| abstract | - Second Life (SL) is a virtual world in which most (around 90%) content is user-created. Second Life was created by Linden Lab (LL) in 2002, first bearing the name "Linden World", then later renamed to "Second Life" and opened to the public in 2003. While SL is not the first virtual world of its kind, it has broken new ground in many ways. One of the most often talked about aspects of Second Life is the fact that users own the intellectual property of their creations in the world. This allows the user to create something in SL and then later "export" it to another medium and still maintain ownership of that creation. An example of this is Tringo. Users in Second Life are often referred to as "residents". This term was first used by Linden Lab to give users a better feeling of placement and/or ownership in the world. SL's focus is in large part on giving the residents as much control over the content in the world as possible which is evident in the creation tools available. SL allows for residents to create objects in-world with primitive shapes (cylinders, cubes, spheres, etc.), upload textures for a small fee, and other available features. There is also a robust scripting engine called Linden Script Language (LSL), which is used to have objects interact with residents and the world. A "controlled" economy is built inside Second Life based around the Linden Dollar (L$) which allows residents to buy and sell the items they have created. L$ can also be traded for USD$ via the LindeX service (run by Linden Lab and is heavily observed). The economy is controlled by LL through modification of "sinks" (things that cause L$ to be disposed of) and "sources" (things that introduce L$ into the economy) to prevent inflation or deflation of the value of the L$.
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