Linden's VAT bombshell hits the SL art world
An early, obsessively detailed island that epitomized Second Life's first explosion of art and nature is now on sale. The move is a protest against an abrupt announcement that European value added tax (a sales tax) will be charged by Linden Labs. 25% more on a monthly charge of $200 or more is a big jump. But there has to be more to this than a tax protest.
The island was one of the first places I visited. It is a combination artificial ecology and pastiche of Maya art and architecture. A product of a time when there were only a few thousand people using SL (I entered when there were 350,000) and a skillful artifact created with crude 3D tools of the time. Now there are almost 10 million people who have tried SL, and times have changed.
At 1.6 million lindens (around $6000 US) Lauks Nest is one of the most expensive properties on sale in SL now. A bit of virtual world history, and a patron may well step in. But what would $6000 do for a living Maya family right now? For an under-funded archaeologist, for that matter?
Posted by Dave at September 30, 2007 10:53 PM
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