Offensive T-Shirts

I'm wondering what is the line concerning offensive material displayed on clothing.

Ive made a shirt, which i know is extremely offensive, but i like to do things like that.
Do we have a freedom of speech expectancy in sl? The shirt i made is borrowed from a real company that makes offensive shirts, but i guess i just have that kind of sense of humor.

anyway what is the line? Its just words afterall..words on a ficticious shirt.

Since you have doubts about whether or not it's going to offend people, I'd say don't make or wear it. Chances are it will. And if it does, you could be AR'd. And enough of those will get the Lindens involved. Anything considered "broadly offensive" is outside the TOS..........you could be banned.

Why push the envelope?

Just make sure the shirt abides by PG standards while on a PG rated region and you shouldn't have any problem. Unless it is racial or anything demeaning to another race religion or sexuality. The you could be facing Intolerance abuse reports which will get you kicked off SL

nothing racial, demeaning, or harassing of another culture. Its just one of those WOW kinda moments when you first see it.

and im posting this because while yes i know it will offend, but so what, if im in a mature sim, thats what we all should be mature, you dont have to like it. Im just wondering if since the servers and company are un usa, if we have usa freedom of speech in sl

You freedom of speech is limited to whatever Linden Lab deems protected. Second Life is a private virtual world.........not public domain. You'll loose any fight over this if you are ordered to stop by LL and scream it's "freedom of speech".

Just be careful even in a mature region
Indecency
Second Life is an adult community, but Mature material is not necessarily appropriate in all areas (see Global Standards below). Content, communication, or behavior which involves intense language or expletives, nudity or sexual content, the depiction of sex or violence, or anything else broadly offensive must be contained within private land in areas rated Mature (M). Names of Residents, objects, places and groups are broadly viewable in Second Life directories and on the Second Life website, and must adhere to PG guidelines.

When in doubt refer to community standards page for info

http://secondlife.com/corporate/cs.php

Just remember that free speech does not apply to private institutions. It even says this in the constitution, so being in the usa is irrelevant, LL makes there own rules.

Any landowner can ban you from their land if they don't like your shirt or the color of your socks or the cut of your jib or what have you. They don't have to tell you why or warn you and it doesn't have to make a bit of sense.

any land, be it M or PG, is up to who owns the land some M owners have every right to have what goes on in their land br considered G. If your behaving in anyway outside a land owners wants you can be banned. LL will do nothing.

Where does it say this in the Constitution?



Just because the courts and generations of morons cannot understand the explicit definition of the word "no" isn't a reason for the rest of us to swallow an abridgment of our freedoms, or more importantly, our rights.

Linden Lab may be able to argue legally for controlled speech, but what precedent does that set for freedom in the real world, virtual worlds and beyond? Their current prohibitions are already reprehensible, don't encourage them to take things further.

As for the shirt designer, while others may question your intended desire to offend, for me it is important to do such things to make others face their belief in freedom.

Hahahaha i wanna know what it says

Consider the intent of the speech. If it is merely to offend, consider not doing it. You'd be doing us all a favor. There is no Constitution in Second Life, and no right to "freedom of speech".

It's just words, you say. Consider that "words" are the most potent carriers of hatred and intolerance. There is no more powerful thing on the planet, or in the universe. The "word" is to be used with caution, and with due respect for those who will read or hear it.

OMG I love it. I need a shirt like that.

I say push the envelope all you want. If somebody doesn't like your shirt, then tell them not to look at it.

And when you push that envelope and get AR'd a couple times with snapshots, are you going to tell LL the same? You know, you do not any rights in SL that LL does not give you. This is not a Democracy......more like a Kingdom. That "in your face" attitude is fine when you have a Constitution to fall back on..........there ain't no such thing in SL. The Terms of Service and Community Standards are the law here. And you are treading on some might thin ice.

Do as you please. But don't whine when you get diseplined like a small child.

Plus you asked for advice.......looks like you didn't really want it.

I say the envelope has tolerance.

Let's say I call you a fascist, n-word, gay, homosexual communist. Let's say that's you and I talking face to face. Now what? I tell you not to look at the words, after all, words are just keystrokes on a keyboard. I'm guessing you are offended. If not, I have an arsenal of additional words. I'm certain I can find one which will offend you.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.


Do you see the word "Congress" right there at the beginning? That is where it says that it applies only to the government and not to a private business. And in fact an excellent case can be made that the First Amendment actually protects the rights of a private individual or company to limit speech on their property.



There is no constitutional right not to be offended. The best weapon against intolerance and offensive speech is truth. If you can not make an argument to combat speech you do not like or agree with perhaps you should take a closer look at your believes, do not let emotion guide your actions. No one can offend, insult or demean you without your allowing them to do so.

Then tell me why there is a Constitutionally tested law in this country (USA) that makes "hate speech" a crime? There are limits to free speech. The very old saying that you cannot yell fire in a crowded movie theater is still very true. Go make yourself a T-shirt with "Death to Gays" (insert the "f" word for gay). Wear it in downtown New York City.........or Los Angeles, or Dallas, TX, or Podunk, ID. See how long it is till you are arrested. See how successful you are in your defence.

High school lawyering won't cut it.

I certainly hope that most people have something better to do with their ives than drag this pointless boring discussion out any further.

Surely there must be someone with a new expensive ATI or nVidia card that needs to be told to try an earlier driver or something like that.

True LOL

I find the best weapon against someone saying something offensive is to just ignore them. I don't give words any power over me. And I don't need any Nanny State Government "protecting" me from blithering idiots.

It's not the yelling of "Fire" in a crowded theatre in and of itself, but the action that it causes that holds the legal issue. The offense would be the causing of a riot, or panic, not just the utterance of the speech itself.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandenburg_v._Ohio

And I believe that is the exact same reasoning behind the "hate speech" crime. You cannot say anything you want.....you are limited. And because the laws limiting certain types of speech have be held to be Constitutional it's the law.

But, it's all semantics........there is no Constitution in SL. Just the TOS and CS. It's interpeted by Linden Lab.............and you have no legal recourse.

Which means that free speech and free thought are just a sham. Funny when I read the First Amendment, is clearly says "NO law ... abridging the freedom of speech ". But I guess two letter words with plain meaning are beyond the understanding of most judges and politicians.

Yes I would scrap all hate speech laws, all obscenity laws, and all laws concerning commercial speech. No means No.

QFT