[quote="Beathan":l6hofmm3]Ash whether I thought that the CDS could realistically be on a RL government radar. Yes, I do. With the press we have received lately, I would not be at all surprised if multiple RL governments had heard of us and had people looking at us.
And I am worried about regulation by legislative action of RL governments. I am even more worried that RL adminstrative agencies will use their current authority to step into this space. I see a very real possbility of Bar Assns doing just that.
Maybe I am paranoid. Maybe I'm not. Time will tell. However, if I am right and we do nothing, we die. If I am wrong and we do something, we all have fun with the game we create. I think the game way is better, more fun, and safer.
With regard to the issue on RL arbitration, in most states, arbitrations require special licensing. A mediator can be, and often is, not an attorney -- but many US arbitration acts specify who can act as an arbitrator, and such acts frequently limit the role to licensed attorneys. They do so for the same competence concerns that inform Ash's qualification requirement under the Judiciary Act. Thus, even if regulators conclude that what we are doing is RL arbitration, they are likely to intervene (rather than stay out) based on that conclusion.
That said, I am not proposing to make our process look like RL arbitration. I am suggesting using some processes from RL arbitration to make our process simpler. My concerns about work/play are different. However, I think that if our process is simple, it is more likely to be considered "play" and therefore "safe".
I think that the showiness of out trials will not save us. Rather, it is the nature of our activity that will be scrutinized -- not the ornamentation. If our actions look too much like attorneys at work and not enough like avatars at play, we are in trouble.
Beathan[/quote:l6hofmm3]
There is nothing here that amounts to anything more than you speculating "maybe a US state legislature will pass a law [i:l6hofmm3]just for us[/i:l6hofmm3]". Even I don't think that we're that important.