second life, an online world owned by Linden Lab has been operating since 2003.[1] Both Linden Lab and Second Life's Residents make money from Second Life through the trading and use of virtual real estate.[2] Residents use the virtual real estate feature when they require permanent in-world storage of the content they have created or otherwise own.[citation needed]
Land ownership
Premium members (users who pay a monthly fee to Linden Labs) have the ability to own land on the mainland. Landowners pay no additional fees to Linden Lab if they own 512 m² or less. An owner of larger areas of land must pay an increasing additional fee (what Linden Lab calls "tier") ranging from US$5 a month up to US$295 a month for an entire 65,536 m² of land or individual island. The issue of "ownership" now is questionable. Mr. Rosedale recently characterized all "ownership" as leasing time on Linden's servers. The issue of land ownership was at dispute in the Bragg v. Linden lawsuit, which was settled out of court.
Estate owners can "sell" land to anyone they please, even a non-premium member. The estate owners have the power to take land away from their tenants at any time; hence upfront purchase prices tend to be lower on the private estates than on the mainland. On the other hand, the private estates also offer a more controlled environment, hence monthly tier tends to be higher.
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