An Important Announcement

[Sudane Erato]

An Important announcement about the Proposal to bring the Amiais estate and connecting water regions to the VWEC

Some months ago a group of us involved with the creation of the Amiais estate proposed to the people of the VWEC, to the CDS estate, and to the Etopia estate that we bring the Amiais estate into the VWEC and locate it nearby the CDS and Etopia, and add connecting water regions.

The proposal involved the transfer of ownership of the estate from the University of Aveiro in Portugal, who could no longer pay for its upkeep, to a non-profit group in New York, VP-ARC, who was willing to raise the funds to continue paying its tier. Once transferred, that group made the proposal which you have heard presented.

The plan, of course, depended on the transfer of ownership from Aveiro to VP-ARC. Fully a year ago Linden Lab approved VP-ARC as a recognized non-profit and eligible to own regions on a non-profit basis. Then in the first days of 2023 the University of Aveiro signed an agreement with VP-ARC to transfer the ownership of Amiais. That agreement went to Linden Lab for their approval and the formal transfer of the estate.

We very sadly report to you that there the matter has sat since January of this year. Linden Lab has not enabled the transfer of the ownership, which of course blocks any action to move the regions. Further, they have said NOTHING about WHY they are blocking this transfer, nor have they offered to discuss any issues of concern with the people of VP-ARC. Indeed, Linden Lab has said utterly nothing, and done utterly nothing, for six months.

We must fervently emphasize that this inaction is NOT the fault of our dear friend and supporter Madori Linden. She has been supportive of this plan throughout, and she has done everything in her power to discover what the issues might be and to help us thereby address them. But the principals at Linden Lab have utterly and completely stonewalled her, and therefore us, regarding what the issues blocking this step might be, which renders us helpless to be of any assistance in finding a solution.

We bring the details of this matter to your attention now, because… it’s been a very long time since this plan was proposed. You must be wondering what’s become of it.

Well, the proposal is not dead. We cling to the hope that someday the authorities at Linden Lab will offer us the decency of a reply to our request for transfer, that a solution will be found to whatever concerns them, and the ownership transfer will happen. We continue to stay in touch with Madori regarding any glimmers of progress. Please rest assured that you, to whom this announcement is directed, will be the first to hear the news.

Sudane Erato
Gwyneth Llewelyn
Moon Adamant

June 5, 2023

[Rosie Gray]

Thanks for the update, Sudane.

[Sandy Burgess]

In my eyes one of the major drawbacks of private estates is that they do not interconnect via waterways and you can only reach your neighbours by teleport. This connection would greatly enhance the flair of the three estates.

Sad that things get bogged down by some unknown politics.

[Han Held]

In my eyes one of the major drawbacks of private estates is that they do not interconnect via waterways and you can only reach your neighbours by teleport. This connection would greatly enhance the flair of the three estates.

Sad that things get bogged down by some unknown politics.

I'm spending a decent amount of time in the Blake Sea and it's my understanding that it is a series of connected private estates that are also connected to mainland. Sudane's estate is there so if I'm wrong she can correct me.

I don't even understand what the nature of the politics could possibly be in this case; making it that much sadder.

Thanks for the update, Sudane!

[Sudane Erato]

I'm spending a decent amount of time in the Blake Sea and it's my understanding that it is a series of connected private estates that are also connected to mainland. Sudane's estate is there so if I'm wrong she can correct me.

Han, the Blake Sea model is exactly the vision we have in mind for the VWEC estates. Yes, my SL New England is there, and I speak from many years experience helping administer that group of private estates that it's an ideal model for building programs of common interest. Some months ago I floated the idea called "A Case for Water" ( https://docs.google.com/document/d/1TL5 ... sp=sharing ), which was very well received by many of the VWEC members.

So I think that there is a future for this... if we can just get past this Linden Lab obstacle.

Sudane...................

[Gwyneth Llewelyn]

As one of the signatories, I can only regret that this is stretching out for sooooooooooooo long...

Alas! The truth is that the ownership of the Amiais Estate content is... quite complex. Too complex, in fact, for the poor part-time lawyer apprentice at LL to figure out what exactly to do about it I think that LL's legal team is actually pretty clueless about how exactly to deal with the whole thing; and they're either delaying in the hope that we give up (which we won't, of course) or that the techie team develops some kind of tool that allows such a non-ordinary (extraordinary?) transfer to be automated... or maybe they're hoping that Lawrence Lessig happens to visit them again (the last time was 20 years ago — and thanks to him, we got the permissions system and the Linden dollar!) and 'solves' the issue.

Note: I actually have absolutely no idea why it's taking so long. All I know is that Madori Linden is not being told anything, and there is a limit to how loud she can yell... and be heard.