Upcoming Changes for Adult Content: Answers to Questions

Here's a thought - any content in an AO area should not be allowed to be reported for "Inappropriate Content". Either the client should not allow that reason to be selected - none of the "Age->", "Combat->" or "Indecency->" tags, or the system should just bounce those tags when the report hits the support database when it comes from an AO area (with the message of "Look, you were in the AO gutter. You can't complain about this. Go back to DisneySLand."

Consistancy in how ARs are resolved has been a concern of many residents for a while now - I'm still agog that the gteam actually suspended Carl Metropolitan, even for an hour. It's even silly on non-AR stuff like the whole fiasco with kids at SL5B last year..

I do not have an adult oriented business, but I do believe in having the freedom to do on my land whatever I wish (within the TOS).
I deliberately choose "Mature" land because it had the broadest allowable scope at that time.

I think its time LL collected some real data from its land owning (revenue producing) residents.

Give us a choice of 3 survey markers (posts, totems, whatever) we can rez on our land.
These markers would indicate our preference for "Adult", "Mature" or "PG" rating.
These markers could only be rezzed by the land owner.

These markers would be scripted to report back that data to a survey database.
You have the resources to do this and it might produce a more reliable estimate of demand for "Adult" land, than the current 4% "guesstimate" currently being banded around.

I do appreciate that this is a risky suggestion - it might just show that it would make more sense to move "PG" to Urusula.

Here is another example for you Blondin. I purchased Mature Mainland so that I could open a small, but hobby type business. In the past I have done so, which included very Adult sounds, as well as some Adult bits. If Adult land had been available when I purchased my land, I would have purchased Adult land and not Mature. The point is, I would have purchased land with the most freedoms possible, because I don't want to have to limit my imagination to PG type standards. You are now changing the rules so that I would never be able to advertise my business in the land I currently own. Since I'm not currently running my business, I won't qualify for a free move. But I purchased my land with the option of being able to go back into running my hobby type shop. I'm obviously NOT a Land Baron, and you are punishing people just like me who own Mature mainland for the freedoms it provides. Stating things like land specculation is not against the rules and that there is room to expand if there is demand simply makes me feel like myself and others in my same situation will be getting the biggest end of the shaft. Thanks.

I'm not sure if this has been noticed or not but there's a fairly new blog post on the subject.

https://blogs.secondlife.com/community/community/blog/2009/04/21/update--upcoming-changes-for-adult-content

If my parcel next to a welcome area has adult stuff on it then I want my parcel moved to be on the border of the welcome area in the adult continent. Otherwise it would likely be legally disputable since it would be a forced devaluation of the property and it's revenue potential.

Response please.

a quote form cyn's new blog posting:The level of engagement we've seen has been terrific - the time and effort you have put into explaining your sensitivities and concerns is much appreciated! We look forward to continued dialog as we work on this challenge together.

Thanks once again for your feedback!


Really? you have skipped 95% of the users feedback by hiding this away in the forums which they know nothing about.

No mention of all this has been made to the general membership at all.

In the forums, those of us asking REAL Questions are ignored and dismissed!!!

The Blog mentioned meetings with select groups in world. What select groups of people who are either in favor of the changes without reservation or groups that are willing to go along without complaint?

No Real discussion of these changes has taken place because anyone that does not ask how and when gets ignored completely. Those of us that it will impact the most have been largely ignored. Most users have no idea what is going on even.

The Big question which has not been talked about is why is all this being done, which of course the Lindens completely ignore.

One has to wonder if the "New" network we all got moved to which is definately slowing down our sim's draw and texture performance is not part of the big picture of why these changes are beign made.

So it appears clear that this will be rammed through and the majority of the users will find out when? After you have done it all?

That whole blog posting was a wonderful PR message, but does not meet any version of reality

Oh Blondie, you can ignore this post as well, as i am sure you will, since it does not fit your version of pr bliss for the changes.

Wow. So *that's* their idea of adult and "mature"- Only the most extreme stuff huh? when do I sign up for the land swap, please?

If there's sex, drugs or guns involved- And it's only 2%-4% of content? Get ready for a *big* frakkin' continent, LL



-V-

If someone just happens to crash into that home (wrong teleport, vehicle crash, camera stuck) - how are they going to know that this is happening in a house and not being advertised? They would just see obvious adult things going on and file an AR. Exceptions of exceptions of exceptions - this is not going to work. You either ban adult stuff or you don't.

This to read (the new blog entry) is constantly big fun for people from Vienna (me), Frankfurt (even), Hamburg, Oslo, Stockholm, Helsinki, Moscow, Zagreb, Beograd, Lissboa, Barcelona, Madrid, Berlin, Rome, Paris, Athens, London, Brussels, Tokyo, Seoul, Shanghai, Hongkong, Rio, Capetown, Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney, Buenos Aires, Manila, Bankog, Dheli, even Kairo..., Mexico City. New York, San Francisco itself and whatever metropolitan zone on globe is available. Even for people wich are working at and in the new space station ISS, it must be look like a parody, but also for Yanomami indians at the river Amazonas or people from the Trobiander Islands, Tahiti and many african tribes. It is also belly-hurting funny for all available scientists and artists of all genres on earth.

It is just wrong. It conters the whole biosphere on earth since all beginnings, where all was and is and will be metaphorically and literally sexuality..., from the deepest ground of the oceans up to the highest tops of the mountains.

Even the stars in universe were born through melting processes..., but maybe not the Lindens - they are created by self-rezzing prims and brought by the stork..., or? No?

Some residents asked for that, I learned from the blog entry? Also educators?

Hahahaha. What do they teach? That the planet is a disk? And all creatures are made by the holy erected finger of the great Shamalamadingdong?

I-flip-out.

I wonder, when LEGO will be forbidden, since there it is necessary to stick bricks together...

This is the biggest farce I've ever seen in my life - and I saw much...history have seen much..., but this...this is the biggest farce ever. In any meaning and seen from all sides.

I've avoided getting into this but it seems to me the stated policy's I can find are far to subjective and reflect only the opinions of the town owners not the community at large. I am very certain all land owners were not invited to vote on this issue. I am going to offer a clear example of what LL is apparently attempting to do. They are in effect telling us its their movie theater and they will determine what movies are going to be shown and the kind of popcorn you can buy and where you can sit.

You do not have community standards unless the majority of the community makes the determination of those standards or they are made by their properly elected represenatives. I am not suggesting SL have an elected govenment. I am saying a well run business respects and responds to the majority of its paying customers. The only way to get this resolved in somthing approaching a justifable policy change is to subject it to an represenative election process.

One rather simple way to do it is give everyone one vote for every square meter of land they pay LL tier fees for.

The voting issue can be as direct and to the point as: Should LL create a PG continent for anyone not wishing to encounter anything they find offensive and establish a category of resident that cannot leave that continent even by accident? Any land owner wishing to relocate from the existing area(s) of SL to this new continent will be offered the same amount of land in the new continent. Yes/No

Forcing the people who supported, created, and financed the growth of SL to abandon their efforts and start over in whatever hell hole an Adult mainland continent will become simply isn't fair, or reasonable.

By design or accident you are creating a freedom of speech issue rather than a variety of experiance types. You can create a PG environment (world) as a new offering without gutting existing content providers. You have all the knowledge and resources necessary to do that.

---------------------------------------------------
What are "Adult" Regions, groups, events, and classifieds?
The Adult designation applies to Second Life® Regions that host conduct or display content that is sexually explicit or intensely violent, or depicts illicit drug use. Any Region must be designated Adult and therefore require account verification, if it advertises or publicly promotes the following:

Representations of intensely violent acts, whether or not photo-realistic (for example, depicting death, torture, dismemberment or other severe bodily harm)
Photo-realistic nudity
Expressly sexually themed content, spaces or activities (whether or not photo-realistic)
Groups, event listings and classified ads that reference these themes or content must also be designated Adult.
Linden Lab will enforce these rules. However, we can't monitor all ephemeral content and conduct within Second Life. We will therefore rely on several factors in implementing these Adult designation requirements:

First and foremost, Regions, groups, and event or classified ad listings that employ search tags plainly suggestive of adult behavior or content will require the respective Adult designation, and not be viewable to Residents who are not account verified.
Second, we will conduct proactive monitoring and rely on abuse reports that identify adult content or conduct that is promoted or advertised publicly. Where adult content or conduct on a Region is publicly advertised or promoted, that Region must be designated as Adult (or such content must be removed). We will re-designate such Regions if adult content is not removed.
We will broadly define what is "sexually themed" to include any sexually oriented activities and conduct. However, we may take into account whether apparent or reported adult content or conduct on a particular Region serves only an extremely limited or passive function, or an important educational or cultural function, and therefore would be appropriate for all Second Life audiences.
As with all reported activity in violation of our policies, we will actively review all reports of adult conduct and provide Residents with a channel for rebuttal.
In the FAQs below, we offer examples as to what types of Regions are and are not considered adult, based on, for example, distinctions between "public" and "private" content, as well as distinctions between content that is "expressly sexually themed" and content that is not.
Linden Lab has created a special-use "Adult Continent" -- a "mainland" alternative where adult content and conduct can locate and found by Residents. Landowners wishing to host adult activities or make available adult content can either

Locate on this Adult Continent
Locate on a Region that has been designated by its owner as Adult
Region owners are responsible for designating a Region's maturity level. Occupants of Regions will be expected to locate in a Region suitable to each occupant's content and conduct.

What are "Mature" Regions, groups, events, and classifieds?
Second Life's Mature Designation is intended to accommodate most of the non-adult activities that are common in Second Life. For instance, social and dance clubs (unless those clubs promote sexual conduct or use adult search tags), bars, stores and malls, galleries, music venues, beaches, parks (and other spaces for socializing, creating and learning) all support a Mature designation so long as they don't host publicly promoted adult activities or content.
Thus, Residents in these spaces should expect to see a variety of themes and content. For instance, stores that sell a range of content that includes some "sexy" clothing or objects can generally reside in Mature rather than Adult Regions. Dance clubs that feature "burlesque" acts can also generally reside in Mature Regions so long as they don't promote sexual conduct such as through pose balls (whether in "backrooms" or more visible spaces). However, if any of these businesses uses adult-oriented search tags, it may be categorized as adult and also blocked from appearing in non-adult search.

Groups, events and classifieds that relate to this broad range of activities and themes generally should also be designated as Mature.

What are "PG" Regions, groups, events, and classifieds?
There are some landowners and Residents who desire a Second Life experience distinct from the activity that occurs in Mature and Adult Regions. Region owners who wish to host this sort of Second Life experience should designate their Regions as PG. A Region may be designated PG so long as it does not advertise or make available any content that is suggestive of any (even mildly) sexual or violent themes, or references to social drug or alcohol usage.
For instance, institutions such as universities, conference organizers, and real world businesses whose users may not wish to view or interact closely with the broader Second Life experience may designate their Regions as PG to achieve this added level of protection and segregation.

Please refer to our FAQs for further guidance on the implementation and enforcement of this policy, information on our ID Validation procedures, and information on how we will transition our Region owners and merchants to this system in an efficient way.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

In other words... PG is now for Education and Businesses.
Mature is now for those who want that PG experience.
Adult is for EVERYONE else.

You have successfully turned the exception into the majority. What happened to 2-4%? Is that the amount of community not affected by these changes?

This was my favorite line. "We will broadly define what is "sexually themed" to include any sexually oriented activities and conduct. "

https://support.secondlife.com/ics/support/default.asp?deptID=4417&task=knowledge&questionID=6010

according to this "clubs that feature "burlesque" acts can also generally reside in Mature Regions so long as they don't promote sexual conduct such as through pose balls (whether in "backrooms" or more visible spaces). However, if any of these businesses uses adult-oriented search tags, it may be categorized as adult and also blocked from appearing in non-adult search."

Strip clubs are allowed but if I have a sex rug out or resolution pose ball sets its adult? what about xcite interaction with dance poles? "burlesque" to me is more a topless vegas type act/show...

even more confusing now ...

https://support.secondlife.com/ics/support/default.asp?deptID=4417&task=knowledge&questionID=6032



Oh really?

I am very surprised to see "photo-realistic nudity" listed as "Adult" content after the earlier assurances that non-sexualized nudity (the sort of thing one regularly sees on skin vendors to show people the expensive product they're considering buying) would be considered Mature rather than Adult.

Last time, I believe it was said that that working draft came out too early and was not reflective of LL's views on the matter. Yet looking at it, it seems exceptionally similar to the early document.

So can we again get a clarification on this? Are non-sexualized depictions of nudity (basically, the vendors images most skin makers tend to use) 'Mature' or are they 'Adult'?

There are no immediate plans to change Teen Second Life.

https://support.secondlife.com/ics/support/default.asp?deptID=4417&task=knowledge&questionID=6032

Seriously, dont invest a single penny more in this company, they have grown fat from you, they cannot be trusted, its all doublespeak and bullshit.

it's not land barons that people are afraid of, it's the land flippers. Just incase you haven't noticed land speculators have done a lot of damage to sl down the years

you and me both not that I want to be labeled as mature just would like to know why it is that even if it was there and you had a warning posted at the enterance of said adult content areas that if one you can read and that if you do not click yes I am 18 or older you are ejected from the place as an asnswer to multi use areas (i.e. clubs in a mall urban setting) find a good solution to advertising tracking and maybe half the people would not lock on to the adult tags twether they provid such content or not just because the number one seller on the internet is sex.

PLEASE Blondin we want and need to understand this so called clear defining of terms it seems looser then most fedrual laws governing such content so it could be widely used against a group by another competator or an activast group. I can not count how many griefters that have come to my place just knowing it was an mature place to complain about the content and drive my customers away with rude comments. but what is do be done about this fill out abuse reports okay will it stop them no just provoke more.

It is clear that you wish to drive all sex industry from your game and with little or reguard for the cost it is going to bare on the clients you have and that sir is your right not saying it is not but to mass such a campaign with little true facts listed or offered after being asked for this information. I will test my waters on the new idea you have and if it does not work well for me you can bet I will do my best to never recomend this game to a single sole and if asked will explain why I left the game and this is my right as a consumer.

Best of luck with this change and truely hope it is for the best but please we need true leadership we are never going to change your posistion and never stood a chance to do so so now is the time for you to pony up with the leadership and guide us to the best way to be and continue our businesses that alot of use worked hard to build customer bases for and in a few short months you have crippled most of them for a few given the personal searches fo your In world that I have personally done. true not all is sex based and never did i or anyone here claim this but your numbers are off and it would be a surprize to see the true nature of your research. not that you have any reason so show it but by not just goes to show you much have something you wish to hide from the world and not want it in the press that you too found that the numbers are against you.

In the time I have been here short I will admit have found the freedom to create freeing being an real life artist this is what art is about not for all to understand no but an educated person can still apprecate art for art sake. and you are in my option by the writing you have in the definitions surely limiting some creative minds that could produce even remotely quality works but does no good if you have no clear way to advertise and know what your advertising dollar gets you so brings me back to a point I made earlier with this change an address of a tracking system so one could really see the benifets of ads not just shear looks but a count of what if any people truly just viewed it and ones that acted upon it. can not be to hard to build a data aray to complete such a task with limtied data storage.

Thank you for taking the time to read my soap box one more time =)
Studly

Hi Blondin

I was not able to make the PIOF page work on this site.

So I signed up at SL Exchange, and spent some money there. Linden Labs has said this will be considered adult verification to allow access later to adult lands in SL. Is this still the case?

My profile information still says no payment info on file. No other profile changes either. So as far as the grid thinks - nothing is different. Right?

My question is, how will the GRID know whether someone has spent money in SL Exchange, and so has a 'verified payment record'? If nothing shows up on the profile, so what flags it and allows the teleport onto adult land?

Does Linden Labs plan to add something to a profile if the avatar is spending/has spent $ on SL Exchange? If LL updates all profiles to reflect this, then that would allow access to adult land. So is that the plan - to add a line about that somehow, or add a line that says 'adult verified' on profiles?

What are the current criteria for "payment method in use"? As far as relates to accessing adult land in June? Again: if SL Exchange still counts how will the teleports know?

(Lastly) Is Linden Labs still toying with the idea of allowing people to mail in a xerox of a current utility bill to prove age? I ask in case you changed your minds about allowing spending on SL Exchange to vouch for adulthood. Because there is no way I will register on Aristotle.

Oh and btw thank you (Linden Labs), for finally telling us when this is all going to begin.

It is now several weeks since I last posted in the forums concerning the adult content changes. However, I have been following closely course of the discussion during that time. So far as I can see, nothing has been clarified at all and the position is still as hopelessly confused as ever it was.

My provisional view was that the changes were being implemented in a deliberately disruptive and confusing way in an attempt to drive a large amount of sexually orientated content from the grid. This view has now been confirmed in my own mind.

I note that LL says in the latest blog that it has no "immediate" plans to plans to merge the teen grid with main grid. I may be mistaken, but think that the introduction of the word "immediate" is new and, if so, significant, in that it provides the reason for the proposed changes in the sense that merger is planned albeit not immediately.

I own a single region private estate which is not advertised and which I use only for private purposes in the sense that there is no commercial activity there and I do not rent out any parts of the estate. Upon the estate I have a large building which is deliberately sexually themed in that it contains a significant amount of what might be termed BDSM equipment and other sexually orientated poseballs, sofas, rugs, beds, etc. It is ridiculous that after all all this time it is still unclear to me whether I need to redesignate my estate adult.

However, I have decided that redesignation is the most appropriate course. It avoids me being the subject of an AR or offending any other resident. Perhaps more significantly, it goes a little way towards keeping kids away. Ultimately, as I see things, when (albeit not "immediately" the teen grid is merged with main grid, many owners of mature estates and parcel owners on mature regions will impose AV or PIU restrictions voluntarily in an attempt to keep kids away and preserve their existing 18+ experience. As I see it, I may as well bite the bullet now as the direction in which things are going seems all too clear.

Apologies for joining in somewhat late here - but please can someone clarify what is considered "violent" in this context?

Will my martial arts animations be considered "violent"? Or boxing, fencing or gunfighting ones?

Referring back to the latest blog post on AO.

"We will broadly define what is "sexually themed" to include any sexually oriented activities and conduct. "

So instead of Adult being only extreme behaviour as we were promised it turns out that it is all sexual behaviour of any kind whatsoever. Kinda disappointing but I suppose we all expected the bait and switch anyway.

I wonder why they kept insisting so vigorously on this "extreme" company line.

Edit: Wait, one more thing. I've been following this issue pretty closely I thought but somehow I missed every single Brown Bag meeting(blergh on that ridiculous name). I have something like 2 million square meters of land, how was I not invited to the land owners meeting? Also, why were they done with voice? Now it's almost impossible to search and analyse the archves. I can't even listen to them while I'm at work. Transcriptions anyone?

Will the several reported defects in the LL implementation of Aristotle/Integrity age-verification be addressed prior to the June go-live date?

Many of these have been outstanding issues since we helped test the process when it first went into beta. For reference, there are at least the following currently unresolved jira entries related to the age verification process:

http://jira.secondlife.com/browse/VWR-3704
http://jira.secondlife.com/browse/WEB-1010
http://jira.secondlife.com/browse/WEB-758
http://jira.secondlife.com/browse/WEB-1012
http://jira.secondlife.com/browse/SVC-513
http://jira.secondlife.com/browse/WEB-412
http://jira.secondlife.com/browse/VWR-3787
http://jira.secondlife.com/browse/VWR-3671
http://jira.secondlife.com/browse/VWR-5224
http://jira.secondlife.com/browse/WEB-349
http://jira.secondlife.com/browse/SVC-1067
http://jira.secondlife.com/browse/WEB-972
http://jira.secondlife.com/browse/WEB-414
http://jira.secondlife.com/browse/WEB-946
http://jira.secondlife.com/browse/VWR-3786
http://jira.secondlife.com/browse/VWR-8305
http://jira.secondlife.com/browse/MISC-253
http://jira.secondlife.com/browse/WEB-416
http://jira.secondlife.com/browse/WEB-138
http://jira.secondlife.com/browse/WEB-1022
http://jira.secondlife.com/browse/VWR-12812
http://jira.secondlife.com/browse/SVC-4085

(There may also be translation issues for the verification content; I'm not quite sure what to make of CT-* jira entries on this subject.)

[Edit to add: I'm not privy to any SEC-* jira entries that may exist, nor any in LL's internal jira.]

Elanthius, they don't actually give a crap about you or anyone else, this is all a sham so they can claim to have listened to their users. Sticking to the "extreme" line was just a tool to try and minimize the outcry until this point, when they can reveal the truth and say the definition was refined in response to feedback from the community.

Is this the sort of nonsense we can increasingly see in SL? I tried to visit Hobbit Land, part of the Habitat Trust for Wildlife, a PG island. Seems you can reach the Rainforest Refuge, but Hobbit Land is inaccessible without Age Verification.

OK, private land, they can do what they want - but slapping Age Verification on a PG parcel...???