06-23-2004 16:42
Second Life celebrates it’s very first year of existence today – there will be parties, parades, probably a speech or two, and a lot of memories. The Blotter is as sentimental as the next guy, but the Blotter’s memories are of each and every one the 4,132 Abuse Reports that have landed in the Abuse Box since Second Life’s arrival one year ago.

So much has changed in Second Life in the past 52 weeks, but the Blotter is instantly transported back to those early days every time a newly-arrived Resident is found modeling their very first phallus. Even on this front, however, fashions have evolved. One year ago the trend was for majestic, towering penises several stories high. Lately, the beginner’s male member is more likely to be a self-propelled, heat-seeking missile. It’s nice to see how everything, even the humble phallus, grows and changes in Second Life. For those scoring at home, sex organs, off-colored language, inappropriate epitaphs, and assorted “offensive content” has accounted for just 15 percent of Second Life abuse cases in our first year -- but it's the most amusing 15 percent.

One lesson from year one is that when you invite people into a new world and tell them that they can create anything they can imagine, it should be expected that some of them will take it as challenge. The incredible variety of creations the Blotter has encountered in Second Life make it clear that some of our Residents truly shine with a beautiful inner light. As for the others…well, there are some very effective medications available now that might really help. Check with your physician. Soon.

This breadth and width of imagination is very evident when considering the projectiles and weaponry the Police Blotter has encountered while investigating reports of Assault. The Blotter has personally witnessed cannons that fire: plasma balls, lightning bolts, full-size cows, smiley-faced slime blobs that belch, effigies of celebrities (including Richard Simmons), every variety of scat, snowballs, watermelons, plain old bullets, and, of course, the aforementioned heat-seeking phalli. It is this adaptability, in part, that makes various forms of assault, harassment, trapping, and pushing the cause of 52 percent of Abuse Reports in Second Life.

Has abuse increased in Second Life? Yes. And no. More no than yes, really. The total number of Abuse Reports rises dramatically month after month, but this is part and parcel of Second Life’s remarkable growth. The Abuse Rate has remained unfailingly steady – only twice diverting more than a percentage point or two from its chosen five percent course. What does this actually mean? In any given week, just five percent of Second Life’s active Residents (those spending time in-world that week) find cause to report abuse. Of the Abuse Reports received each week, an average of 25 percent result in a Warning or a Suspension. In Second Life’s first year, we’ve delivered 615 warning letters and 363 suspensions.

So what has the Blotter learned in the past year? A fair number of people in Second Life like to get naked and shoot each other, sometimes with heat-seeking penises – but somehow that wasn’t a big surprise. Nothing in year one of Second Life has been more striking than the revelation that the Blotter will never be one step ahead of this incredibly diverse and inventive community. No matter how jaded and cynical the Blotter might become – or at lease pretend to be – there will always be surprises in the Abuse Box. Based strictly on Resident growth, year two of Second Life should produce 42,232 Abuse Reports. The arrival of Resident-created animation alone has the potential to empower abuse reports that would have been inconceivable at this time last year --can you imagine what else Second Life’s Residents will invent in year two? Of course you can…and it keeps the Blotter up at night.