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| Enzo Champagne |
Update: Enzo has returned to Second Life.
In Second Life, as in real life, anyone can fall victim to criminal acts. In SL, we depend on Linden Labs to mediate our disputes when it comes to frauds, theft, or scams. As we've seen recently, the Linden Gods often drop the ball when we don't have paid accounts. But this would never, ever happen to a big name, right? Wrong.
Enzo Champagne, creator of CHAMPAGNE! Sparkling Couture and a supporter of the LGBT community, found himself subject to fraudulent use of his account by hackers, who took his Linden balance and accessed his Paypal, spending the funds at one Second Life business. Upon learning of the fraud, Enzo reported the incident with transactions to Linden Labs, allowing them to see who the thieves were. The following day, the Second Life business returned Enzo's stolen funds and Paypal returned the funds in accordance with Paypal fraud policy. Enzo alerted Linden Labs that the funds had been returned but that they should pursue the thieves. As is normal, his account was blocked while Linden Labs investigated the fraudulent transactions. To Enzo's surprise, he was informed that his account would be permanently terminated with no other reason given then that he had "violated the terms of the TOS." Enzo's appeal was lost and his only hope is the efforts of someone trying to get LL to review his case again.
Enzo is a truly talented designer, a stunning photographer, and a kind, generous man. The loss of his contributions to SL will be a pain we'll for quite some time. If we're lucky, he'll find his way back to us, and find a way to bless us with his incredible talents once again.
Various sit-ins are occurring in Second Life in an effort to get the message to the Lindens that Enzo's account should be reinstated, and it should. However, we are aware that this has happened to many who don't have Enzo's visibility, as well, and stand behind Carilynn O'Hare and Ponchtuti Boucher's efforts to create a petition drawing attention to the errors in Linden Lab's governance system that would allow a known griefer and copybotter to thrive and maintain a store with copybotted items on
Marketplace, while permabanning victims of Second Life crime. We will keep you informed of information regarding the petition as it becomes available.
http://www.facebook.com/notes/carilynn-ohare/enzo-champagne-what-happened-to-him-can-happen-to-you/542506082442373