warner-brothers-doesnt-love-japan

I don't see anything inherently wrong with wanting a venue to be using a specific language.

What I do see in this thread is a lot of commentary about how this rule was enforced.

To that I say... well, the rulebreakers started it. They were told the rules and continued to break them. The guy who came later to purposefully break the rules just exacerbated things even worse.

The mods weren't the only ones being dickheads.

There's a world of a difference between what is legally allowed and what is ethical. Being a pack of racists is legally allowed, but not acceptable.

But Chris, we are the world!

Hoşuna gitmiyorsak, siktirin gıdın.

Thank goodness!!!!


No it isn't!!!!


This isn't racism!!!!

Pep (How can you be so wrong?)

PS You may wish to note that the (in)ability to speak/write English is not associated with race.

First: Show me where being a racist is illegal? Not even in Germany which bans Nazi paraphernalia, do they declare racism itself illegal.

Second: It is racist to do this language policy. If you don't understand that, its no wonder Anglo's are seen in such a bad light by other ethnic groups... And even if you refuse to concede that it is racist; you can't possibly be so blind as to not see that it is seen as such by so many in the world - enough that expressing such a policy is very bad publicity.

I can only speak for the United Kingdom, where the poor comics are not even allowed to make jokes about Welshmen. YMMV

I disagree with everything you say in this paragraph. In an ironic twist of fate, English is perceived and universally acknowledged with little rancour (except maybe in France and French Canada) as the lingua franca of the world

Pep (Mind you, I am also critical of people, for whom English is their mother tongue, who can't get the difference between its and it's right.)

He's mostly picking at nits (as per usual spiel, for those who don't get it yet). (^_^)

Race doesn't directly tie to language. So, his claim on that is quite valid. Consider, my old boss came to the U.S. from Japan on business and brought his then 2 year old daughter along. They've lived here for 8 years. Now he's moving back to Tokyo. That girl is going to have a TON of problems getting along with people at school, considering, she primarily speaks American English. Last I heard, she is dealing with quite a bit of depression and 'home sickness' in what most people would consider her native land. (T_T)

And, Pep, in the U.S. racism is protected by the right to free speech. Acting upon racist thoughts with violence, vandalism, harassment, and terrorism are the illegal parts. (^_^)y

I'd seen that mentioned in the forums before, but I wouldn't comment on it as I don't know the background well enough.

Pep (Whereas old Sourpuss was quite content to make an inaccurate universal assumption, which I have now corrected.)

It depends on the context. In all of the US, while it is not illegal for any given person to be racist, it is illegal to use that racism in many aspects of life --- we cannot discriminate based on race and we cannot commit certain crimes because of race and our free speech is not always protected if it is racist.


The dictionary definition of "racist" is "racial prejudice or discrimination " and language is not necessarily dictated by race.

This language thing may be a form of discrimination, but it is not racist.

Over a year ago i assisted in teaching/mentoring people who came into SL for the first time via the Gossip Girls/Warner Bros portal. At that time when greeting new arrivals i was never told NOT to use thier native language if they had difficulty with english. On much more than a few occasions i spoke italian, french, german, portugese, japanese and spanish to people in the main welcoming area for the 4 sims. I know that the rules in the 4 sims changed during the time i was there on other topics as abuses to "playing nicely together" occured. I am willing to bet that something happened that forced their hand to change welcoming multi-language use.

I do understand that many americans do not speak more than english (BTW i am an american). While i lived and traveled in europe i came across more than a few in those countries who only spoke thier region's native language. I can not be angry with people who do not learn another language. I feel sorry that they had not ever had the joy of discovery afforded you when you can move among natives of a distant land unnoticed as a tourist.

Now before the red pens come out to correct my words... make note, once you learn a few languages.. it becomes difficult at times, when writing, to spell/use grammar decently in any of them on a consistant basis. ;p

On private property, all rules are proper. If you don't like it, leave.

Yeah, well, it is fashionable in some circles to throw out the word racism at every possible opportunity, whether it fits or not. It's a great way to silence people whose opinions you don't agree with.

I didn't know Warner Boros had a place in SL. Not that I would visit it anyway.

Yes, since Denver has a large illegal immigrant population and is a stated Sanctuary city, we get the 'racist' term tossed out a lot to shut down conversations.

I visited it long ago when I liked looking for real world depictions in SL. Gossipgirls had at the time, at least, a set of sims set in New York city.

I am one of the few americans working at the company I work for. 99% of the staff is China and mostly speak Chinese. This company has an 'English Only' policy which they themselves created and enforce. I dare say they would probably be too polite to laugh at you when you said they were being Racist.

yes but would they fire someone for speaking chinese in the lunchroom?

ahh...so that's why we have so many sims full of Banks, Casino's and Sexual Age Play in SL... I see your point.

I don't think it's at all racist to ban other language speakers, just bloody ignorant.

Most definitely -- and unfortunately there is no shortage or ignorance in the world and it is not illegal anywhere either.


It probably is not politically correct to declare open hunting season on the ignorant either.

Come on, be a little more creative:

魚の頭姫!



/me waits for her kindergarten level linguistics to be corrected

There is nothing whatsoever to pin a charge of racism upon in that exchange. First of all if anything it would be xenophobia - fear of another culture, not racism. But cooler minds might see that it's a matter of practicality. The moderator spoke English and wanted to know what was going on.

Imagine (I am not saying this happened) the people were standing there roleplaying age play or talking about how to hack SL or any other number of things against the law or against the SL rules. How would the mod know?

As a place that can easily be sued, and has a lot to lose, a place like WB needs to be careful. Yes, they should employ multi lingual moderators, but those people are hard to find and expensive, at least in L.A. And they are not going to go for jobs like that one. They can get better jobs and money, especially if they speak languages other than English and Spanish (the two most common languages in L.A.)

It's wrong to accuse people of racism, when there is no proof they think one race is better/worse than another one let alone that they acted on that belief - it's like crying fire in a theater or rape when no one was even near. If you're going to sound credible, keep your claims credible too.

In the U. S., it's illegal to discriminate based on national origin, as well as race and other criteria. There's no word really comparable to racist to refer to someone who, for example, might be a WASP who looks down on Italian- or Irish-Americans. So the word "racist" gets used in that situation, perhaps reinforced by the misconception common among such people that Italians or Irish are a different race from white Anglo-Saxon Protestants. Whether or not the dictionary has caught up with such usage isn't really relevant; the usage is common enough to be acceptable.

In certain situations, the principles of non-discrimination apply to language differences. It's a controversial subject and applies primarily to government activities. Other than ASL, I'm not sure of any areas where the private sector is required to accommodate people who can't speak English. While it's technically inaccurate to equate a language difference with either race or national origin, from a legal perspective they all get grouped together in spite of the imprecision. Thus a public school (i.e. government run, not the British notion of "public school" is required to address the problem of a child in their school system who doesn't speak English. Again, just because the usage isn't precisely correct doesn't really matter; discrimination based on language can be, in some circumstances, illegal discrimination under the "national origin" heading.

As for the demand for such language skills, I believe the number of low-end white collar jobs where being bilingual is useful is growing: pharmacy or medical technician, medical receptionists, nursing aides, paralegal, bookkeeping, tax prep, real estate agent, bank teller, etc. This will vary depending on the part of the country, but the demand is there.

Then either the lawyer or the judge is a dunce. It is not the same thing.



You seem to be quoting British laws or cases. LL and WB are in America. So am I and those are the ways/laws I am more familiar with. WB is also a local company to where I reside. Also we've had the issue of bilingual schools become a very hot button topic here. Yes, some people against it were also against illegal immigration (having friends who teach I can tell you a lot of this uproar was because of the huge amount of kids here whose parents and/or the kids in school, came over illegally, speak no English, pay no tax, and expect full civic services; some think they should, some say hail naw) and perhaps some were against other races or nationalities as well.

Yes any time people have differences in opinion, biases and bigotry can come into things. But people use those emotional topics to cloud issues, and sway judgments, as well. Not every incident is racist or xenophobic. Sometimes it's about much simpler or more practical things. Making schools bilingual would take a lot more money than our badly bankrupted state could pour out. Schools fall apart in dangerous structural disrepair. Money is badly needed simply to keep the actual buildings standing! On the plus side, the world keeps getting smaller and language is key.

In times of economic stress the first finger pointed for blame is usually the newest group of immigrants and it's been that way for eons in all cultures. (See "Gangs of New York" if you want one example - I quote a film title because it's easily obtainable for most people.) But this does not mean that in every instance where someone demands equal service, that they are totally in the right or have shown willingness to compromise their goals either. However it does mean a tinder box, and in this global SL world it's surprising such issues haven't come up more often, quite frankly. But then corporations make an easy target (and a suable one I'm sure).

And yes it does matter whether or not there was an actual incidence of crime or racism or whether someone was just being emotional or "politically correct." Whatever happened to libel, for one thing?

Anyway, none of this at the WB sim, has to do with anyone disliking people of other races or cultures or nations! It has to do with being able to enforce a sim's rules with the tools the mod had available, and/or following the sim owner's rules. It was short sighted, and it was cheap perhaps, not to hire people who speak other languages, but it's not easily done. Whatever happened to good manners - when I'm on a sim I follow their rules or I leave. Just as when I go to someone's real life house or place of business. If I don't agree with the rules I don't have to go back.

I don't agree with those real life shops that have 'speak English' signs because people can communicate other ways - and also what about deaf people who can't speak? Obviously it's about xenophobia in that instance. But this isn't real life, and people can't communicate in any way but by typing (or voice). If they type, the mod needs to know what they are typing. Was the mod hot tempered? Yes, it wouldn't have been my style. But then they might've been sick of people basically blowing them off.

It also isn't being said that the people understood her well enough to know she was telling them to speak English. So why didn't they obey her request?

If it were my sim I'd have the rules available in as many languages as I could think of or find translators for. WB doesn't seem to know its market in SL very well. I can't think they "hate" any nation they can sell to though. In fact as a company I'd think all they "hate" are red balance sheets.



Which is why they are hard to find. Right now demand far outstrips supply, especially in America, where most people do not get a chance to learn OR to practise other languages than English.

LOL I worked for Time Warner Publications before they moved the Call Center to South Africa and on the lines I worked which covered, Europe and South America and Asia there was a strict English speaking only when dealing with customers the same with emails, we even had an email template that said please repeat the request in English, although those that spoke more than one language always respected others if they couldn't speak English when calling us. So maybe Time Warner/ Warner Bros as a company is like this across the board and likes English only