We received the surprising news that Linden Lab will be increasing the price of renting virtual land (sims) in Second Life for nonprofit and educational institutions to regular market prices, double what they are currently paying. Effective January 1, 2011, nonprofit and educational groups will see their monthly rental (tier) costs double:
All education and non-profit private regions of any type, purchased after Dec. 31, 2010, will be invoiced at standard (i.e. non-discounted) pricing. All currently discounted renewals which occur after Dec. 31, 2010, will be adjusted to the new price at that time.
For years, hundreds of public good institutions -- from government agencies to universities to youth organizations -- have been able to get their start in virtual worlds by benefiting from the discounted rental costs that Linden Lab provided by nonprofit and educational institutions. This has led to vibrant, collaborative, international networks and regions of institutions gathering in Second Life, from the Info Island archipelago, the Nonprofit Commons and Scilands. All of these are put in danger by this dramatic, and unexpected price increase.
On the Linden Lab blog and on listservs, nonprofit and educational groups are talking about how this is the final straw that is pushing them to move to OpenSim and other more affordable virtual environments. Lorelei Junot, a dedicated librarian and organizer of the Info Island archipelago, commented on the blog:
This price increase is horrible, ill-planned, and unfair. LL is going to lose tons of educators - maybe that is what they want. If they announced a modest price increase, that would be one thing, but to double the prices in a 3 month period is very unwise and is giving a definite message to the education community that they are unimportant and unwanted in second life.
Even large institutions like the NOAA have announced that they will no longer be able to provide spaces for other institutions on their sims as they will have to close all but their primary islands.
Sounds like this may lead to a mass exodus of public good and educational institutions from Second Life, just as the grid is welcoming in thousands of new 16-18 year old residents from the Teen Grid on January 1st. Odd timing, indeed. Stay tuned...
