Upcoming Changes for Adult Content: Main Forum Thread

I'm twenty-three, also know right from wrong, and have a completely different persepective about why I feel the way I do.

Of course, to date, after thousands of posts, all I have seen is words like puritans, trolls and now "so-called adults" thrown about and yet not a single poster on the other side of this issue has cared to ask anyone that is in favor of an adult area, why they feel the way they do. Much easier to decide for them how they feel, and call them names.

Another thing I have learned besides right from wrong ... those seeking tolerance, are 99% of the time, the most intolerant of them all.

So, I've read the Adult Content FAQ......

If they are going to be allowing the use 'Payment Info Verified' as a method of adult verification, then I, as an adult content provider, am behind this change and the segregation. While I see this as something which will, no doubt, hurt my business in the short term, I do believe it will be a benefit to adult business in the long term.

Why?

If all adult content is to be packed into one common area, it means that as an adult provider, you are more likely to be seen by the people actually looking for adult content-- instead of having to advertise and spread yourself all over the grid, you only need to focus your efforts in one area, where you know your entire target audience will be.

That, to me, is like putting all the fish in a pond in one barrel going fishing. You're guaranteed to get bite after bite after bite.

Not only does it quarantine your target market, it also forces my competition to be verified adult content creators...... it will make it far more difficult for the million John Doe Alt Accounts to establish adult businesses ripping other people's products.

I see nothing bad about this proposition.

Moving may be a short-term inconvenience, but the long term gains far, far outweigh the bad.

Think about it.

Wow so if you live in the UK just being in an extreme sex sim can get you a knock on the door in RL if you are caught there by one of the Gov. agencies patrolling the net.

I've seen lots of avatars where there is no actual penis visible, because the character is wearing pants. BUT! There is a long visible shape of what must be assumed to be a penis running down the length of the avatar's pants to hint and suggest such things. Does this mean that avatar's must have flat crotches now too even when wearing clothes?

I'm sorry, just not true. There has been much return discussion with people who are voicing valid, well thought out points on why the move might be good.

From page 1 of this thread:


The original 5 forum threads totalled more than 198 pages,
but this "lessened dialog" has now hit 219 pages,
and increases at a speed I can barely keep up with.

Lest the management view the dialog here as that of a hysterical minority,
remember that most SL users don't visit the SL website & forums, and don't know this change is coming. How about posting the URL for this forum thread on the login page this weekend? Then we'd get to hear what the majority thinks...!

Interesting point. I was in a busy shopping area recently, and I had CTRL-ALT-T enabled. You'd be quite amazed at what people have attached, even in "invisible mode". I'm pretty certain that if I went to an infohub and enabled CTRL-ALT-T there, I'd get quite an eyeful! How will the new rules address this? Will males be required to completely (excuse the pun) dismember themselves before tp'ing to a PG or mature sim?

Interesting point. I was in a busy shopping area recently, and I had CTRL-ALT-T enabled. You'd be quite amazed at what people have attached, even in "invisible mode". I'm pretty certain that if I went to an infohub and enabled CTRL-ALT-T there, I'd get quite an eyeful! How will the new rules address this? Will males be required to completely (excuse the pun) dismember themselves before tp'ing to a PG or mature sim?

I could play the sexism card, in that having something that females do not means I have something extra to remove, simply because I am male. I think females should remove those oversized prim breasts too

Then please, either state your case here, link us to your original post, or do private message me, I'm all ears, honestly.

D'oh ! Does Blondin really think that the content of sites remains forever static ? A lot of managers are constantly fiddling around with the design and content. One could potentially have to re-label a site every week !

Nudists/Naturalist will not be deemed as Adult. This is under the assumption that the main point of the gathering is not sexual.

In RL, I'd agree. But this is SL. Walls do not prevent you from seeing what's on the other side. Conversely, it never rains, so the definition of a "house" is a lot more flexible than in RL. I know a number of people who live in open parks or on sky platforms. Their house is ALL "front lawn".

I believe the issue should not be "what constitutes a residence", but rather, should be "is the owner taking reasonable measures to keep his or her adult activities discreet". Then, all we'll have to do is come to a concensus on what constitutes "reasonable measures". As long as we all have the ability to detach our cameras from their default POV, true privacy in SL is virtually impossible.

Just wanted to chime in on this issue because it makes or breaks my "second life" how this is handled.

I own an adult entertainment business (outside of SL) and have been in SL since 2/2004. Have owned a chunk of mainland for a long time now and dutifully pay for it each month although I rarely login or use it anymore because I have plans to use it when it makes sense for my business. I also use it to build and hang out for personal use so it's very much a "mixed use" between personal and business. It's flanked on two sides by protected linden roads and is on elevated land with a clear, perfect waterfront view. Having been a long-time resident on a mature parcel I strongly resent being informed that displaying my creative work in my build (which focuses almost exclusively on erotic imagery) would forcibly oust me from my land.

The answer here is better privacy controls so that land owners can restrict looky-loos until someone has agreed to a TOS pop-up and accepted that they are entering and explicit parcel. No need to relocate people, just improve the privacy features for mainland parcels.

I'm all for responsible adult content publishing (something SL hasn't always taken seriously). I don't mind restrictions but relocating people from the land they invested in and enjoy is not a good solution. It really doesn't solve anything since what they really need is the ability to let people be more informed about content in private parcels via a sensible ratings system (ESRB has an excellent one with content descriptors that could be a good model for an SL self-rating system which could be overridden by moderators as needed).

Also, Linden Lab needs to treat its customers a lot better. I first heard of this new, jarring change last night and when I tried to come post on the forums, all threads were locked. I need to know how this change will affect my land holdings (they just expect us to keep paying each month not knowing if our build is just going to be unceremoniously evicted to some random parcel? or will we have to SELL our land at the horrid current market rates and buy new land in the porn ghetto??). So I called customer service and the hapless guy told me to... file on JIRA. So I did post my question there. And guess what response I got? None. Except that Alexa Linden "resolved" my issue by labeling it "misfiled." Maybe they should inform their phone support staff not to tell customers to post there then.

This is the service I get after I'm a premium land-holding member in SL for 5 years??? SL is a wonderful product and it's a shame that it is going to come apart like this. I had hoped the "child av sex" thing a couple years ago would have shed light on the real issue in SL: lack of real privacy (everything is PUBLIC) and lack of content tagging/filtering so people can effectively seek or avoid content as needed. Instead what did SL do then? They implemented some vague, unenforceable, puritanical, and completely knee-jerk policy mumbo jumbo that did NOTHING to protect anyone from taboo adult content on the grid while at the same time creating an ignorant fervor in the community that made both sexual and nonsexual age players into second class citizens. So here we are again staring down the barrel of a similar policy change only this time it's all explicit or extreme nudity, sex, and violence.

You can keep dividing people, Linden Lab, or you can design privacy and content control systems that let people enjoy SL united, even on the mainland. Consult with some creative people with virtual world experience and maybe you will get different answers. Web sites and text based communities/contents are NOT comparable to real-time virtual worlds. Information architecture and taxonomy to divvy up flat web content will not work in SL because you're selling experiences to complex multi-dimensional people. You're not selling static porn pics or adult products that can be neatly categorized in the "back room" so please take a more holistic look at your customers. Those same educators, business people, and families asking for more content controls during their non-sexual SL time are people who are going to be using alts to get freaky on the grid after hours. Seriously, we are not two distinct groups. I'm a mom, a business person, an artist who happens to work with erotic themes, and a game developer who doesn't want giant cocks hitting me in the face if I go to see someone give a business related presentation in SL. I have different roles in my first life and my second life and it would be super keen if I was allowed to be my complete self on my own land in SL (with privacy controls to keep the icky neuters out).

Thanks for hearing me out. I still care enough about SL that this matters. They are setting a powerful example for virtual world services. Sex and nudity are wonderful parts of everyday life, not just something in a red light district.

I believe the issue should not be "what constitutes a residence", but rather, should be "is the owner taking reasonable measures to keep his or her adult activities discreet". Then, all we'll have to do is come to a concensus on what constitutes "reasonable measures". As long as we all have the ability to detach our cameras from their default POV, true privacy in SL is virtually impossible.

a few things that really struck me at today brown bag was LL's willingness to listen to suggestions such as a showcase for Adult content. long and lenghtly disscusing about age verification, about having a more visible option when signing up to SL to be verified, Private estate question, Key Words and that big gray area of what is sexually overt. I dont believe nothing is writen in stone yet but still a work in progess and with some awsum questions from Stroker and other attendies. and honest and streight forward answers from te lindens that attendend. I think we got alot acomplished today. and still have a way to go. I look forward to reading the transricpts.

Sorry folks the entire universe of what is rated what and what age groups are allowed to see what content has been hashed out by the motion picture industry, in concert with the government, so there will not be lawsuits. Exceed these ratings and you can expect lawsuits. This is the USA. The law of the Quoran or Bible has no place here whatsoever nor do people that think they have more rights than others.

Here are the rules that Linden Lab has little choice but to adopt just like the video game entertainment industry they are a part of whether they like it or not:

http://www.mpaa.org/FlmRat_Ratings.asp

If Linden Lab does not want to be part of the video game entertainment industry then they have a couple of choices. They can sell Second Life to someone that wants to be in the video game entertainment business or they can close Second Life. The third choice is for Linden Lab to hire leadership that is experienced in the entertainment business and conduct it's business accordingly. They can always spin off a little meeting room affiliate to run a sanitized no user created content meeting room business. Someone might actually want to rent it for $5 one day for an hour.

Sooo Mickey Mouse hugging or kissing someone is Adult? Okaaaaayyyyy...

If Mickey Mouse were rendered as a three-dimensional furry?

I may be beating a dead horse here, but I feel I must speak my part or else quietly accept the fate someone else decides for me. Regarding the issue of defining what is adult: Nudity without sexual context should never be considered Adult material, whether in art or otherwise. If someone chooses to express themselves by dressing any specific way, that should be their choice.



I do not think that the designation of nudity without sexual context is being overlooked, but it is too important to take the risk on.