Age Verification and Europe

most of my land is on mature .....

Thing is you take the risk, most mature areas are nightmares for the sex adds etc. but then againj .. it will force the price of PG sims through the roof and the Mature sims .... down low bring in MORE mature content .... and more verifieds.

I dont know ....

Its all a bit odd that you should need to verify anyway considering this....

If your "registered" then you shouldnt have to verify, if you arnt registered then you should have to verify.

This isnt attempting to force the free signup crowd into a nasty situation, BUT I think if you are paying for "access all areas" then you should get Just that .... it just be a bonus for the sign ups .. becasue these days we dont exactly get a lot for our membership...which from what i recall is

We pay LL to have the right to buy land
We get the lindens ...
We buy the land....
Then we have to pay LL to have the land

As the stipend is on the ever decline ... and first land is gone where IS the membership benefit.

I am yet to see these two fabled land classifications of "commercial" and "non commercial"
I see this all the time ....

"Buy my land .... commercial so extra value .... blah blah blah"
But in reality .... theres no such thing .... Land is what you make it , as long as its within the mature .. PG areas

You're just making that up, though. Or do you have some reference to a Linden actually saying that?

Thank you, Meade.

It's posts like the one you quoted that are just stirring up the hysteria.

PLEASE can we leave the projection and "OMG WHAT IF THEY..." paranoia at the door and try to figger out solutions based on facts?

Dreams Lightcloud: and the problem i see is that i have a mature plot w/ explicit pictures facing me from the next plot, how will u *fix* that?

Robin Linden: Dreams we'll have to deal with that on a case by case basis

Big messy situation right there.

hmm. i'm fairly sure Robin said explicit material must be concealed from other parcels (ie. inside a build; not out in the open).

isn't that the existing rule for Mature sims right now?

Well I'd hope you're right about that being the existing rule, however what defines explicit? There are adult ads in the sky.

There were discussions with people asking for cameras to be able to be blocked from panning inside buildings, which is a very real issue if you're on the next parcel.

what defines "adult ads"? "XXX VIDEOS IN STORE BELOW" in big red letters (which I assume would be fine), or pornographic images being used to entice people inside (which I assume would not)? by explicit, i assume pornographic, but who am i to judge?

wow. i do a lot of assuming above.

The World Trade Organisation (WTO) ruled in March 2004 that that the United States policy prohibiting online gambling violates international trade law (1). The WTO upheld this decision on Friday 30th March 2007 (2).

I wonder if age verification is LL preparing the way for the companies such as 888, Ladbrokes to move into SL and create SL version of their online “casinos”. Is it a coincidence that the verification company, acording to the above quote, is already used by online gambling firms? Could this be the golden goose that LL have been waiting for?

1. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/26/technology/26gamble.html?ex=1395723600&en=c8c1b6ed92e479ef&ei=5007&partner=USERLAND
2. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/30/AR2007033002161.html

Edit: I have further expanded upon this discusion point and posted a Hypothis which LL may like to discuss at the next town hall meeting. You can read it here /341/ff/184606/1.html

Thats very interesting .......

so ...virtual kiddy porn is legal but gambling isnt .... and now the US goverment says ... "the world can go to hell" .... we will do what we like.


Double standards or what

"If you dont like how the lindens run the show ..... turn it off... "

We plan to, thanks. But because we kinda like this place, we thought we should give Linden Labs a heads-up on what their change of policy will mean. That is, in fact, what is known here in the states as free expression. I think you have something much like it in the UK.

Good, we'll be able to deal with facts instead of speculating; but coming right after Robin said they'd announce the international requirements on the official blog soon, i'm betting "soon" equals Friday 18 May at approx 6PM PST.

Phil: "Last person out the door click the publish button!"
Everybody: "K Phil! LOL"

Forum weekend weather outlook = SKY IS FALLING!

HAHAHHAHAHHA

yes exactly ..

lol They seem to have even PLANNED it this time.

Strife , stock up on coffee for the weekend.

The UK were offering casinos internet licences to operate, not sure if integrity were involved in that or whether the casinos took them up on it, I know it was greeted with some scorn.

As the FBI have allegedly been looking at gambling in SL I doubt very much whether any mainstream company would be coming here, which in many ways is a shame because they'd have their own verification aims and if say William Hill arrived and I had an account with them, then I'd be verified anyway. However gambling is one of the reasons stated for new verification and casinos will undoubtedly be flagged as adult.

they're turning me into such a cynic. LOL!

I would not say it was totally greeted with scorn. Though it is not a legal requirement in the UK that online gambling companies use age verification, most companies do, as part of their “corporate responsibility polices” (1) and Know Your Customer (KYC) guidelines to reduce money laundering (2).



The FBI were "investigating" gambling in SL in terms of the current US laws, which as I discussed above violates international trade laws. Once this law has been repealed I would expect a number of companies would be interested in the potential of SL as the market for gambling in world has already been proven.


1. http://miranda.hemscott.com/servlet/HsPublic?context=ir.static.jsp&client=wmh&path=util&service=getPage&page=corprespons_statement&rightnav=nav_csr
2. http://www.cimaglobal.com/cps/rde/xchg/SID-0AAAC544-CBD1B621/live/root.xsl/Insight05984_1014.htm

Sorry we seem to be at crossed purposes, the UK online casino licenscing was greeted with scorn. Under UK law bookies have a duty to ensure that people under 18 aren't using their services, they are two different issues.

No it is I who should be sorry I did not read the sentence properly.

However, does not every business react to new legislation and regulation with scorn?

Indeed, especially as the UK government were asking for tax money for the service!

I may be changing my original argument regarding age verification as being a precursor to enable gambling companies to enter SL.

Now I am beginning to wonder if it is actual part of LL's Corporate Responsibility and need to follow Know Your Customer (KYC) guidelines to reduce money laundering (1). These KYC guidelines must be followed in many countries world wide including the majority of EU countries, Australia and the USA.

With the transfer of $ to L$ and vice versa this must provide ample opportunity for fraud and money laundering. Therefore rather than "age verification" it is actually "person verification".

Could "age verification" be an LL smokescreen. In light of all the age play stories they maybe thought this would be more palatable to us.

1. http://www.cimaglobal.com/cps/rde/xchg/SID-0AAAC544-CBD1B621/live/root.xsl/Insight05984_1014.htm

I haven't got the link right now but I saw a story the other day about money laundering and SL. I don't for one minute think that it's age that is the issue, it's identity. However they have mine, they're offering me support at a different level because I have a premium account and therefore I'm verified. Any additional ID makes a mockery of my premium account level.

What LL appears to be saying is that when signing in "identity verification" will now be part of the process. This verification process has nothing to do with what level of account you have. We all registered under the old, less robust system, our accounts therefore need to be brought up to the same standards as new accounts, to enable LL to meet its the KYC obligations.

I disagree somewhat, it has everything to do with the level of account I have. If they're offering me extra support, if they're taking payments from me, if they're saying I am a premium account member then they are very much saying that I am verified.

How is the old system less robust? If I was not me, my credit card company would have been in touch with LL regarding unauthorised payments.

Unless I missed an annoucement somewhere....this is still voluntary and is still voluntary for newbs as well.