Age Verification is here!!

But talking about it helps pass the day......

Dear Lindens,
You have my real name, address and credit card info on file. As you are not a government agency, bank, or my employer, that is all you are entitled to. If you want me to prove I'm over 18, I'll send you a copy of my 1998 high school diploma. You do the math.

Toodles!
Nat

I have a link but haven't decided yet. One one hand, LL already has all my RL information, working email addresses, at least two credit card numbers and a resume on file with my home & cell phone phone numbers. Not to mention an IP address and probably a basic hardware/OS spec. So, its not like I have anything to hide.

However...

1) I'm not thrilled with the track record of this 3rd party service, even though (as Chip noted) I'm sure they already have far more interesting information on file for me.
2) My sim is PG already and I haven't partaken of "adult" content in SL for years - nor have any interest. If I want pr0n I'll go find some that actually looks real...

So, I think I'm going to a pass for now, not like I can't go back and verify if I decide at a later point.

I can't but help but laugh at the people here that are complaining about all this and then saying, its the end of SL. Or Thats it i quit. And yet at least 1/2 are the same ones that said this with gambling being banned, or the fact that they didn't get their money back for rating people, or lord knows what other patches they threatened to leave over. FIRST OFF! READ THE BLOGS ALL THE WAY THROUGH BEFORE YA START RANTING IT JUST MAKES YOU LOOK STUPID IF YOU DON'T! Says it in black in white,

(QUOTE)"I want to reiterate that identity verification is voluntary for both Residents and estate owners. Residents who value their anonymity may continue to remain anonymous and will continue to have access to all Mature and PG areas of the Grid. Land owners are strongly encouraged to flag adult content as Restricted to safeguard themselves from publishing inappropriate content to minors, as well as protecting any minors themselves."

This means you can still go to any sim thats mature or pg, but if its a sim where the owner is concerned about minors getting on the sim. Which i might add is not uncommon to have a minor playing sl with a full on account cause mommy & daddy give them the credit card and don't care what their kids play. This also means that YOU DONT HAVE TO DO IT. Worst case you can't go to porn based sims. To be honest if you feel that your secondlife is ruined cause ya can't get your porn fix, you might wanna search for a First Life.

ok next quote,

(QUOTE)"A beta of the IDV system is open initially to all estate owners from today, who are free to verify their identities. Once the beta period is complete the system will be available to all Residents. Access to Restricted parcels will be prohibited for non-verified avatars from that time."

This means if ya don't own your own private sim, you dont' even have to worry about it yet. They are just testing to see how smooth the process goes. Sim's don't have the power to make you not able to go on their sim due to a new setting. Would be kinda stupid of LL to allow a sim owner to make it "IDV" access only if only the people that own estates can verify their identity.

Now, for all of you that are so scared about losing their identity over all this. Neither your drivers license number, nor the last 4 of your social security number is any threat. As far as your address, I would be willing to bet that 1/2 the people in the forums are listed in one way or another on the internet. Being your phone number, or your address or w/e. You should be more concerned about what your throwing in the trash then what your throwing into a website. Hell your cookies on your computer store data that you plug in. Anyone with enough knowledge can get your name, address, telephone number, favorite sites, etc. from them.

Personally I think its more of a matter of what these people want to hide more then what they are willing to give. Personally, I think all this is, is just a way for LL to cover their ass. Frankly, its a smart move. Keep pushing it, and if you think about it they could have had 2 choices down the road. Make sure you old enough to view what your viewing, or remove more content from SL. Choice is yours. It was quick, it was painless, I didn't feel that any of the information that I gave was of any consequence to me or my personal security. Only kicker was it took my old address instead of my current one because I moved within the last 1.5 years.

Same for me really. My main sim is M, but there's nothing there that currently will require a verification check, and I really have no interest in such things. I decided to go ahead and verify just to provide an added layer of trust for people who shop my stores or may hire me to do contract work for them. If I didn't run a business in SL I'd likely have passed on it as well, not out of objection to the process, but just because I wouldn't need it to go the places I go.

As a landlady, I know that people are going to use their homes for adult things. As such, I am flagging all my residential properties as mature. I plan to carve out an unflagged space for those who do not wish to verify, but that means I have to police for explicit poseballs. Grr.

I myself will verify, although I lament doing so with this company.

What would happen if you did not flag and someone rezzes a naughty poseball? How much trouble do you get in, or if discovered, does LL just return the poseball to inventory?

I'd be interested to hear from those British concierge members who have successfully verified themselves.

As the British National Identity card scheme has yet to enter procurement, and driver’s license, passport and national insurance details are not available on a public database for anybody to query (you'd have to work in a specific government department to do that), what information is required of us exactly?

I would say LL gets pissed on often enough. Why would they want ANOTHER urine sample?

Mine has extra THC for their enjoyment.

worst case is that people will mark their parcel as 'adult' simply because ll have refused to clarify what constitutes 'adult' material. this goes back to the whole 'broadly offensive' paradox where the mature sims are meant for broadly offensive material, but broadly offensive material is prohibited. many people may tick 'adult' to simply avoid falling afoul the unspoken policy regarding 'adult content'. the result is you cannot access a skin shop because the owner fears 'nudity' is an adult thing...
do you deny that verification for all sl customers is around the corner then? or are you claiming we should only start thinking about it when it happens?
i am part of the other half that dont have thier info all over the net. dont the half i belong to get any consideration in your argument?
and this is the social pressure that makes verification seem not so voluntary afterall. if i dont verify i obviously have something to hide hey.
remove the content much like rotten.com or germangoogirls.com?

I really wish I knew. If it's like the gambling system, it depends on ARs. I would hope that LL wouldn't punish me for it if they happen to show up in the 14 hours that I am out of world and can't do anything about it.

Oh, yeah! Sorry.. it's been a while... been working furiously on a project (Speaking of.. you gotta shoot me an IM, Bren... I got a lion for you)

I forgot about the "Bitching to waste the day away.

*deeep breath*

VerificationsucksIcan'tbelievethey'dwantmetogivethemmydriverslicensetheymustbecrazyitsunconstitutionalandillegalandLLshouldbetakenoutback,tiedtoastakeandshot,theysucksobadhowcantheydothis?

*pantpant*

Yeah, I considered that angle as well. I want to wait and see what shows up on in-world profiles before I add SL to my data-miner known list of activities outside of toilet paper brand, shampoo, amount I spend annually at Home Depot, driving record, vehicle model, charitable contributions, and voting frequency

Optimistic view: at least we can stop talking about gambling now...

When it becomes available to the common herd, I'll age verify all my accounts. Partially, I am certain my own sim and my own land will get flagged as "Age verified only". Every person I know in my sim has and uses at least a few sex pose balls. I have a sexgen bed myself, even though I rarely use it. So I can't see how we could possibly decline to age-restrict. We have "Adult stuff" out and available, even though it's impossible to come to our off-the-map sim without belonging to our access control groups and being invited to visit. I'd still have to restrict, because I don't know, for sure, that someone's invited guest isn't under age.

I think all those who are saying "It's voluntary, and I don't go to sex places anyway", will be shocked to see how much of the map will be covered with red X's, and inaccessible to them once this goes into full swing. Have fun playing with your g-rated things in the few places you can find after that. Most of the grid will be banning you.

It's going to be about as optional as breathing.

From what I hear, you only get in trouble if it DOESN'T have THC in it.

It is San Fran, after all...

I'm from the uk and have had to use verification a couple of times in the past,once to obtain soccer world cup tickets and another for a gambling website i'm a member of,the reasons given where in the first instance to stop hooligans gaining tickets for the world cup and the second to stop potential money laundering with the gambling site,the only problem i've got with what LL are doing is they says its for age verification,however i'm fairly sure the use of a credit card acts as age verification for most online activities including the porn industry,i'm ok about giving verification its just i'm not sure about LL's reasoning.
Won't stop me verifying though.

I don't think they would. It seems this system is being put in place for two main reasons. First, so that LL can more easily pass liability to residents for content that may violate regional obscenity laws, and second, as a tool for residents to use to help protect themselves from potential prosecution based on reglional obscenity laws related to exposure to minors.

Have they posted what the "punishment" would be for various offenses? As a mature sim landlord, I want to give my tenants total freedom and not need them to be varified if at all possible. So far, my content is not too adult, unless you consider Bits and Bobs Kiss 4 poseball to be too racey.

They have stated that they expect people to self label their content on their land.

That they are morally and legally responsible for what goes on on their land.

And that if self labeling doesnt work - they will force everyone to verify.


As far as I can remember the specific punishment for not complying hasnt been stated.

However , you will be of course contributing to the "If you cant self label your content.." thing.

Flagging or not, I don't like the ida of my landlord or anyone else snooping in my home looking for "illegal" objects.

Ok here's my label: Liome Beach Resort--Rated M
Contains some tiny bikinis, a ten person hookah, seven romantic poseballs and one runaway crab. No varification needed at this time.

As a landlord, you will see lots, lots racier than Kiss 4. As usual, they haven't posted what punishment there would be... but I think it would typically include warnings and account suspension for repeat offenses.

Gremlin,

At least one of the credit card companies has stated categorically that their credit cards are NOT a means for age verification. I'd put money on it the rest will be following soon.

I told you, I just thought I left my keys in your panties drawer.