Upcoming Changes for Adult Content: Main Forum Thread

Further more what lindenlabs is planning to do is absolutely uncalled for. The only feasable reason for them to do such a thing, is to harvest data and cash it out on the market. (why hello there, artistote, wanna buy 6 million souls?)

Ive seen the most raunchy distastefull pornographic websites that made due with a simple "Äre you 18 or older? [Yes][No]", THAT is why LL's way is completely laughable and surreal, with only one possible reason.

I believe that not only should some guidelines be enforced around adult content, but Linden Labs should take a deep, hard look at what is going on in SL, and take more effective action.

This is a trascript of a note that I sent out to my students today:

In the past few months I have been confronted with the worlds of BDSM and Gor on SL. This has led me to question what is actually going on in SL and how this world is rife with people living out their private little fantasies on SL.
Attached are some thoughts on the issues of power and control. Have a look - any questions, issues, please get back to me - I will be happy to explain further.

Nino Heartsdale
CEO Energy Works


POWER AND CONTROL

Those who seek to gain power or control in their lives and those who seek to give it away - ask yourselves the question: WHY?

That what we already have, we tend not to seek.

Playing power and dominance games on SL is hardly going to give you any of it in your real life. The power & control it provides is just an ILLUSION.

The only way you can gain real power is through Self Empowerment.
The only way you can gain real control is through taking control of your own life.
And the only way you do that is through being able to face the TRUTH about yourself. You do it through self awareness, honesty & integrity.

You need to address the root cause of your problems, not try to escape them by fantasising on SL. Being in denial or justifying yourself will not give you any solutions to your underlying issues.

Remember that you are not only the creator of your own reality but also the co-created reality of all humanity.

ALL of your creations get added to the pool of collective consciousness. It does not matter if they are created in RL or SL. If the concept exists, it will be created and experienced by mankind.

What we conceive of - we create. What we create - we experience. What we experience - we can conceive of... that is an unalterable universal law - The Cycle of Concept, Creation & Manifestation. There is no exception to this rule.

Therefore, as long as we as humanity continue to conceive and create concepts such as dominance, war, rape, torture, slavery on whatever level, we will continue to experience them. They become our own "perfect creations". Energy does not judge any creation as bad or wrong. It is perfectly happy to let us experience whatever we choose to concieve of and create - in that we are indeed Gods.

So for all you SL Gor/BDSM players out there, the next time you read of a heinous crime such as Josef Fritzl in RL, please remember, YOU have no right to condemn it. To condem rape, enslavement and torture on one hand and then play out these fantasies in SL makes you a hypocrite. At least have the courage of your convictions to stand up and take the responsibility for your own perfect creation. All else is justification - and we can all do that... even Fritzl managed to justify himself in his own mind.

It is NOT "just a game where no one is getting hurt". All it has to do is to filter through the different grades of matter till it hits the physical - and then someone, somewhere gets to experience your little contribution to the pool of collective consciousness.

The only way we as humanity can stop these crimes is if we take responsibility for our creations. The only way we can do that is through evolution, through an expansion of consciousness, and through love and empowerment of ourselves and of others.

It is time to stand up and be counted. It is time for us to take full responsibility not only for our own lives, but for our contribution towards the evolution of humanity.

Ask yourselves... exactly what is YOUR contribution towards the greater good of humanity?

READ THIS.

You are a flake Nino.

You are perfectly entitled to your opinion Dogboat.

i know i am.

READ THIS.

The inability to distinguish fantasy from reality is considered a sign of mental illness, or have I a missed a massive change in the psychiatry?

If we follow your logic then:
Little kids who play army are responsible for every war ever fought.

Writers and women who enjoy bodice ripping romance novels are responsible for every rape.

Television is responsible for basically everything bad that ever happened.

And FYI.. Josef Fritzl didn't need SL, his crimes began a generation before it existed, who knows, maybe if he had an outlet for his urges he could have kept going off the deep end.

See this is a debate that has been raging since computer games began. Are they an instruction book on nefarious behavior, are they an outlet that keeps people who are on the the edge from going all the way over, or are they mindless fun on the level of watching fireworks on a holiday? If you have seen a definative study that is endorsed by all sides of the debate, please share it.

Patasha

Bored. So I popped over to Pervz to see if the place was still there. Yes indeed. I smile remembering how I and a couple GFs went there to check out the 'Dolcett' Toaster. I laugh again now as we laughed at the time - each of us giving it a go. One of the girls was definitely not into BDSM. She simply rolled her eyes as we took our turns - making jokes at the ghastly scripted chat (no mod).

The reason why we laughed is because...it was not real...in the same way that most funny jokes are not real - they are stories, shadows or mirrors of reality that we can look at without going blind. Obviously, none of us would wish to come into contact with a REAL toaster. I doubt anyone could bear the site of such a thing in RL. We laughed and played with it in SL precisely because it was NOT real. It was a joke.

If people can no longer understand the difference between fantasy and reality, between abstract and concrete, between photo and flesh, then we have a serious social problem. To confuse a metaphorical toaster made of prims and particles with a real toaster made of steel and plastic - to confuse an avatar with a flesh and blood human being - is, quite frankly, a sign of mental illness.

The Canadian government flirted with 'metaphorical crime' and backed away from the Abyss. The British government stares into the blackness - fascinated - leaning closer, closer, closer...

You know, with LL's bungled handling of the Voidsims, and now this poop disguised as a mickey mouse hat, Second Life simply isn't as much fun to play anymore. Sims that weren't pulling in cash because they didn't have a sexclub on them are gone. Sims are now leaving that do have sexclubs on them because they see the writing on the wall. And all the nonsexy stuff that the sex paid for? They are going too.

Second life is quickly becoming even more boring than RL.

"Concerns about the ubiquity of adult content have forced Mark Kingdon, the chief executive of Linden Lab, the company behind Second Life, to introduce tough new rules to restrict sexual activity to “red light” zones within the site.

But he insists users come to Second Life for more than just sex. “You can learn French art at a Parisian café, go on an African safari and meet interesting people from all around the world,” he says." -from todays paper uk-telegraph-

...

Me studied art, philosophy, design. Where would you move me, if I would show the early art of Tomi Ungerer (french) at a Parisian (mature) café?

Same artist makes also children books...

So, a complete retrospective of his art should be: where?

(Check his website or google or wikipedia)

The whole café would be forced immediatly to the smut-haven from summer on, because there is all in in Ungerers work: hardcore bdsm - sm - sadism - whatever, (but very ironical and with a smile, only: not everyone has enough art-skills to see the meta-level and this art would be abuse reported...) but even beautiful, sweet, harmless PG children books he creates and still.

Hm? Fortunaly for you, I have no right to show his works, because he is the copyrights-holder. So no need for LL to make decisions on it.

But if he would open an account?

This man is PG, Mature and Adult in one! Should he cut himself in three pieces? In an 18+ environment?

So the telegraph-uk interview snippet and the whole article speaks editions....

"~not all want sex, maybe some like to see french art in a Parisian art-café"

and? what then? if this art is pure adult? Ah, what said Blondin: " we would not move art" and ? we? Our art is nothing? We can be moved? opressed? divided? stressed?

You, Linden-boss, have no clue what you are doing actualy, when you talk to the press.

Or to us. Especially not if it goes about art, it seems.

As far as I know, and this is no wonder, had Ungerer the biggest trouble with his works in the land of the *free* ya ya...the whole US high society was near to kill him in the 60s/70s because his drawings showed their hidden sexual practics, their hidden brutality and violence and inhumanity and their whole bigotary exemplaric and unmasked! The hidden secrets of people who are yelling for "PG" "Mature" "Adult" and whatever ratings all day long.

While we here in Europe hug and cuddle the artist Ungerer all day long for showing us some truth from his impressions while he lived a while in NY.

French art...

I could show you french art in masses from *all* centuries and you would change the face-texture of your rl-ava into the color of a intensive shiny red balloon, be sure...

And Africa...

o.O. the only association is "safari"? not hunger, aids, massacres? The drama of colonization follow-ups, the ripp off through all big-biz, even US biz and the US support for corruption and dictatorship of all sorts there? Or, on the good side, very natural life (without ratings, hehehe), much tribe-cultures, different religions and traditions, even art and skills to survive in deserts and savannas?

Safari... - how ignorant... to reduce Africa on "Safari" - lol and is that sim made by african people?

If not then move them better to the adult continent and let Ungerer in a PG café - this would be more near at reality, because his work is art and the safari thing is a provication and a sin. (attention: irony and sarkasm).

(jesus, I am angry again, hehehehe)

...

(This whole adult and rating thing is all so irreal and paradox... I go and do what some posters did long time before me: I go now too and bang my head against the next wall!)

i checked out Openlife.... If you havent tried it yet, im not sure if its worth it. It seems to me that its a new SL. everything is set up EXACTLY like SL. the tabs and buttons are exactly the same, you even start off looking like Ruth. this says to me that it is made by LL under a cover company. or else LL would be suing them for copyright infringment.
There are about 20 sims, no stores, and nothing to do...cant buy clothes or avs or anything else. AND i didnt have to say i was 18+ to join.....which tells me there will be a LOT of teens there.

Drake

Right there with you! I used to chafe at people who said SL is a game. I would correct them, pointing out that SL was what you made of it, a game, a chat room, a small business opportunity, a school, whatever you wanted it to be it could be. But jeeze, LL seems to be pandering so painfully to the "it's not a game" crowd now that I feel the urge to shout in all caps every time I'm in here. "IT'S A GAME PEOPLE!" Maybe I'll go over to my daughter's and sit with her while she and her daughter play on barbie world.

Patasha

I spent some time wandering around to sex clubs. Heck, I have been calling my brothel a sex club. I have seen allot of stuff quite different from my place. Actually now that I have seen so many other places and compared it to my own place I have to say mine would be considered "mature".

Yes, the silks (escorts/dancers) do have pictures of them self naked on ads they rent on the wall(many fully clothed). Most wear dancing silks or lingerie when they work in the hall. On Friday's we have our traditional "Topless Friday". But there isn't any open sex in any of the public grounds. Men that come to my place with his manhood hanging are asked to put it away or leave. (very banable offense) Anyone that is not in human form but in animal form is also ask to leave (due to Bestiality laws) and anyone that is in a child like Avatar is also asked to leave. We down "child play". Simply because we don't want that sort of image. Any emoting that is considered "highly sexual" is ask to be kept in IM's.

The silks (escorts) can rent rooms that are high in the sky (over 1000 meters). Closed in rooms without windows. The public can NOT and do not have access to these rooms at all unless they are high flying on my land. I do have flying restrictions on my parcels.

No free sex, no public access to these rooms the silks can rent to use how they wish. They could just go there to couples dance, bathe, lap dance, and yes there are beds. But again, NO access to the public. They have to be TP'ed into the room by a staff member.

My Classified ads I would perhaps consider "Adult" if we go into the word game. But they are listed under mature. The majority of the time the most the public would see is..breasts and even those by many the nipples are covered with tassles.

So am I am being forced into Adult land due to my classified ad..or because I am a "sex for sale" establishment? Even though it would be hard to see the actual sex action unless you was invited to a room for the Adult encounter otherwise you can get to them easily. I am really confused. Am I considered Adult because I admit there is SEX going on somewhere high in the sky, ...or just because I admit that I am a sex club when it might not be considered one. LOL

If only 2-4 percent is going to be enforced to move, I don't see myself as being the "extreme"...I have seen sex equipment in the open beside main dance halls in other places. I have walked through a door to fetish rooms full of sex play items. I have gone down stairways to free sex rooms. I can only wonder if I am worked up over nothing.

When LL first made it possible for residents to resell land or rent land to other Residents, Anshe Chung was an Escort in SL who invested a LOT of RL money and bought huge tracts of virtual land in SL, both Mainland and Private Islands, to become the first "Land Baron", in SL. It was so profitable for her that she was also the first Resident in SL who reportedly owned SL Assets worth over one million real dollars.

She currently owns the "Dreamland Estates", about the second-largest collection of privately-held sims in SL, at about 500 sims? She seems to have been selling off a lot of her assets lately, so is no longer the largest single land holder in all of SL.

This is just so wrong on so many levels, I don't even know where to start.

And they found a new rating hahaha: M 15+ and nothing has to be explicite, whatever that means...says their kind of PG/ half M focused TOS.

Oh and I suspect them even that they have something to do with LL - not because of the viewer, the viewer is open, but the rest of the technic...

Or maybe are these peeps ex - and kicked LL people with a background deal?

If that 3D-world creating is so easy, why struggles the real open source scene so much to create correct colliders, prim management , an economical system, scripts and so on?

From your profile and i quote "What can I say - yes it is true... I am a Goddess!"

and your group "Energy Works" and i quote:

"MISSION STATEMENT

To provide education in various holistic & esoteric subjects in order to inform, enlighten & empower everyone, from all walks of life, by providing unique & relevant information based on the whole picture & the universal laws of energy which govern it.

Each person passing through the doors of the Academy will be given the opportunity to fulfill all the potentials awaiting them on all levels by utilising the tools of truth & knowledge.

Please join the group if you are interested."

Do you see yourself as a cult leader as you feel that you are a goddess or is that just delusions of grandeur i see slipping in Your group seems to offer the same as any religion, except you are using the latest buzzwords.

The great thing about SL IMHO is that such a mix can be put in the pot from all walks of life, then mix in a "Fantasy" environment and have fun.

Personally i no more believe in collective consciousness than i do in god its this type of cultist behavior that has stopped mankind evolving over the years as humans look to others for leadership rather than look to themselves for answers, be it goddesses or gods.

An enlightening and amusing post hope you have your asbestos underwear on lol

You know- one way to get improved performance is to have a *lot* fewer people on the mainland grid- Could this whole thing be- at heart, a lag-concentrating manuver?

-V-

When Linden f**k you over, and screw you from behind, is that not offensive, socially unacceptable, deviant, malicious, immoral behavior?

All the people that want to dictate to others how a GAME is played, get ot of the game if you dont like it.

I still say there ought to be the option of taking a purchase-price buyout instead. LL is the one changing the TOS- the user/landowner has followed the contract/TOS. LL needs to make at least an attempt to offer a refund to customers who find that the new product isn't what they paid for, or want.

More virtual "land" on a different segregated server that doesn't suit their business needs is *not* a fair outcome in this situation.

If people want the swap, fine and good. but if they *don't*, they should be given their money back.

-V-

I would be the first to admit that the *official* USA power structures are more morally uptight than those of Europe.

However, I'd like to point out that the USA, Canada, Austrailia, in fact every former European colony...

*is* Europe, as far as western culture is concerned.

We come from the same roots, we have the same traditions, we have the same basic laws and cultural assumptions.

Western culture is like bread. You have your white bread, your rye bread, your black bread, your bagettes, bagles, pitas, and kaiser rolls.

But it's all still *bread*. they all have more in common with each other than they have with Steak, for example.

So yes, The USA has had some strange notions for a while, and frankly, needs to loosen its shorts a bit

But we ain't aliens from the planet Zepton or something (Okay, Maybe Nany )

-V-

Could these various inane policy decisions be a way of building community in SL? It may not be the intention, but that seems to be the result. True, there is some scapegoating, but there is also different communities coming together to fight the policies.

A lot fewer people means a lot less money.

Take a look at it from a slightly different perspective. Linden Lab isn't actually getting rid of any adult content, only moving it. That's not really "cleaning up" the adult content, it's organizing it.

Linden Lab isn't cleaning up Second Life, they're building an adult playground. They were obviously successful with the Bay City and Nautilus auctions, think about the potential of a themed land that actually has people in it.

If their goal really is to clean up SL, they're going about it in a curious manner.