find a defense for it in many regards. I don't want to see anyone fail - but I also do not want to see people continuously screwed over. Ginko, GPB, WTF - it all seems a scam from the outside looking in.
Especially since 'game tokens' can be cashed out.
/me waves at Nicholas Portocarrero and LukeConnell Vandeverre.
Second Life Consultant
Fictional Profits?!
"[20:57] LukeConnell Vandeverre: Then by spending L$50,000 lindens on the WSE you would be well aware that the WSE makes it very clear its not real and not to be used as a real investment opportunity to make money and that if you do it, then you take it upon yourself to take the risk that you may or may not be able to acquire more linden dollars than you started with and that you may or may not be able to sell the license to use them on the currency exchange"
Luke must be inexperienced or naive, what he has is a heaven for fraudsters and scammers. So his saying that anyone can raise money and run away with it. No criminality involved since its not real money. Investors get WTF and case is closed. He may not know it but he could run into alot rl trouble.
that's where he's clueless.
The trouble with '[w:fictional currency]' is that it can only exist in a fictional world. Second Life can be called many things, but it most certainly is not fictional. Synthetic? Yes. Virtual? A misused descriptor. There is nothing virtual about virtual worlds; the experience is quite real even in a synthetic environment. Ask Disney.
If the WSE was not buying or selling Linden dollars, fictional currency would stand up. But it does exchange national currencies (note the phrase) for the Linden dollar and vice versa. So if you cut through all the BS and apply common sense - something lots of people have intuitively done - you know it ain't fictional.
Now, to be fair, WSE isn't the only one with the disclaimer of 'fictional currency' - but that is inherited from Linden Lab's own description of the Linden dollar, which in and of itself may be some legal maneuvering but again - common sense is repulsed by the idea.
Its currency. People make a living off of it. They profit, thus the tax folk around the world are looking at it. When it was just Linden Lab spouting 'fictional currency', it didn't cause too much of a problem because they had things kind of under control. But things are out of control, and if they aren't careful...
Second Life Consultant
Anonymous for the obvious reasons.
I really wish I'd done a bit more research before putting my money into WSE, instead of just relying on the recommendation of a few friends. But at this point, all I can do is hope that they come back at the end of their "up to" 30 days, so I can pull my funds out ASAP.
Perhaps this "auditing" is a way for them to come up with the funds to pay out accounts when they come back? After all, shut down enough "fraudulant" accounts, and your debt drops...
WSE CLOSED FOR AN UPGRADE
The WSE is closed for a major upgrade. It has been made very clear in official WSE announcements that this process involves fixing existing bugs as part of the overall upgrade process. To fix bugs the WSE must audit the entire system to identify any bugs (code errors) and any system errors resulting from those bugs.
Enough with the conspiracy theories. The WSE closed for the stated reasons which was the WSE 4.0 upgrade and it was in no way related to any so called advanced warning or leak by Linden Lab. The decision to close virtual banking services by Linden Lab is entirely unrelated to closure. The timing between the two events was simply coincidence and the WSE has issued a an audio statement in response to the policy by Linden Lab on their front page.
So you say.
Echoing what you read gives me as much respect for you as I have for a parrot.
Since I doubt that you are a parrot, and I want to believe that you are a person who uses critical thought to come to conclusions, please answer the following:
If you do not have responses to these, I suggest you find them or I shall taunt you a second time.
Second Life Consultant
"I am worth my weight in caffeine"
If you are Nobody, then you would know the answer to "What bugs are being fixed?" will never be answered. No corporate (company/ synthetic entity, what ever you want to call it) relations would ever state what bugs they had.
That's like the banks closing the doors on Sunday mornings for its upgrades and instead of telling people "We are temporarily unavailable while we perform regular maintenance", they put up a note saying, "we have noticed a severe hole in our firewall leading directly to our accounts middleware opening up our database for simple hacks"...
Just a thought, I'll refrain from attacking, but just keep in mind how you are "taunting". I have a lot of respect for you and your discussions and reports.
Sincerely,
Logansan Oh.
(Ps. I was not the parrot before, just stumbled on this today and I am still trying to catch up.)
I am.
And, to a limited extent you are correct. The whole truth comes out. But the fact of the matter is that there is no evidence that there are bugs, a history of the WSE going down the last time that they gave permissions to people to modify their ATMs (noted first here), etc.
AND - its still a dodge. The bugs in any system can be fixed in a development environment before being applied to a production environment.
Let's use your metaphor. If your bank closed with a note announcing, "We will open sometime in February. Sorry for the inconvenience." Then, the day after your government says it is closing all banks. What would you think?
Either your metaphor isn't good, or something just ain't right. Pick one. :-)
Second Life Consultant
Delist?
"The WSE has some explaining to do. But if you ask them, they might delist your company"
Pffft... yeah sure, whatever... I'm sure no one want to do anything for their company with WSE at this point. Ask away people.