Bad news of the day: They're thinking of merging the Teen Grid into the main one

Lol, I am glad though it is probably not the famous one you might be thinking it is. When I said well known, I meant well known in the city, not world-wide.

Hint: it isn't Amsterdam

Ohhh, I know, I know..............Baltimore!

Nupe!!! ROFL!

Wrong, they can still AR but from the other account claiming you contacted them in voice chat... there is a call function in the im window.

Adding children to the main grid means it would have to be disneyfied... by the residents if not LL due to fear of legal issues.

Because it sets up: Little johnny was trying out SL on his big brother's account and told the mean man he was on his friend's account in voice chat... being able to ruin the mean man for booting his greifer tail off his land.

Because the grid is now a mixed age grid, so content has to be geared towards CYOA

That would be true if LL was an actual governing body.... LL is simply a business... and its "rules" are simply rules of conduct... the same as a department store may have a "no shirt no service" sign....

Because LL is a business and more importantly NOT a governing body, it is and will always be subject to the laws of the land (USA) it does business in... LL is not going to be able to indemnify itself... it will be held accountable for content (unfit for minors) to at least the same degree RL businesses are...

Yes, this. This is what I mean. If you are in an Adult-only area, then no teen should be there, unless they committed fraud, in which case, you, the Adult, cannot be legally held responsible for Adult content, since Teens are not permitted on the Adult sim.

Bottom line is this: if you sanitise the grid of the majority of mature things to do then the teens are not going to want to stay either. When I was 15, I was clubbing in RL - no way would I not want to enjoy sims with mature themes in SL. I thought I *was* an adult at that age.

Seperating the internet into "kids only" and "adult only" subnets is a horrible idea.

You may get a surprise, many have had to deal with civil lawsuits. Because the parents took it there vs a court of law.

Civil courts can make rulings that are borderline.

Plus it doesn't take into consideration: SL issues, meaning broken tps sending you into a nearby sim... People have had ARs for appearing nude in a pg sim because a teleport broke on them. The age verification systems are a flawed tool, that even lawmakers researched and determined did nothing to protect kids (and by extension adults) from threats.

LL should not have to indemnify itself, it should not be held responsible for the actions of those who have signed up for an account. Signing up should mean you accept responsibility for yourself or in the case of a teen the parent should have to accept responsibiliy. After all it is the parents responsibility.

Not saying you are wrong about the way it would be handled legally but from a "is this going to work out" and "is this the way is should be" point of view, it is totally wrong.

Logic didn't help Compuserve and prodigy... as well as others when parents got upset with what junior got into without their supervision

Can I Buy My sim next to yours and we can combine forces and enjoy the sl paradise.. lol.
Best idea i have heard so far

Funny its the same parents who don't want the responsibility to begin with. Wonder when the system is going to grow a pair and tell litigating parents that they are the ones who are responsible for their children and to stop blaming everyone else.

If they file an AR because they stumbled upon Adult content in a PG/Disneyfied sim, then it's the sim owner/parcel owner's problem, it's not supposed to be there. Just like Mature content is not supposed to be in PG sims now.

If they file an AR because they stumbled INTO an Adult sim/area, it's because they committed fraud, and the persons who created/used/engaged in the Adult content cannot nor should not be held responsible.

I honestly cannot see a teen ARing someone for *camming* into a non-PG area. I just think that is very unlikely. But regardless, I think it would be quite feasible to clearly separate PG/Disneyfied sims from Adult sims such that no camming would be even possible.

I just don't see this all as the huge sky-is-falling issue most do. Adult content will continue on SL even if the teen and Adult grids do get merged. I just don't believe that the whole grid will get Disneyfied. I don't see that happening.

Originally Posted by Gabriele Graves
LL should not have to indemnify itself, it should not be held responsible for the actions of those who have signed up for an account. Signing up should mean you accept responsibility for yourself or in the case of a teen the parent should have to accept responsibiliy. After all it is the parents responsibility.

Not saying you are wrong about the way it would be handled legally but from a "is this going to work out" and "is this the way is should be" point of view, it is totally wrong.


I agree with the parents having to accept responsibility for their kids being on the main grid. I believe it would help legal wise, if the parents had to say they are aware of the possible things there child can see and are allowing them on it anyway.
Makes the parent responsible.

I have kids and if they were old enough I still wouldnt allow them on the main grid but if they had to have a email or some verification that the parents are aware the kids are accessing the main grid it would help.

I think.

When 'for the children' stops being good pr for politicians and the media

When lawsuits stop being profitable for the lawyers filing them.

Basically when hell freezes over.

Nope but a bored or angry kid that had his fraudulent account banned from a sim for being a jerk, can log into the account mommy and daddy know of. And say the sim owner tried to contact them through a voice call (which is not logged any where)

So suddenly the sim owner is having to prove innocence in a decidedly hostile situation where most are going to be taking them as being an evil person at face value from the brat. And even proving it, they will have their name dragged through the mud by the ordeal.

So, prohibit voice for underage accounts. Problem solved.

Man, I wish voice chat never got implemented, honestly. What's wrong with typing? :/

The client needs to tell you, when you're interacting with other people in ANY fashion (voice, normal chat, IMs, group IMs, all of it), if anybody is a minor. Change the colour of their names, add an icon to the end of their name, make them blink like a nuclear Christmas light, I don't care what. From all the panic in this thread, it's obvious that minors need to be very clearly pointed out so you can all run away when you see one.

LL needs to be able to make voice chat loggable, or GET RID OF IT. Clearly this is a necessary precaution. I wouldn't want to restrict minors from using it.. if they can't, nobody can.
If you want to talk, use Vent.


I already covered this? Teens = PG sims only. There shouldn't be adult content in PG sims to start with. Anybody under 13 = banned.

I would ask you to come up with solutions instead of just panicking, but you obviously just don't want teenagers anywhere near the main grid. No matter the good side of it.

I've been following this thread on and off for teh past day, and commented plenty. But I havent finished yet. I have always been opposed to teens on sl maingrid. I am not too keen on child avitars either if it comes to that; it's not my comfort zone and it definitely isnt teh law agencies' either. There are many parallels here. I remember teh early days when child avis were being associated with porn and pedophilia. In a similar way, teens (and younger) are gonna be walking time bombs in sl.
I am (obviously) an adult but I would never encourage any teen to visit sl - being sexually active here has given me many opportunities to see men (and some women) in many shapes and guises. Parents Beware! SL is a place for adults. Banning mature sims, forcing age declaration etc etc will NOT prevent pervs or pedos. Sex and associated activities - BDSM, snuff, prostitution, slaving, precociousness, stripclubs, street slutting (all in sl) blow jobs and all the rest of it will simply go underground and will be tempting to many 15 year olds. Ban it or hide it - kids will sniff it out and participate if they can; remember when YOU were 15? I know I was into some crazy behaviours.
BUT its gonna happen isnt it? It's prolly gonna be a complete disaster and many people will leave and new ones will come on who never heard of all this uproar.
I dont intend to leave - I will simply become enclosed and threatening to any infltration by teens. Linden Labs simply has to disclaim any responsibility for what happens - same as you enter a war zone you could get shot. You enter a mature area you could be in for a big surprise.
So I am for letting teh little buggers on and let them sink or swim. Just make sure tehy stay away from me and my friends. And I dont want their sniffy moralizing when tehy do appear on teh horizon.

Well, I can just see what is going to happen... we will be dicatated to as to what we do on SL. After all, Im sure it is the "teens" that are making SL so much money right??? Its the teens that are investing in all of the land on SL. SL is going to lose alot of the adult business if they begin dication of what the mature market can do.

when there is nothing in it for the system..
they want a system like that because it puts a fear factor in everyone like it has in this thread..
we know the parents are responsible and the parents do to but because they can get away with it they will use it like it's winning the lottery..
we need winning cases showing more fraudulent claims to put the fear back in the other direction and some judges that see it for what it really is..
that and to shut the media up while these cases are going on so they do not influence things like they do..
if anyone abuses anything it is them abusing freedom of speech..
report facts or get fined..

I'm not sure they care... I imagine the hords of openspace sims abandoned.. In the end thousands of dollars per month, who I might add were from adults, lost.. I'm sure the requests for new homespace sims has gone down remarkably, and I wonder if regualr sims orders as well. For fear of increases in tiers... In an effort to provide better service, costs for maintanance to these sims... Of course, after the recent flood of holiday joiners that may or may not be retained ad our inability to log for sparatic time periods and todays weird issue.....

The choice will be made, and I'm certain some sort of merge will be done, it is our choice to stay on and keep supporting the company who obviously does not listen to its members and heads forward to create the best "overall" inviorment for their members in complete ignorance in what exactly supports their company..

I can understand wanting to branch into educational and business areas, but enjoying the fine cigars they are now... with the amount of people I forsee leaving SL if our freedom to express ourselves creatitivly is snubbed.. It is their company and they may do as they see fit, but in the end its us who will make the final decisions.

Will you leave if your ability to enjoy what you have come to enjoy over the time you have been on SL is taken from you? Or are they counting on the addiction they create to keep yo paying them money for "virtual" education??

I never signed up on SL to get an education, I came on out of curiosity and saw what could become a possibility and stayed....

there is a reason I am not using other games such as this and it is because of a strict monitoring of content.

I just really hate to see this business fail because of bad decisions..

The judge with seven reasons states only one in court

I hope this is accurate, cos a totally sanitised SL is pointless completely to me. I don't give a monkeys about age verification I did that easily and painlessly oh WELL over a year ago. I do, however, strongly object to the idea that I have to spend time with teenagers officially even more than the amount that are on SL "illicitly" now (I choose to believe that they are simply young and gauche as the notion that I am talking to fully fledged adults of such stunted maturity is enough to make me slash my wrists with a tomato).