how to be an unprincipled wanker and pretend you have principles

This point cannot be stressed enough.

You just missed, completely, the entirety of Chip's point.

I agree with Chip so let me try and clarify:

Even the asshats have to be protected as they are as much a part of the process and our culture as anyone else.

If we start letting LL to subjectively decide what is acceptable and constantly increase the number of rules on content creation -- you may find yourself a victim of those rules.

It would also make SL look strangely 1-dimensional (figuratively speaking) and uninviting. This isn't "Your world, so everyone has to agree with you."

Without radical thinkers and extremists, a culture will eventually lack in progress.

what are you talking about?

My short-sightedness?

Am I dumb too, Cienna?

It's not about increasing the number of rules on content creation.

It's not about content creation.

It's about land extortion. And I think you can apply the rules thare are already in the guidelines to put a stop to that, without even having to think up any new rules specific to this particular form of land extortion.

coco

How is it extorting you?

Apparently, through some cutting edge use of LSL, these signs are able to force people to right click on the land and buy it completely against their will. Quite an amazing technological advance, I must say!

OK, if you two want to think it's about content, be my guest. I will continue to think it's about land extortion. Which is how the guy doing it thinks of it.

coco

Oh I agree that that's probably his motive. I just find it endlessly amusing that anyone would actually be so thin skinned about the signs that they'd give in to it.

Apparently the owner of this land is approaching neighbours of the land that these signs occupy and is actively attempting to convince them to buy the land.

If this person was actively buying land around a single plot, harrassing the land owner in question after their initial response to his suggestion of buying his land was "no," then yes -- I would call that extortion. (sorry for the run-on sentence there.. I hope you can make sense of it).

However, I haven't seen evidence of this.

Hamlet's article hasn't revealed that this was the case, and I haven't seen any other blog articles with any level of "proof" which would suggest that this person was actively extorting other users.

This is why I have the opinion that we shouldn't ban the signs -- because they may shearly be for a political purpose and not one of extortion.

It may be a little radical, but in free speech you have to take the good with the bad.

No one is being forced to buy his land, so it's not extortion. He's not telling people, "Buy my land or else..". He's putting up signs that put forth his political views and pricing his land as he sees fit. No one has to buy them.

If his land prices are too high, then don't buy them. If his political views aren't the same as yours, and you just can't stand to see those words any longer, build a wall with some nice textures, or put up your own signs, or plant a tree or something.

SL has never been about telling people what they can build on their land, other than restrictions by the Community Standards or ToS. You buy the land, and you build what you want on it.

If you can tell him what he can put on his land, then I better get to tell you what you can put on yours. If you can tell him how to price his land, then I better get to tell you how you can price yours...

It's not political, for heaven's sake. I was at one of the SLSP buildings just this afternoon. The founder of the group had tried to talk to the guy, something which apparently annoyed him, because guess what - a cluster of Impeach Bush signs suddenly appeared right next door afterwards. What a coincidence! And there are dozens of stories on the forums of similar things.

(That one in the middle of the picture is one of Prokofy Neva's "Anti-Extortion Toolkits", which has some good advice on what to do, as well as some useful items to help people block the signs from their view.)

Well..you can say it's not political, but that certainly doesn't make it true. The message on the sign is political, (or common sense to some) and the interview that Hamlet did with the owner certainly showed that he felt strongly about the politics of his message.

And if he bought the land next door, he can build what he likes on it, for whatever reasons.

I've been in SL for quite some time now and have always owned land to build on. I try my best to make the builds fit the land, but I've had many neighbors come and go, some that built, in my opinion, horrible eyesores, and some that built wonderful, creative builds. Some blocked my views and some created lag. Some have sold land at reasonable prces, and others have sold it at highly inflated prices. I've never thought it was within my rights to tell them what they can or can't build, or how much they can charge for thier land. I simply adapt and have patience and go about my business.

I'm not giving into it. But it's not a question of "someone" being thin- or thick-skinned. It is a societal problem, one which can't be solved by exorting everyone to grow a certain skin (even if you could get that message out to every individual). Hence the need for a societal solution.

coco

The Hamlet interview was a puff piece, and, as far as I can determine (I could be wrong), the interviewee lied like a rug.

coco

I told you quite some time ago Chip that there is an inexhaustible market for 'thick skins'. Get cracking !

I'm waiting for LL to give us extra texture layers. Then I'll add the kevlar and teflon coatings.

It is not a political statement.

Car dealers do the same thing in RL: they usually have to conform to zoning rules about sign size and height. But they want to be seen, damnit! So they erect enormous flagpoles and hoist American flags the size of Rhode Island to catch eyeballs.

That's not patriotism, that's crass commercialism daring the local zoning board to make them take down their eyecatcher.

I'm just saying that assume motivation all you want -- it's not coming down.

Until there is solid evidence of extortion, it isn't extortion.

As far as LL is concerned, it's not blocking access to a part of SL and it isn't profane, racist, or hate speech.

It is impossible to believe that it is solely politically motivated when he is charging an outrageous amount for tiny plots.

I like your house Lordfly! I see it everytime I teleport home!

Can he be banned if he is in the forums, reading this very thread?

Where did Malachi Petunia go? I haven't seen any posts by him for a while.

Bias glad rag, he’s on the payroll. Why I ever expected fair reporting is beyond me, like most things LL I was pretty fucking naive.

Holy necroposting!

Malachi garnered a three-day suspension on December 16, 2005 for "Violation: Forum Suspension: Personal Attacks" and quite literally has no idea what he said to garner that. His game account was restored properly because that appears to be automated. But his forum privileges have not been restored because that is a manual process which someone needs to remember to do and the relevant memories doth appear lossy.

This happened to him once before for teasing (civilly) he-or-she-who-shall-not-be-named who used to be a voluminous poster for being a voluminous poster. It took him roughly a month of inquiries, pleas, requests to literally every available channel to get his forum posting restored following that three day suspension. This time he doesn't feel it worth the effort.

He ain't heavy, he's my brother.