Upcoming Changes for Adult Content: Main Forum Thread

Blondin Linden: "I don't think mature, let alone adult content is allowed on the SL website."

You could put it on the Showcase inworld only and make it opt-in or age verify (or both) to view. Simple things that make the new continent attractive or better for business and people will *want* to move.

Anyway, this is the point I came on to make: if, as is widely assumed, the new Ursula continent under construction is for adult-only content, can you assure us that the names of the regions will be changed?

If they stay Ursula, then we know for sure that Linden Labs is trying to sabotage adult content providers. Seriously, is there a less sexy name?

I recommend that you let residents suggest names for the Ursula-# sims. Obviously LL has final say, but I'm sure the community is creative enough to come up with sim names that are appropriate to the continent theme but not explicit.

EDIT: Letting residents suggest names would be a good idea in general ... I mean, really so many mainland sim names are just cringeworthy.

And THIS is, to my mind, what it's really all about. Not "controlling Adult content" but eliminating anonymity. EVERYONE gets verified, and correlating that with in-world activity becomes trivial. No more unverified accounts, no more deniable alts, no more using SL to try out activities that might be socially risky where one lives in RL. No more PRIVACY.

Adult content is just a (barely) credible cover story.

Oh, I am sure that is what they "heard". Problem is that they didn't listen to the other half of the message, and presumed that the person was talking about <insert whatever LL wanted to hear here>.



That's why I want the details of their "research"; I want them to show REAL justification for this change and why what they have already is adequate to task.



No, they turn on "SafeSearch" in their preferences, THEN they pitch a fit when "inappropriate content" STILL ends up in the search results.

The questions specifically raised in relation to the impact of the proposed changes on private islands/estates has still not been addressed. Given that private estates comprise approximately 4/5 of the existing grid, the silence in such respect is deeply concerning. Perhaps it is a question that some would rather not have to answer.

The displacement and upheaval of A rated occupiers from estates not reclassifying as A and, in other instances ( and ironically), non A rated occupiers from estates reclassifying as A has the potential to be huge. There most definitely will be a cost associated with such moves. Who is expected to bear that cost and why? By what entitlement are estate owners supposed to breach contracts with some of their occupiers? Is it appreciated that personal friendships and trust may be destroyed as a result of the difficult choice which an estate owner will be compelled to make?

I have some further questions. Does LL's research show that a significant number of adult businesses will be seriously harmed by the proposed changes? This seems to me the innevitable result of separating access to those businesses from the majority of SL residents who are not age verfied and have no PIOF. If LL has not carried yet carried out such research, why not, and when does it propose to do so?

This isn't about censorship. Those who wish to access adult content and those who create it will still be able to do so.




I really do appreciate how you are going about the conversation. Thank you. And my office hours are Weds @ 330pm. You can check my profile for the location. Just remember...1 of me and Many of you. So be kind!

Since they are coded "Mainland" I would think that would mean that they are part of the move deal. Right?

Interesting. I didn't think of that.



Can you explain on this? I don't think I understand. Do you mean b/c you don't like the name Ursula?



Ursula Andrews?

Age verification = Gender verification?

If so, this could be one of the few good things to come out of the new changes. No more men pretending to be women and vice-versa.

I suspect AV will also catch alts using different email addresses, further reducing the bots.

I beg to differ, as to whether that's good.

I started out with "nice", saying "please", though the questions I asked WERE hard; they have to be. They were ignored.

I stopped saying please, and just repeated the questions. They were ignored.

Now, I am full-on antagonistic. It's a natural progression when your "polite" and "thought out" questions are repeatedly ignored.

Thus, if there is any reason why their ear is being "deafened", it is their own fault.

The questions will continue to be asked in an increasingly hostile tone (and not just by me) until they are answered, because being "nice" just never seems to "cut the mustard" when Ivory-Tower-ism and spin kicks into high gear.

Answer the questions, tell the truth, explain and help the customers understand, or have them burn the place down. It is their choice.

Yes, but they spent anything between 75k to 250 k (900 USD) for their 1024sqm plot (or smaller) piece of land in Bay City or Nauticulus regions. If they swap like for like land size (e.g 1024 sqm)...that's a huge valuation loss right there!

Age verification will not be compulsory......i venture many won't bother with it for a number of reasons.

Any chance of the estate issue being clarified? Will estate owners have to flag their whole estate as adult? Will it just be the island the adult content is on? Or will it be parcel based?

This is a big issue and shouldn't be that difficult to answer.

They will if they want to get into the adult areas, or am I completely misunderstanding this?

I know there are lots of unanswered questions and that is making people concerned. This is still part of the ongoing conversation. But we'll have some more information about this topic sooner rather than later.

Unless they live in Europe?
I don't get home until after 6PM SLT.

Probably before their time....

As the curator of a sex furniture museum in SL I can only dream of being in the showcase at the moment



Yes, Ursula is an unsexy name, like Gertrude



The attractiveness of individual Ursulas in't the issue

EDIT: Ursula Andress, btw

If you are identifying content and removing it from a context, you are censoring it. That is called "censorship".

You can keep saying "it isn't censorship", but your intents and actions are the very definition of censorship. I would suggest you read up on the history of censorship as well as segregation, and find ways to NOT repeat it here in SL. It WILL get VERY ugly otherwise.



Oh? So you are saying you are dropping the age/payment verification requirement?

Andress.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ursula_Andress

You think there should be "male only" and "female only" continents? Wasn't there a bad SF movie about that?

The problem is that many of the questions being asked already SHOULD have answers, because they are asking about past events, facts, and motivations which you claim you already have. Why not answer those questions now? Not "soon". Not "later". Now.

Wouldn't that depend on what price the new land will be sold at? [assuming there will be land for sale there too] Interesting concept ~supply and demand

A resident is allowed to be whatever gender avatar they wish. Verification will not affect how people identify in SL. If they don't want to be a man or a woman, there are plenty of other options. May I suggest being a frog?




Reducing bots?! One can hope!

I have a lovely neighbor in-world who runs an XXX business. It's not my cup of tea, but the thought of having her forced out of the area is really disturbing and totally pointless.

The focus of this thread is all wrong, and LL is taking us down the wrong path. People seem to have the belief that we can regulate (read censor) our in-world experience to some "universal standard" to which we'll all abide and feel comfortable. Put the naughty stuff in this corner; we'll all be happy and the kids will be safe. It's delusional - absolutely delusional; and, at best, it deals with 50% of the problem and does nothing to tackle the other 50% (e.g., avatar attachments, the mixed shop that carries mostly PG items and the one or two XXX, etc.)!

Both from a community point of view and a technology point of view, what we're talking about here is content management. In technology terms, this translates into content tagging and display filtering. This is Net Nanny taken into the 3D experience, folks - this problem has already been solved. Let's not reinvent the wheel!

We do not live in a PG world. Trying to create a PG grid can only be achieved by artificially censoring the grid into someone's interpretation of a Utopian standard that does not represent its residents - ALL of its residents. Good luck with that one. The complexity to define - let alone codify - that type of regulation is mind-numbing. And doing it half...way will only result in massive discontent.

(a) Implement content tagging, so that creators can tag their content (whether it's the latest avatar "attachment" or that "curious" spiral tower - it doesn't matter...content is content),

(b) enforce content filtering at the viewer level (yes, "filtering" will need to be defined - many options...better use of our time in this thread to discuss that), and

(c) have an arbitration mechanism to deal with the obliged violator who will refuse to or be negligent in properly tagging their content.

Combined, this strategy allows the parent (or discerning adult) to define their viewer filtering level (like Net Nanny), keeping kids (and adults) *reasonably* safe - no technology is 100% perfect; and it gives recourse when (not if) someone breaks the rules.

In summary, all we need to do is evolve the existing 2D experience of content (read website) filtering into the 3D realm. Yes, it's a good, healthy challenge - an excellent use of LL's technology muscle. But it's also a heck of a lot easier to do (and far more rational) than all the crazy stuff I've read in this thread.

-DK