Upcoming Changes for Adult Content: Answers to Questions

Obviously, the definitions need some work- greater specificity and simpler language would help, of course.
I noticed that the tendency to put everything in "corporate speak" might be an issue here.

Corporations tend to phrase things in such a way as to give them the greatest number of options/least liability. this tends toward a vague and indistinct description of *anything* important.

The amount of confusion generated since the release of the definitions should tell LL something- they haven't helped define the situation clearly- they have muddied the waters again and they have you repeating yourself because they contradict you.

Either you or the author of the definitions is mistaken about many of the parameters of these changes. Correcting the definitions (or your interpretation of them, if it turns out that they have decided to include a great many more things than they are willing to let you, and the rest of us know about) would go a long way towards resolving this confusion.

Seriously, Blondin, I have nothing against you. You happen to be between me and the target of my angst and ire, and I regret it if I've gotten any on you.

but I cannot just sit idly by and watch while LL commits what I consider to be the largest fraud in its history.

**********They are changing the nature of a product that they *sold*, and garner a fee for maintaining, EX POST FACTO. And they mean to deprive SL users who do not comply of the virtual goods in their inventories that they have bought and paid for! I honestly believe that this is an *actual* crime- not a hypothetical one.**********

What's worse, there are so many *easier* ways to accomplish this! I said it in a post before- This is a *choice* by LL, not a move forced upon them by circumstance or RL laws, like the banking, gambling and Openspace issues.

It is a *choice* they are making, and as such, the only thing keeping them from changing their mind about how to accomplish it is *EGO* and *INERTIA*.

Those are the worst possible reasons to make a business decision. If they compare our suggestions to their plan, and found them wanting, I would understand, but to completely *ignore* them is foolish. Do you imagine that we are all a bunch of 14-year old schoolboys? That none of us went to college? Law school? Were in the military? Have homes and families that we have to feed and care for?

Do you honestly think that out of 4 *million* possible residents, there isn't someone out there who *might* have a better idea of how to do this?

And yet, you haven't even *asked* the staggeringly large majority of SL users their opinion of the changes!

Tell the Rest of the LL team that they need to put a poll on the login screen, Blondin- Even if it's just to cover their corporate asses from a possible fraud charge from everyone who pays LL a tier fee.

PLease, just pass this message along- I don't want someone to bankrupt LL so I can't play SL anymore!

-V-

"I have remarked that the American clergy in general, without even excepting those who do not admit religious liberty, are all in favor of civil freedom; but they do not support any particular political system. They keep aloof from parties and from public affairs. In the United States religion exercises but little influence upon the laws and upon the details of public opinion; but it directs the customs of the community, and, by regulating domestic life, it regulates the state." - Alexis de Tocqueville (1835) 1990a: Democracy in America, volume 1. Vintage Classics, New York, page 304

Once this forum discussion is closed, and the final draft of the the "Maturity Ratings: an Overview" knowledge base page is posted, will *that page* be what the governance team uses as a reference to follow, or *your answers* here in this forum?

Forced relocation to adult concentration camps in SL?

Wow - amazing. I'd like to make some humorous commentary at the expense of the people working at your office in Germany, but I'm at a loss for words.

I can't imagine how you can top this, but I'm sure your brilliant minds will come up with a final solution that will bring a new world order to SL.

Yeah, sure, sieg heil and all that. Leave me alone, I'm just trying to make stuff.

I do urge everyone that can ..listens to the audio of the brown bag for 'definitions'...considering the future of 99% of SL users is affected by this in some way the fuzziness of the thinking is laughable...i'm not even talking about those that try and earn a few lindens here....

Let's get something straight- Shakespeare may be *taught*, but Theater is *entertainment* and *Art*, not "education".

Given the things that both you and LL have published on the subject, I would suppose that most Shakespeare with its *many* depictions of death, mutilation, cross dressing, sex, illicit use of alcohol, public drunkenness, extra- and pre- marital sex, cursing, dirty jokes and any number of *other* things, would relegate most Shakespeare to "mature" land, with the occasional "field trip" to PG sims for education purposes, and the occasional production of Titus Andronicus limited to the "Adult" venues.

If you apply the standards without the "Patina of age" that makes it "art" in the eye of the decision-makers, you see that Shakespeare is *not* "PG", and is sometimes more than "mature"

My point is that if the only difference between "south park" and Shakespeare, as far as subject matter is concerned, is that Shakespeare is very old, and written in verse, then you have to decide something. You either treat Shakespeare the same as "South Park" and put him on Cable and only after nine PM, or you give "south park" the same pass that you give Shakespeare.

Well, either that or look at your definitions of "PG", "Mature" and "Adult" again.

A picture of a titty is a picture of a titty. If one is drawn for the first time in in 600-year-old egg tempera and the other is drawn in pixels , there is no *functional* difference between the two. What makes the first *art* and the second, *porn*?

The answer is, of course, nothing but the eye of the beholder.

What LL is trying to do here is completely arbitrary. trying to pretend that it isn't, or dodging the consequences by trying to limit the number of people who can move for free with platitudes about how "of course *that* doesn't* count" duck the Issue and sets people up for being AR'd later.

Because, if you'll notice, in the US, Shakespeare is mostly on Cable, and after nine PM.

If you think that the people who hate and fear exposure to "adult content" will draw the line at Shakespeare, Titan, or Michelangelo, they you're wrong.

They won't stop until *everything* is completely *safe* for little Timmy.

We saw a perfect example when Attorney General Ashcroft hid the statue of Justice behind a screen so that nobody could see her breasts on television.

There's no such thing as "far enough" with these folks. They need to have their *own* place. Mainland will never be clean enough for them, and the Gteam will be on the hop 24-7 answering their AR's. Until there's nothing in SL but clean white space.

Give them Ursula, they'll *all* fit, and it's what they really want anyway (Beside telling all of *us* what to do, that is... )

-V-

If I weren't partnered, I'd ask you to marry me.

You seem to think that home or club is a binary choice, that it's one or the other. I have seen parcels that cover half a mainland sim, with an escort club, shopping mall, and several rented skyboxes all on that parcel. The skyboxes are rented by people other than the landowner. The land was desirable as a single parcel, since it was waterfront.

Given the proposed rules, the owner would have to (a) break up a nice parcel and move the escort club or (b) move the whole thing, and risk losing tenants and traffic who cannot access the adult area.

Either way, the landowner loses. The escort club generated traffic that helped the mall, and the mall shops helped cover the tier. By breaking up the unit, it no longer works financially.

Very well said.

Why can it not be this simple.

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

Adult area would be for things like X-rated movies.

Items with nudity like skins and nude beaches would and should be like R-rated movies. That should be mature areas.

Everything else PG.

Did I this correctly? Beaches, Parks, malls and musics venues are Mature? For what reason? Sure if it contains nudity, but since when does a park become Mature if it doesn't contain Mature content?

As someone who owns some private islands, I've been thinking about how this affects me and my tenants and, after discussing it with some of them, I'm rapidly coming to the conclusion that flagging all my places as Adult is a bit of a no brainer, even though I'm not happy about it at all.

The very big downside is that I'm thereby stopping tenants inviting who they want as guests (and stopping myself from so doing, of course). Though the consensus was that, if payment info on file and/or validated payment methods on xlstreet will serve as adequate validation, that's not a huge difficulty. And a straw poll suggested that even folks I know who wouldn't already thus qualify will make an effort to get themselves verified so they don't find themselves stranded in the vanilla grid.

The very big upside is that this way I don't have to worry about whether what my tenants and I are up to will or won't break these somewhat vague and confusing rules and I won't have to waste time fielding questions from tenants about whether I think they're allowed by someone or other to do such-and-such in a "mature" (in the Orwellian sense of the term) sim. Instead, we'll be able to carry on with our existing covenants and shared understanding of what's acceptable and what isn't.

Indeed, one of my tenants has already asked me if she can move her main animation store to one of my sims if her present landlord sticks with a "Mature" classification, not because she thinks her anims are necessarily "Adult" but because she doesn't want to argue with him whether they are or aren't. When I pointed out this would reduce her potential customers' access to the store, she replied, not unreasonably, that she can live with fewer customers if they're all payment info on file or have verified xlstreet accounts.. "I like the idea of only having people in my shop who have proved they are willing and able to spend money".

The other big advantage, at least as far as I'm concerned, is that Adult sims won't be bothered by griefers with throw-away alt accounts, whose opportunities for mischief will be confined to PG and "Mature" sims.

I can quite see why people on the mainland are very unhappy about the implications of being classified as "Adult" and forced to move, but I think for private sims classifying yourself as "Adult" looks like a sensible insurance policy, regardless of what actual content you may or may not have.

If other private estates take this view, the "Adult" part of the grid is going to be a lot larger than has perhaps been anticipated.

"I could be bounded in a nutshell and count myself a king of infinite space, were it not that I have bad dreams." - Hamlet, II, 2

In terms of business you're reducing your reach, it's not just about people who are not verified, anyone who opts not to include adult in their search will not see any classifieds or search places for people with stores on your land. So you're not only turning away non verified customers, you're turning away people who think adult is all about extreme sex and violence who do have money to spend.

That brings up a point: does everyone who lists a partner in their profile now have an adult-content profile?

for those bored of nipples we can of course move lower to the humble penis....

Now whilst such article is mature once it does anything it is adult...and arn't the best photo-realistic therefore adult?

If you try and sell the humble penis no one can search for it unless verified...if you are not verified you will have to wander until you bump into one thus creating your more predictable experience.....

Oh and as sex is on the adult list you will probably need to be verified to search for anything bearing the word sex......

The current main ad is:

Dari's Haus BDSM Collar Collars Gag Gags Armbinder Armbinders

Some of the finest gags, collars, and restraints in SL.
Collar Newly updated with more features!
* Chat commands (custom channel/prefix)
* Locking Alarm, owners IMed if removed
* Built in AO with crawl/pony
* Owner List and Privacy Locking
* Electroshock and Zap-on-Demand
* Leash (supports handles, posting, and linking)
* Pose and Release
* Forced Stay
* Stay, Poses, Leash, Post all persist after relog
* Timed Release of Restrictions
* Kiss and Hug
* Extensive RestrainedLife features (RLV)
* Bell/Titler
* Wear-'n-Forget (show/hide as needed)
* Lockmeister/ Lockguard Compatible
* and much more..

armbinder binder leash blindfold bdsm bondage s&m d/s discpline mistress master masters gor goean slave slaves submissive submissives bound toy toys adult mature AO pose poses animations lockguard lockmeister dominatrix shopping device panel gag gags corporal punishment capture roleplay restrainedlife ponygirl scripted collars slave collar scripts cuff cuffs fetish RLV daris haus

I have sent a photo to some of the people on this forum. It was given to me by someone else in the hope that it could become an iconic protest picture in peoples' profiles. Her mission was that people would write their own statement under a universal photo. Please feel free to pass it on.

@Innula Zenovka. #4342

Very well put.

Your prospective tenant is spot on in her analysis of visitors to her store.

Like you say, eliminating the threat always posed by throwaway greifer accounts is going to enhance life for everyone on your estates. I think to that many other private estates are going to flag themselves as Adult for this reason even though they may not contain any Adult-rated content or activities.

Send it to me please?

Done.

Blondin and lurking Lindens: Please read and reread this post.

/352/11/314444/178.html#post2400848

There are some very valid points.

Was Blondin at the same meeting as the definitions gang? An arty picture of rope bondage is deemed adult...poseballs in public for sexual activity is adult? if most of these words arent screened to verified adults only searchwise what words are adult enough for verified adults only? Blondin must of only attended the 'extreme sex' meeting...not the new sexual activity=adult meeting

ARRRGH! My spleen! Everything's growing dark... Mother? is that you?

<rattle> <gasp> <Choke>


Yes, that would be the non-existent word I most certainly was *not* referring to.

I'm kind of a crank about that stuff. My friends tell me that I'm a language reactionary- Just because I think the cutoff date for non-technical/scientific terms should be around 1600AD
(Actually, I'd *rather* it was 1450, but there are too many Shakespeare buffs to make it workable- he coined too many words.)

-V-

This is just the tip of the iceberg. The number of Linden staff working on this plan is in the dozens. The number of residents is in the many thousands. Our collective brain power is much larger than theirs. We will figure out ways around the rules, and there are simply too many of us to chase after all of us.

To Minoko,

Your plan might be too transparent if you own both the 16m, and the surrounding larger land. But if its side by side parcels, with one owned by you, and the other owned by an alt thats registered under a different email, IP address, etc, it may well work.

To everyone else,

English is a wonderfully rich langage. Lets see how many synonyms for sex there are:

Dictionary of Sexual Terms - 24150 terms and expressions, 3500 quotes, 47000 synonyms

http://www.sex-lexis.com/Sex-Dictionary/copulation

Thanks Vorren. I hope they read it, but so far on the Xstreet forums, no dice. Here? Who knows. Blondin stopped at page 266 today.