Upcoming Changes for Adult Content: Answers to Questions

Is there a missing </sarcasm> tag there? My puny browser isn't displaying it properly.



Yup. However, LL is banking on the clueless masses being in support of it -- at least until it bites them all on their arses. However, by then, it will be too late; we'll have the Gulag and the Reich, and there will be no going back.

I'm still several pages back as I respond to this, but for Bhakta's sake lemme explain her situation from some of us in the same sim.

Bhakta's parcel backs up against a number of other parcels that are either listed in search or have a good number of noobs running around. In fact her home is backed up right next to my maze and candy garden where I have seen entire SL families, child avatars included.

Another part of her parcel backs up to a group deeded parcel that gets it's fair share of noobs because an internet personality whom we all like to listen to actually records his weekly internet radio show from inside SL. It's a nice thing since before he started recording in SL we just waited for the broadcast, but now can go to the live recording if we want.

I think besides just wanting the freedom to do what she wants on her land under the original terms she purchased it under she now has to worry about what she does next to my search listed parcel. And as she's been the target of griefing from a couple of the more sensitive members of the group already for what she does privately on her land, she has full concern over those same individuals now Ar'ing her because that's how they get their jollies.

Nothing, but if they are willing to commit theft, they are probably willing to steal from more than just mom and might even be considered legally adults depending on how criminal they are RL.

oops. I lost part of my post by accident due to a RL interruption.
tho it should be easy to figure out what i was referring to.

--- the part I left out -----
In other words what happens if an ADULT named item is checked "show in search" in an otherwise non ADULT area that is not other wise advertising as adult?

How does that effect search and/or the parcels status as mature or adult?
----------------------------

edit note: ((added the preceding quotes for continuity)))

See i knew it lol and picking on Argent with pop goes the weasel you must be FIC

I'm sorry that your words were taken out of context; that has happened to me here also a couple of times. But we do want to hear your views.

I think the problem that I have is that I would love to see SL be a safer place for people who don't want to run into the stuff of a sexual or violent nature. But I don't like rules being changed in the middle of a game after people have forked over tons of their time and hundreds or even thousands of rl dollars to build a business or even a home to enjoy the game in their own way. And now they are being forced to move. Instead of LL just putting up some new regions and giving people who dont' want to be around the smut a safe place to be. Given the choice for them to swap land for a strickly PG area I am sure many would. ..... business's and homes.

And I am upset that LL won't or hasn't yet given us answers. People are upset and in fear of what they may or may not be allowed to do. They are asked to make changes to their second lifestyle and yet they are not told which changes they are going to have to make. We are told that they can't give us a list of ristricted words to use on you land decription and we are told they are unsure of this or unsure of that.

We have an investment in this company of our time and our money. And we only want answers. Everyone wants to know where they stand so they can feel secure that what they are doing is not going to get them AR'd.

I hope that the friends you were helping are lucky enough to get the ursula land. Not all will be that lucky.

Please feel free to post any viewpoints you have on any of this.

People don't agree with me on a lot of stuff. I might be viewed as a bit*h (I'm used to that ) . But I have a right to post here and so do you. Your views are wanted and welcome here.

I think 'steal', though maybe technically correct, is too strong of a word in this context.

A 13 year old kid isn't going to see that as stealing, since they're going to put it back once they're 'verified.' That or just copy down the info and never move the drivers license more than a few feet from where mom left it..

And you are seriously trying to make the case that there is (a) both a strong enough market for those particular species that they warrant specific advertizing and (b) that there is no intent to use the obvious link to other meanings of 'tit' to bring in customers not looking for birds at all? (Or at least not that interpretation of the word 'bird?).

This is all starting to sound like a Monty Python sketch... ah, well.. if you do not survive, I guess you will go 'tits up'...

I think she secretly owns one of the free sex lands and just won't tell us

To a kid, I doubt they will see entering some numbers in the computer an act of "theft". If it isn't going to cost anyone anything, where's the harm?

Yes, kids make some dumb choices at times. Little kids even justify shoplifting with things like "well, it was on the floor and was dirty, so I thought it was OK to take". They may actually believe that to be true. That's why parenting is such a difficult job, and why most adults don't do it well, if at all.

Kids will justify anything to get what they want; however, that is their nature, since they are kids, after all.

I agree!

~~ admires the tits ~~


Persephone

Identity theft is identity theft. If they are willing to 'borrow' mom's credit card or driver's licence, why would they be reluctant to 'borrow' those of complete strangers?

And why would they stop at SL instead of buying RL merchandise or trolling/griefing/defrauding others using the stolen ID?

Full credit for creativity, to be sure

The meat or Blondin?

Yes. And those little bastards that are willing to borrow their parents ID for a few minutes are also likely to steal cars and kill people and join the republican party.

We should just get rid of them all now.

edit: /me really loves the ignore list feature on the forums.

stepford anyone??

Because a complete stranger will probably beat their snot nosed punk ass, where momma will just blow it off as "Little Johnny having fun"

Dude, it's not just a "particular species", it is a "family" of species. I'm not much of a bird watcher myself, but they are common targets for those that are.

So, yeah, for those who are interested in detailed representations of birds, there should very well be a strong market for them and, thus, putting them in advertising is quite warranted.

As for the other part, it is irrelevant, because the filter won't filter on context but on the words themselves. As such, his business will be impacted negatively from the overzealous (and ineffectual) use of filtering.

I think this needs repeating.

Even though I was not a part of that lobby group and have never asked a linden for this. I am looking forward to having better protections on the content that I don't want kids to be able to see. The only reason I don't have the age verified and payment info boxes checked already is that they do nothing to prevent the kids from camming anyway nor do they work correctly.

I have done my part to keep things separated as best I can already. So that somebody who comes to my clothing shop won't see the nude artwork, and I think that's where I won't be as impacted as some because I already kept separate business even in completely different regions.

What I disagree with is the implementation. I see it all as drastically unfair to many many businesses of all sizes who will be inconvenienced in a bad manner.

back to continuing to catch up

Calling me cruel AND FIC in the same day?

Because things like "identity theft" and "copyright infringement" are advanced topics that even adults have issues grasping. Why should we expect kids be more savvy than their parents?



Because one thing has nothing to do with the other?

I understand your use of hyperbole in trying to make your point, but you're thinking of this from an adult point-of-view. Kids DO NOT see the world from that point-of-view yet, for painfully obvious reasons.

Yes.

Day ain't over yet..

Why I Support the Adult Changes

an essay by Darien Caldwell

For those that do not know me, I run Dari's Haus, Odds, ends, and Stuff, a Second Life business I started back in Feburary of 2007. My first item was a blindfold-gag, which launched my business into the stratosphere. I've been a proponent of the D/S community and freedom of speech in SL for a long time now. But I support what LL is doing, and here is why.

You've heard the spiel more than once, Second Life is a diverse place with a lot of people doing a lot of things. Some come here for adult reasons, some don't. And that clash is the cause of a lot of issues. We as adults have a right to do what interests us, as long as it doesn't run afoul of the jurisdictional law this service operates under. And this is universal, to everyone here, not just those interested in D/S, Sex, or what have you. Not everyone's world-view is open enough to accept the same things as others, we all have our taboos, and dislikes, but some things transcend the personal into the realm of the societal. Sex is definitely one of those things.

Sex is a wonderful and beautiful thing, but it's also a private, intimate thing. It is understandable some are not comfortable with it being 'in their face' when out and about. As well, there are many good reasons why people of young age should not be exposed to them. "But SL is for adults, no kids are supposed to be here!" you will say, and that's true. But saying and doing are two things, and that is where LL's efforts begin. Only with some kind of verification can they make a good-faith effort to ensure there are no kids here. Is it perfect? No. But it is necessary an effort be made.

As to the point of the segregation, I feel LL is making their best compromise under the circumstances. If LL wanted Adult Content gone, they could do it, quite easily, as they did with gambling, and banks, and other things which came before. They could have implemented Age Verifying in it's most flawed state, so nobody could verify as adult, and that would have done the job too. But they have obviously been working very hard to ensure they not only have a system that works, but a system that is as all-encompassing as possible. Again, it's not perfect. But what in SL is?

Respect is a two way street. We as Adults demand our lifestyles and viewpoints be respected, but we must do the same for those who's viewpoints are different from ours. We must respect their desire to not be inundated with what to them is uncomfortable or even immoral. Only through mutual respect can a kind of understanding ever hope to be achieved.

I do believe LL has some major holes in their plan which still need to be overcome, but they are not insurmountable. I only hope they can do so in a way that satisfies (and note I didn't say pleases) everyone. So in closing I say I support this because I want it to work. Everyone deserves a better SL, the lascivious Adults, and the buttoned down Adults; the Teacher Adults, and the Subbie Adults; and every Adult in between.

One of my favorite authors, Robert A. Heinlein said it best: "A society that gets rid of all its troublemakers goes downhill." I believe LL is doing it's best not to make that mistake.

Thank you for asking. I have actually stated my viewpoint a few times, but I have no problem repeating it and adding to it here.

I think that Linden Labs have a vision on where they want SL to go. They were visionaries who built the infrastructure for this world, visionary enough that everyone posting here and a whole lot more have come and terraformed and primmed up their little corner of the world. LL did it so well that the "residents" have felt a sense of ownership of their creations (not just IP stuff, but they feel it's "home" to them). In these cynical days that is quite an achievement.

But it's still LL's product, and they have the say on which direction it is going to go. Like any monarchy/dictatorship, we residents have the right to petition to ask for our points of view to be taken into consideration, but we have no RIGHT to have our views implemented.

LL have stated what their goal is - to build a separate continent for Adult-rated material. They asked us for advice on how best to go about doing it. It seems like 90% of the answers were "don't do it", and then those answering like this have been surprised that LL didn't listen to them. The question wasn't "should we do this?" it was "We're going to do this - how can we make this work best?". Discussions about "why" aren't something they are going to get into with us, either - they don't owe us any reasons, in my opinion.

Have LL handled this well? No, not at all, in my opinion. They should have framed these discussions much better, provided summaries of points made, and made sure that questions answered were documented in an easy-to-reach place. Not only that, but any clarifications provided in threads like this should be appended as examples to the official documents (which are going to be used to decide on policy down the road) - this ensures that the various members of the Linden team don't talk at cross-purposes and that the people in charge of policing it are going to be reading from the same page.

Also, I think they should have been a lot more transparent about the process they planned to use from the start - a Roadmap if you like - it has taken a LONG while to get this established, and it's still not finalized yet.

What will this move do to SL? I don't think anybody can know for sure (and I am skeptical of those that think they do). I am personally glad that they are not banning Adult content completely, which would be completely within their rights, and would fall in line with some other so-called "Virtual Worlds" (and I'm not going to get into a fight about that one Argent ) - instead they are actually talking about concentrating it into a set of areas, not with the purpose of dropping a nuke, but instead, apparently, to actually promote it. If I want my dose of Adult Content, the idea of being able to go to a place that I know is adult-oriented and just walk the streets, exposing myself (!) to some stuff that I may not have seen before is thrilling to me. Search is boring because of all the botting and other gaming of the system - I don't even like to shop that way - I like to go to a place and walk around a bit....

There is going to be a LOT of dust generated by this - and I think that's unavoidable - but I do think there is actually potential here to make SL better - not from the point of view of creating "Prude World" but instead concentrating all the "good stuff" in easy-to-access places - like a Red Light District in a city. I think that could be good for business owners and clients, if it is done well. I kind of like the idea of dressing up in my super-slutty outfits, perhaps with my partner, and taking a walk through the streets....

So I see short-term turmoil and upset people, but I also see a potential for things to be better after all the dust clears.

And the bottom line, for me, when it comes to my opinion (which doesn't matter much, in the grand scheme of things) - LL decides what direction SL is going in - that's their right as owners of this world. I have the right to decide whether I am going to "play" in it, and spend my hard-earned money here. I would like to see what LL can do with this, and help guide them into doing it as well as they can... then see what the world looks like afterwards and decide whether I am going to stay and play or not.

OK, just a couple of comments about the rest of your post:
They've been doing that since the first reply of the first thread...

Or they don't feel it's important enough to post about, or they feel intimidated by what they perceive as the dynamic on this forum. There could be many reasons. Just because people don't post doesn't mean you can infer anything they are thinking from that.

Wow, that was long.