Need Advice About Suspension or Ban Affecting Me

I missed an email which I found and read tonight. It was from Linden Labs and informed me I was in violation.
"The violation in question occurred on August 4, 2009
in the region of Chaska.
Violation: Community Standards: Indecency, Mature Content
Mature material is allowed only in-world in Regions rated M
(Mature). A PG next to the Region name at the top of your
screen indicates that you are in a PG region."

It also informed me:
Action:
No additional action is being taken at this time.
Appeal Process:
The decision to suspend your Second Life access was reached after
investigation of your use of the Second Life software and service. If you
would like to appeal your suspension, you may contact Second Life Support,
in writing, at the address below: etc.

Please provide relevant information that you believe would explain the
above violation. Linden Lab reserves sole discretion in considering
whether to take any action on an appeal.

My immediate concern is that I may have left any appeal too late. But I am not certain if I should write to Linden Labs and appeal. I have removed all - ALL - my collection of sl artwork in my galleries except for my Mature galleries which will also be removed. This collection will be destroyed for personal reasons of choice. I was surprised that paintings and art that is displayed in real public art galleries is considered offensive. But I accept that this is the law of secondlife as lindens see it.

Can anyone please advise me on what I should do. Hal is away. And I dont want to have to leave without saying a proper goodbye to him in sl - that is, if I have to. Or am I safe? Is no action being taken? Should I tell Lindens I have done what I can to clean up my PG land? Or should I simply stay quiet. My primary aim at this moment is to be in sl when Hal returns to sl after his trip in real. I feel wiped out by this and could use some advice.

What's the date of the e-mail? I've never been suspended, but my understanding is that it is normally effective immediately. Could it be that you were suspended some time ago, and didn't notice?

Tuesday August 4th. But I didnt read it then. I have only just got around to emptying my land. Also taking care of my linden dollars (as anyone would). I dont mind losing the art or even land. I am worried for my Hal who is my friend.
I suspect I have been reported by vigilantes - a certain group have been involved in griefing activities in our region of sl. We reported them - perhaps this is retaliatory.

I think if you can get into SL that you are alright. Suspensions usually start immediately.

If you want you can give me the L$75,000 you owe him for posting here over the last 24 hours and I'll pass it on to him.

Well, being an absolutely EXEMPLARY SL citizen ( ), I can't speak from experience, but it's AWFULLY hard to believe that a suspension dated three weeks ago has not yet taken effect.

Maybe one of the (ahem) less than "exemplary" cits on this forum can answer this with more authority and experience?

I also don't think you need worry about your Linden, nor your partner. But it was probably wise to remove the artwork.

Now what would a hamster do with L$75,000 ????

It seems awfully public to discuss this BUT it may show others what they can expect when this occurs. I have ofcourse emptied my linden dollar account and transferred those funds. I have taken down 214 paintings spread over 4 galleries. My mature galleries remain for the time being. I have basically burnt-earthed my art collection. It took me hours.

That is not even close to the figure - when I say we buy and support artists - well, we do.

Jig, monitor this thread I started at SLU and see if anyone can give you the answer you are looking for. In the meantime, take a deep breath. This will not result in anything major or permanent.

http://tinyurl.com/kmm97r

I was joking about the fines you've amassed since you started being charged for posting and starting threads here.

What sort of "vigilantes"?

And why would you destroy your art collection????

I think Ray is right: you really don't need to panic about this. The worst that could happen has probably already happened, without you even being aware of it. And this IS a pretty minor infraction, after all. For one thing, the art that I saw at one of your places was not exactly hard core.

I am not certain I am allowed to discuss in-world vigilante action by groups or individuals in forums and considering my recent luck in sl I better not. I'll IM you in world to avoid that dilemma. In terms of the art - well, I work on the premise that a drastic action prevents me from second-guessing and, in a sense, is an appropriate move I can make against policies about art I dont agree with. I considered none of the art in the PG sim as pornographic. For example, I displayed a series of studies by a very well-known California artist who was interested in sl as a means to expand art on the web. Several are clearly internationally recognised American and English artists. Better that their artwork is clearly destroyed to avoid further controversy. I am too tired to argue with policies and politics.

I once thought I could really make a difference in creating an educational and artistic environment in sl. Now I dont care. I just want to protect my old man who is my friend from missing me and so I conceded to all that they asked. Hopefully, not too late.

I am not panicked. Just defeated and deflated by it all. The stuffing's been knocked out of me. Crudely, I feel gutted. The galleries were lovely.

I think you've done just about all you can do. Except you could try writing to them at whateve address they gave you and let them know what you've done. After that.. que sera.

Suspension entails access to SL being blocked for some period of time. It doesn't involve having your account and stuff deleted.
If you've been into SL on a daily basis, then you've not been suspended.

Take it as a warning, but do contact LL.
Removing any potentially infringing content was a good interim move - just in case there is a repeat AR.


What was the date of the email?
"The violation in question occurred on August 4, 2009in the region of Chaska."
That just means that someone ARed you on the 4th. It could have been some time before the G-Team took a look at it.

Arising out of the reviews of content during the Zindra process, LL do make a distinction between porn and art. I think that they might be less sensible when it comes to PG areas.

In the long run...

It doesn't matter what the motivation for the AR might have been. It happened, and it could happen again. The G-Team is apparently not renowned for consistency or sensibility.
Land is extremely cheap at the moment - even Mature waterside land.
If you move to Mature, the potential AR issue goes away.


Whatever you do, I would advise you to contact LL as that AR and warning/suspension is on your record.

I don't think you need to worry about being suspended, Jig; after all, the email says, in terms, That is, it's just a warning that they thought the content was inappropriate for a PG area and that you should take it down. This tallies with what we've frequently been told about how they'd handle "Adult Content" in Mature and PG areas -- normally just a warning in the first instance, so you can do something about it.

What it doesn't, though, tally with is the frequent assurances we were given by various Lindens that "art is ok," which is expressed in the KB article, Maturity Ratings: An Overview thusand was certainly less equivocally stated at various times by various Lindens in forums and meetings. If you would like, I will have a dig round http://www.slapt.me/wiki/index.php/Main_Page#Links_to_Linden_statements_on_Adult_Content for the references when I get home from work later.

In other words, I think you would -- if you felt like so doing -- stand a pretty good chance of having the warning withdrawn (and being able to put your exhibitions back up) if you were to appeal the matter, explaining that your exhibits are Hockneys (or whatever they are), on show at the following places in RL and that you'd understood art was OK. It's already become clear that various Lindens don't really understand the rules, so a warning fired off by an individual member of the G Team isn't necessarily a definitive ruling.

Suspensions are often of just two days. So you may have had your suspension, and not even noticed, if you didn't try to log in over those two days.

Can't you just rate your land Mature and keep all your stuff?

Rock

It's on Mainland, so the PG can't be changed.

The best course would be to try get the AR decision reversed. Then keep a record of the reversal in case of future ARs.

For more peace of mind, move to a Mature sim. Even there, there could be a possibility of an AR - but it's less sensitive than PG.

Jig, don't worry, you haven't been suspended. Nothing has happened to your account. I received a similarly worded email once upon a time, and queried it with a couple of Lindens with whom I have a passing acquaintance, since the dismal presentation of the email (spelling, grammar, coherence of structure, inconsistency) was such that it was worthy of many of the posts to these forums - and could potentially have been written by an ESLer, or even Katt!

Having first established that it was in fact not a spoof email, although the first Linden I talked to thought it might be an "unofficial" one, by a Linden who was not strictly concerned with forum discipline (one of the problems - it was extremely ambiguous as to whether it related to the forums or inworld) I pursued the matter further, and although the Linden who the original email purported to be sent from could not be contacted (my Linden friend would not be drawn on the matter, but I reckon it was a fake alt name used just to draw fire for such semi-official warnings) I received confirmation that the email had originated from within LL and as a consequence had to be presumed as "official" even though it made little sense and there were no details of any transgression that they could give me - and I certainly had not been suspended.

I gave them my usual broadside about the need for clarity and transparency of communication, which seems to have fallen on deaf ears, as although my contacts agreed that the email was almost unintelligible and needed revision, the phrasing of the one you received seems similarly self-contradictory. It is just a semi-official warning, probably from a pet Linden under the influence of one of the people you have annoyed in the forums.

Pep (But I think you should pack up and move to Zindra anyway, so you can do as you like without fear of recriminations - the warning could be used as justification for the Lindens to give you free repatriation!)

PS I presume those of you with preconceptions about the way I post and my attitude to Jig won't notice this.

I think you overreacted, Jig. Suspensions are just that - temporary - and often very short. I've seen suspensions on the Incident Report that were only a few hours in length. They take place immediately, and never affect Linden balance.

I'm not sure what you mean by saying you destroyed the art - I certainly hope that you just took it into inventory or returned it to the artists with an apology; no need to delete something anyone has spent time creating.

Are you sure the AR was for the art, and not any language or scantily dressed avatars in your gallery? "Adult" speech in PG areas can be AR'd as well.

Yes, I would appeal the suspension (or warning - unclear which this actually was), since the record of it is permanent. I hope you have pictures of the gallery, which would support your claim that this was art.
.

I agree - is it possible that e-mail could have been a fake? Something about this doesn't seem quite right. You can display art work in PG regions - I can remember a lot of discussion around Michealangelo's David being acceptable.

Anyway, if it was genuine, any suspension is over and done with, but I would still appeal, if only to query what this was all about.

This is a good idea and might well work for you.

Is the problem when it is 'photo realistic'? Jiggy, I can't remember where all the art is located in the gallery in terms of maturity rating, but you had some photos. Maybe that was what they dinged you on? I so hope it is all in your inventory and not deleted

Let me know inworld so it doesn't cost you any money because I know for a fact you pay up!

Yes, agreed. It depends exactly what the 'art' consists of, really, and if that was the basis of the "violation". Rushing off and deleting the gallery and artwork does seem to be ever so slightly overreacting though.

I seem to recall that Carl Metropolitan was actually given a short suspension a while back, because someone AR'd a copy of a painting that he had displayed at a gallery on PG land.
The offending non-PG content was one nipple, wasn't it? Truly shocking. You'd never see anything like THAT allowed in a RL gallery where schools take children on visits to learn about classical art, would you. The very idea!

I believe when he demanded an explanation they eventually apologised.

--
Aes

If you didn't get booted out of world with a message that said... "you have been logged out by an admin" your fine. I would however, appeal the decision, and ask for specific clarification and if none can be given, have it stricken from your record. About 6 months ago, i got *logged out by an admin* (my land/inventory/linden balance were not affected, just my ability to log in as brie) and suspended for having a gambling *machine* on my property. I got loud, demanded an explanation.. come to find out it was for a GREEDY GREEDY game... go figure right? They immediately reversed the suspension (less than 2 hours) and 3 days later i got an apology email that said it was a mistake, and taken off my record. Stand up for yourself, and see what happens. Sometimes, once in a blue moon, they admit they were wrong, and you have that to stand on later if you have issues.

Best of luck!

~Brie

If you had received a suspension, it would have been on the day of or the day before the Email. If you can log in today, everything is clear. (^_^)

Also, if the violation was in regards to any artwork on display in the PG region, that prim would have been returned to your lost and found already. You would no longer need to react to the complaint. (^_^)

At this point, what's in the past is in the past and what's done is done. The only thing to do is set a precedent if one needs to be made (Namely, a false AR). Other than that, don't change a thing. It's been changed for you. (^_^)y