{{tag>"games" "high tech capital" }}
======State of Play V: Aileen Sim and First Meta======
Last night I met [[http://www.firstmeta.com/main/team|Aileen Sim]] from [[http://firstmeta.com|First Meta]]. She explained that they were issuing credit cards in SL, and had plans to issue real-world cards which draw against Linden Dollars.

I asked whether First Meta was regulated - Aileen explained that she had approached the Singaporean regulatory authority, who said that there was no need for regulation on the basis that they did not recognise the Linden Dollar as a real currency.

I asked how First Meta would secure its loans, and Aileen explained that they would offer an unsecured card at a high interest rate, and a card secured against a recognised credit card at a lower rate. So the Second Life interface is merely a front-end to the real processing system - users would generally have to agree to terms and conditions and give their credit card details on an external website. 

I was concerned about First Meta's responsibility to its users. Aileen said that she wasn't sure of the terms of the contract, but thought that they didn't disclaim liability for the debts of its users. She explained that they had venture capital backing sufficient to meet the debts of all its proposed users should they all default on their obligations.

I asked what would happen if they are taking on real obligations in the face of Linden Lab's denial of those exact same obligations. The response from Aileen was that yes, they were exposing themselves to risk, and they really just had to rely on the benevolence of Linden Lab, and hope they don't have their assets confiscated...

~~DISCUSSION:closed~~