Second luck in SecondLife: October 2007

These days, after Linden Labs sent out emails to us, eu residents, regarding the new VAT policy, I thinked my "second luck" is over. I think the panic had its merit in this. However, after some days, I decided to think clear and analyse the situation.
From the start we need to to know some facts. In SecondLife are two kinds of land and two ways to get it. There is mainland (which is administrated by the Linden Lab employees) and there private region land (which is administrated by various landlords). And also you can rent, or you can own the land.
The most important thing when you want to get land in SecondLife is that you need to know only one thing : YOU WILL PAY FOR IT EVERY MONTH, no matter you rent it or own it. Linden Labs charges tier, the tax that you need to pay every month. So the difference between owning or renting land in SecondLife is that you can choose to pay a great price when you first buy the land and then pay a tier every month or you can choose to rent it, you will not pay a huge price when you start to rent the place and in some cases you will have same rights.
Now, about the land ... In order to own mainland you have to be a premium user, which will cost you a minimum of 72$ yearly, that 6$ a month, that is $7.14 including a 19% VAT. The montly tier for a 4096 sqm plot is $25, that is $29.75. So, after all, a 4096 sqm will cost you a monthly fee of $36.89 .
On the other side, to rent private island land, in which you will have same rights will cost you a L$9000 monthly fee and that's all. L$9000 is aprox $32. So .I'm telling you , for a EU resident is cheaper now to rent land on private island SIM, which has better performance in most cases, better landscaping, and you will not have an adfarm as your neighbor.
So, after all, I see that Linden Labs are trying to shoot their own foot now with this new policy.
That is why I'll not raise fees due to new VAT policy, and if you are interested to get some private island land to build your dream home please visit my office or send me an instant message inworld, my name is Ciprian Newall ! Enough with own advertising , now it's time to judge for yourself !
P.S. Oh ... btw, I'm not charging VAT :)

I read an article today about InsideOut, a product Vodafone launched in SecondLife. So I checked it out. I need to say I am impressed. What I have found there may be the most serious attempt of a RL company to do business in SecondLife.
InsideOut is a HUD attachment for SecondLife that will let you contact your buddies from SL even if they are not logged in. By contact I mean you can send them SMS messages and you can ... ATTENTION ... call them, on their rl cellphone. The important thing here is that neither your cellphone number nor your buddy cellphone number will not be revealed. This can be done using a pool of numbers from Germany.
The best part is that until december, you can try this for free. You will pay after this. So, what you're waiting for ? Get your virtual-real cellphone now here.

Some pics from there :