Upcoming Changes for Adult Content: Main Forum Thread

Is there going to be a dissemination of these plans to the general inworl population? Most don't read the forum or blog I would imagine, or are they going to get sandbagged?

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.

@ Minx: Advertising and the filtering of key search words will be tricky indeed and you bring up a good point. Some words, though seemingly adult, may have other uses. For example, the word breast would cause an issue for those who educate or deal with issues of breast cancer. It's tricky - we know. I personally wonder how Google Safe Search does it. Anyone know?
As for your store name - what would be easier? Changing the name or moving?

... yesterday I received emails on both my premium accounts giving me 7 days to Age verify using "a legible copy of a
government-issued identification document (state ID, driver's license, passport, military ID, birth certificate) that clearly includes both your name and date of birth. This is the only type of identification acceptable for establishing age eligibility."
And that both my accounts have been frozen until I do. If not received within 7 days my accounts will be discontinued....

Yes. Lindens please answer the question as to whether this data you have collected was from the survey we have been asked to complete sometimes upon log-in that asked whether we would prefer a more predictable SL experience.

If this is the case, the wording is deceiving. I would like a more predictable teleport, down-time, log-in, texture load, prim load experience within SL. I would NOT like a less predictable where did everybody and all the nice builds go experience.

Urban Haystack

That's one of the most nonsensical post I've ever read in a forum.
You admittedly land randomly on other people's land and then you complain that you didn't like what you saw.
You seem to forget they're on a private property. Where everybody, except the land owner, isn't but a tolerated intruder...

This is really telling I think of how absolutely cluless LL is abot their product and how it is used by a lot of it's users, and in fact one of it's strongest attractions.

A virtual world where you can be almost anything, do almost anything you can imagine, and the want to make it more predictable???????

Good grief, yes! If THAT is what LL meant by "predictable", I feel completely betrayed.

Blondin, Jeska, et.al...if that survey question is what gave you the customer data you're basing this whole policy on, you are COMPLETELY off base. We were talking about teleports and inventory stability, NOT adult content.

They will get sandbagged, only three people, I have talked to about this, had any clue it was happening

I don't agree Aeona, Urban Haystack's post made sense to me. I think that we have to make room for all sorts of people in SL. And traveling through SL and exploring is a favorite past time for many of us. Many of the creators here want people to see their work and exploring is a great way to find some really wonderful stuff.

If you disagree, don't name call k? I understand about the private property argument but I think that makes the separate area for such content even more appealing....it stays private.

I'm not sure what you mean by name calling. I don't see it. What I do have to say is that there is nothing in the Linden's proposal.. or failed one at the moment that suggests anyone would be protected from "stumbling" into what two or ten people do on the privacy of their own mainland parcel. I can understand wanting to explore, and for that, perhaps the Lindens should never have decided to put a PG sim right next to a Mature sim in the first place. But the fact is, this was a mature mainland sim, and it was private property, and the person "dropped in" from the sky. Is this something you would do in real life? Drop into someone's bedroom and be disgusted at what you found there? He was not invited there in the first place.

Very true. Those of us who use the forums regularly have to keep in mind that we are a segregated minority of lurkers and even smaller number of regular posters. We can't really draw any conclusions as to what the majority of SL residents want or don't want from the opinions expressed on these forums.

It could be very likely that the percentage of "adult" content could be 2-4% in SL though I suspect that it generates a fairly hefty amount of revenue since like RL porn, a small percentage use it but they use it alot.

Does it work for you to keep both happy by moving the one to a private place? Or to have a rating barrier? It seems like then both sets of folks would be happy.

btw, I do attend things that some folks would not like to drop in on so I'm both in this.

One of the earlier threads was subverted by someone campaigning for the rights of native americans. I hope this one will not be subverted by debating the legitimate expectations of a sky diver who appears to think it acceptable and inoffensive to crash land randomly and without warning anywhere on the mainland. It seems to me good fortune on his part that he is not yet been reported for griefing.

Urban ...

1) Teen Grid will be merged with ours, maybe you have overread that fact.

<respectfully snipped for calirty>

..........
Has Linden Labs considered a poll of all Second Life residents to found out a percentage of people who are actually offended by what is going to be classed as "adult".......

One of the earlier threads was subverted by someone campaigning for the rights of native americans. I hope this one will not be subverted by debating the legitimate expectations of a sky diver who appears to think it acceptable and inoffensive to crash land randomly and without warning anywhere on the mainland. It seems to me good fortune on his part that he is not yet been reported for griefing.